I am looking at possible research methods to evaluate qualitative responses from questionnaires and interviews and have run into Facet Theory (Guttman) using mapping sentences and multi-dimensional scaling analysis.
I have read a little around the subject but I wonder if anyone has used this "in anger" such that they can give me thoughts/feedback?
I am interested in techniques that might highlight similarity between different user groups based on a series of responses but I would need to know how much data is required to make use of techniques like SSA (smallest space analysis) in a meaningful way as my study is likely to comprise only small numbers (dozens) of responses.
Appreciate any thoughts ...? Tools used?
Dear Ian,
I have been using facet theory and mapping sentences for the last 30 years in many research contexts. I would need to know more about what you are doing to be able to give definitive answers to your questions but potentially facet theory should work in some way or another. Facet theory can be used with individual respondents as a case study approach or with larger samples. The restrictions here are simply the ability to generalise results and the stress levels reported when using SSA. I also use facet theory in a qualitative sense to structure qualitative data (narratives, observations) although this is not a common approach. My recent book, Facet Theory and the Mapping Sentence, Palgrave, 2014, goes into quantitative and qualitative applications. Different user groups may be evaluated by comparing group SSAa or bey conducting higher order facet profile analyses (MSA). POSA may also yield interesting results.
I hope this helps a little but please ask more.
Paul
Hi Paul,
Spookily I've just finished reading your book in fact which was what brought me to look at this as approach. I had been quite concerned that FT had perhaps fallen out of favour as I was finding it hard to find recent papers so it's great to find a recent book.
I am keen to explore the mapping sentence in any case as I have already generated a candidate faceted model for part of my project but I was looking for some guidance on how much data is enough to use the quantitative techniques. I understand there is a conference next Feb in the US and so I may try to get over from the UK.
I'd be delighted to chat to you about my project if you have time - if you happy to talk then I can be contacted at [email protected] to arrange a convenient time.
Ian
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