ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the reader to the EUM framework as well as the two instruments – EUM-I and EUM-O that have been applied and researched over the last many years. The chapter begins by articulating seven key axioms, termed as ideational foundations, that are fundamental to the definition of the framework, as well as differentiating it from other frames including Graves’s Theory of Open Systems of Values. The chapter stresses on key constructs and language that are critical to understanding the EUM framework, including the term Universe. It endorses the notion of the term interplay of Universes as the key interpretative tool. The chapter also invites the reader to browse through Appendices 3.1 through 3.4, which explain the Universes in great detail, as well as to familiarize him- or herself with the two tools.
