General Introduction 15 1 EPISTEMOLOGY OF THE AUTHOR AND THIS THESIS My personal epistemology is based on the belief that complex practical problems are most effectively investigated in the natural settings in which they occur. Investigating practical problems in their applied settings provides an enhanced understanding of complex issues by embracing confounding and latent variables inherent to applied work, as well as by collaborating with practitioners who are experts in the field. Collaboration, particularly of interdisciplinary nature, provides a broader view on the practical problem and a better understanding of possible solutions. To approach practical problems and provide practically relevant insights, the research design and resulting conclusions should be evidence-based (i.e., founded on the best available evidence for used methods and interpretation) and context-dependent (i.e., taking into account the specific context in which the research is being applied). This applied research approach, however, should not negate the importance of theoretical foundation in investigating and examining practical settings. Particularly in the context of VR for police, a strong connection between theory and practice permits the development and improvement of a training technology in the practical setting in which the technology has to function. For instance, by utilizing educational learning theories to guide the training design of a VR session, the outcome of the training may further inform how the training design and training technology can be improved. Translating my personal epistemology into the framework of this thesis, I aim to highlight the importance of an interdisciplinary, evidence-based, and context-dependent empirical approach to applied research. Doing so, I tested the two previously introduced VR systems (see section “Defining Virtual Reality”) as part of official training days at the police agencies, collaborating with VR technology partners and police end-users. Moreover, I aim to emphasize the interplay between theoretical foundations and practical application, particularly, in the investigation and application of educational training technologies such as VR. Thus, to improve the technology itself and examine the effectiveness for the delivery of the training technology, I claim that theory and practice should go hand in hand and inform one another. While this thesis did not set out to validate a theoretical model, the basis of each chapter is supported by a theoretical foundation related to learning and instructional design, primarily focusing on the integrated model of perceptual-motor performance and anxiety (Nieuwenhuys & Oudejans, 2012, 2017), representative learning design (Davids et al., 2013), and cognitive load theory (Van Merrienboer & Sweller, 2005; Mugford et al., 2013). These models and theories set the groundwork on which the design and interpretation of the applied research conducted within the context of this thesis is based and are therefore elaborated on below.
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