R0021/2026-03-25/Q001/H2¶
Statement¶
Professional bodies have not published formal, agreed-upon definitions of engineering, or the definitions diverge significantly across organizations.
Status¶
Current: Eliminated
Multiple professional bodies have published formal definitions that demonstrably converge on core elements.
Supporting Evidence¶
No evidence supports this hypothesis.
Contradicting Evidence¶
| Evidence | Summary |
|---|---|
| SRC01-E01 | ABET publishes formal accreditation criteria with defined student outcomes |
| SRC02-E01 | ECPD published a widely-cited formal definition adopted across multiple organizations |
| SRC03-E01 | IEEE references the ECPD/ABET definition in its educational resources |
Reasoning¶
The ECPD definition (later adopted by ABET) has been cited by IEEE and used across multiple professional organizations for decades. ABET's accreditation criteria provide specific, measurable student outcomes. NSPE defines professional engineering through its code of ethics and licensing standards. The convergence across organizations eliminates this hypothesis.
Relationship to Other Hypotheses¶
This hypothesis is the direct negative of H1, which is supported. The existence of multiple convergent definitions from authoritative bodies eliminates H2.