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Abstract
The validation processes and truth criteria employed in a field of study govern both the knowledge to be learned and how it is applied. To determine what validation processes and criteria are used, professors from three major research universities in six matched pure and applied fields of study: physics and engineering in the natural sciences; psychology and education in the social sciences; and English literature and English language in the humanities, were interviewed. Analysis of the professors' statements suggests differences and similarities across fields of study in validation processes and the criteria by which truth is judged. A comparison of these views provides insight into possible differences as to how decisions are made in different disciplines and the nature of knowledge in them.