Clinicians’ personal epistemology about stuttering and knowledge may directly affect their clinical decision-making process. The purpose of the current study was to obtain a better understanding of the relationship between clinicians’ epistemological beliefs and their selection of stuttering treatment – fluency shaping or stuttering modification. This study (a) examines the clinicians’ beliefs about the structure and complexity of knowledge and (b) investigates whether clinicians adapt a particular form of epistemological beliefs specific to their treatment preference with persons who stutter (PWS). Participants were 174 certified speech-language pathologists who responded to questionnaires that included a stuttering-specific epistemological beliefs scale and predominant ways of knowing. Results indicate that persons who have higher levels of separate knowing have a preference for the fluency shaping approach with PWS. People who believe knowledge is more complex and is always changing have a preference for the stuttering modification approach. The findings of the current study suggest that clinicians’ personal epistemology (rather than the tenets of evidence-based practice) may be playing a significant role in some clinical decisions. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Health Professions, Dept. of Communication Sciences and Disorders
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:WICHITA/oai:soar.wichita.edu:10057/5602 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Moyer, Loni |
| Contributors | DiLollo, Anthony |
| Publisher | Wichita State University |
| Source Sets | Wichita State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ix, 58 |
| Rights | Copyright Loni Moyer, 2012. All rights reserved |
Page generated in 0.0114 seconds