Hello everyone, I am about to embark on my first research project for my dissertation, my method of research I intend to use is Q-methodology, I am just learning all the nuances of this form of research; can someone give me some advise on their use of Q-methodology and how it worked for them? Can anyone recommend a journal article that I can obtain in order to grasp a better understanding of this method? Thank you in advance.
Robert, you can find some great references for articles at this website: http://qmethod.org/refsearch.php as well as here: http://www.operantsubjectivity.org
Robert - I'm not sure of the level of detail that you need. What follows is quite a basic 'description' that gives an overview of possible process and the main type of process that I follow.
Q methodology, I find, works best to reveal subjective attitudes and perspectives of participants about a particular topic and as an alternative method for studying individual subjectivity (qualitative part) through the use of factor analysis (quantitative part). There is a misconception that Q methodology is mainly about psychometric testing but it is really a systematic process of assessing qualitative data. A set of stimulus material (i.e. textual statements, pictures or recordings) amenable to appraisal are constructed. They are usually from prior interviews to form the Q sample. Statements in the Q sample are representative, but not exhaustive, of the diversity of attitudes possible about the topic. Once the set of statements has been verified and finalised, each statement or material is placed on an individual card to enable the cards to be sorted into some order. Participants are instructed on how to rank-order the set of Q sample statements or materials - as the Q-sort technique. Ranking commonly follows a Likert scale format; for example, from strongly agree to strongly disagree using a quasi-normal distribution. That is, least cards are able to be assigned scores at the ends of the scale while proportionally more can be located in the middle of the distribution. Q methodology, in this respect, applies quantitative analysis to qualitatively derived data. Hypothetically, we could say use a 36-item Q sample, with an 11-point Likert Scale, from strongly disagree (–5) to strongly agree (+5). One card is placed per cell on the Q-sort diagram. In this example, only one card can be placed in the +5 location, while four statements can be located at –2. The resulting order of material is then analysed using quantitative techniques to produce correlational matrices and factor analysis solutions. The use of factor analysis enables the statements to be collated into factors for clearer interpretation.
I find the following article useful as an overview: Dziopa F, Ahern F 2011 A systematic literature review of the applications of Q-technique and its methodology. European Journal of Research Methods for the Behavioural and Social Sciences 7:39–55
I also recomend this recent study as a useful example from my students: Eaton E 2014 What is good birth? Using Q methodology to explore the diversity of attitudes to good birth. Birth Psychology 28 (3)
E.G., Watts, S., & Stenner, P. (2014). Definitions of love in a sample of British women: An empirical study using Q methodology. British Journal of Social Psychology, 53(3), 557-572.
SEMINAL AND WIDELY CITED: Stephenson, W. (1953). The study of behavior; Q-technique and its methodology.
HEAVILY CITED: Brown, S. R. (1996). Q methodology and qualitative research. Qualitative health research, 6(4), 561-567.
Bruce McKeown, & Dan Thomas (Eds.). (1988). Q methodology (Vol. 66). Sage.
PQMethod, a free, statistical program tailored to the requirements of Q studies.
Website: http://schmolck.userweb.mwn.de/qmethod/
Brown, Steven. (1980). Political Subjectivity: Applications of Q Methodology in Political Science. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Brown, Steven. (1993). A primer on Q methodology. Operant Subjectivity, 16, 91-138. (Cf. Q methodological tutorial. Q Archive:
http://facstaff.uww.edu/cottlec/QArchive/qindex.htm)
Brown, Steven. (1996). “Q Methodology as the Foundation for a Science of Subjectivity.” Q Methodology Archive. Personal Website of Professor Charles E. Cottle. http://facstaff.uww.edu/cottlec/QArchive/science.htm
Hi Robert,
if you are interested in decision-making research, I suggest you read this: DURNING, D. W. - BROWN, S. R. 2006. Q Methodology and Decision Making. In GŐKTUĞ, M. (Ed.). Handbook of Decision Making. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2006. ISBN 1-574-44548-0, pp. 537-563.
Hi Robert,
you can read the paper with the title" Doing Q methodology: theory,
method, and interpretation' (Simon Watts1 and Paul Stenner)
I concur with others. The Watts and Stenner book is really good for doing Q methodology.
You might find these two publications helpful, especially the book:
Watts, S., & Stenner, P. (2005). Doing Q methodology: theory, method and interpretation. Qualitative research in psychology, 2(1), 67-91.
Watts, S., & Stenner, P. (2012). Doing Q methodological research: Theory, method & interpretation: Sage.
I recommend https://q-assessor.com/ - very useful tool. cca 500 USD for 1 study.
Hi Robert,
Q-Methodology is used in different aspects in many different fields. To get an overall idea of when and how to use it, I would suggest you two good reads.
1. https://joe.org/joe/2018april/iw4.php
2. Article When and how to use Q methodology to understand perspectives...
Bonus - https://qmethod.org/category/resources/ (They have a lot of resources and videos. You can give it a go).
Hope it helps you.
Best Wishes
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