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A Primer on Q Methodology
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... The Q method takes the sorting information in quantitative and qualitative form for analysis. Brown (1993) highlights the qualitative aspects of the methodology by comparing the quantitative aspects in Q methodology: "the fact that the resulting data are also amenable to numerical treatment opens the door to the possibility of clarity in understanding through the detection of connections which unaided perception might pass over. In Q, the role of mathematics is quite subdued and serves primarily to prepare the data to reveal their structure" (p. ...
... Table 1 Key terminology in Q methodology. From Brown (1993), McKeown and Thomas (1988), and Watts and Stenner (2012). This content is provided to you freely by EdTech Books. ...
Q Methodology is a unique approach to research tailored for discerning and quantifying subjective perspectives. Developed by Stephenson (1935) in response to perceived reductionism in the psychological and social sciences, it prioritizes the individual's unique perspective rather than generalized characteristics seen across large populations. Q methodology merges both quantitative and qualitative measures in data collection, with the Q sort, a forced-sort process, standing out prominently. Analyzing Q data requires a blend of statistical methods and qualitative exploration, enabling a nuanced understanding of the subject's viewpoint. Brown (1993) emphasizes this interplay, positioning the mathematical component as auxiliary. Finding its application spread across diverse fields like health sciences, psychology, journalism, education, and environmental policy, Q methodology features two main design paradigms: single-participant design and multiple-participant design. While single-participant design delves deeply into individual self-perspectives, multiple-participant design explores shared viewpoints among different groups. Q methodology’s unique lexicon features terms such as Concourse, Q set, and P set, which underscores its comprehensive approach to studying subjectivity.
... The Q methodology originated in the field of psychology (Brown, 1993;Stephenson, 1993;Newman and Ramlo, 2010) and has since been adopted by scientists and practitioners as a means of exploring human subjectivity on a variety of topics (Dieteren et al., 2023). The method, for example, has been used in work on environmental policy and discourse to gain a more thorough understanding of stakeholder perceptions ranging from sustainable mountain development (Moser and Baulcomb, 2020) to marine governance and fisheries management field (Zabala et al., 2018). ...
... Q-sorting revealed different patterns of perspective after respondents sorted each statement into a grid (see Figure 2). The results of Q-sort analysis explore patterns within and across individuals by focusing on their discursive understanding of a particular topic (Brown, 1993;Ramlo, 2023). The ability to produce statistically significant results from a relatively small sample size (Barry and Proops, 1999) is one of the key strengths of the Q methodology. ...
Territorial User Rights for Fisheries (TURF) are established to grant privileged rights exclusively to local fishing communities to manage their stock within a bounded fishing ground. Theoretically, they will improve their sense of ownership which will eventually lead to stewardship and responsibility. In Indonesia, contemporary TURF has been introduced to meet such social outcomes and address the overfishing problems caused by open-access systems. The primary objective of this study was to determine how different project initiators perceive the system’s performance of TURF in Kepulauan Seribu Marine National Park. This study used an online Q methodology to determine what key actors thought of similarities and differences in TURF implementation by developing a concourse based on the original TURF project success elements. The results show that there are two different perspectives on what the essential aspects of TURF succeed in Kepulauan Seribu. The first opinion group appreciated the technical design of TURF, particularly the exclusion mechanism and boundary, which are crucial. A second opinion group argues that the clarity of rights, roles, and responsibilities is fundamental. Both opinion groups agreed that consistent law enforcement is the key to a successful TURF implementation. This study evaluated key stakeholders’ perspectives on co-management programs to identify points of consensus and disagreement that could ultimately help ensure the long-term success of TURF and similar co-management programs.
... O foco das entrevistas foram as possibilidades conversacionais do ponto de vista dos indivíduos envolvidos concretamente nas situações de construção de um concurso (Stephenson, 1986). Em outras palavras, pelo fluxo da comunicabilidade, novos significados surgem e descobertas são feitas (Brown, 1993). Por meio de uma abordagem indutiva, as transcrições foram lidas para identificar as mensagens centrais relatadas pelos participantes (Thomas, 2006). ...
Resumo A gestão de projetos se concentra cada vez mais na entrega de benefícios, considerando a complexidade institucional e os desafios globais. Os projetos de transporte hidroviário interior (THI) aparecem na Contribuição Nacionalmente Determinada do Brasil, seguindo o Acordo de Paris. No entanto, os projetos brasileiros de THI permanecem subdesenvolvidos e a capacidade de transporte hidroviário de carga é subutilizada. Há uma lacuna na literatura sobre as ligações entre desempenho orçamentário, política, política e gerenciamento de projetos. Em particular, sabemos pouco sobre os efeitos das interações entre mecanismos de governança e execução do orçamento público na contratação de projetos de infraestrutura de transporte aquaviário no Brasil. Este artigo tem como objetivo avaliar a execução orçamentária da infraestrutura hidroviária brasileira e os arranjos de governança para determinar a influência desses fatores nas falhas das políticas. Realizamos uma análise qualitativa dos planos de políticas e investimentos realizados entre 2014 e 2020, por meio de entrevistas e pesquisa documental, para examinar 109 projetos de infraestrutura hidroviária. Todos os entrevistados apontaram a falta de planejamento como um entrave aos projetos hidroviários, e 74% deles relataram déficit orçamentário. Apesar disso, encontramos US$ 43,2 milhões disponíveis nos orçamentos, mas nunca utilizados. A incapacidade de investir é, portanto, um obstáculo maior para os projetos hidroviários brasileiros do que a insuficiência orçamentário. Recomendamos uma abordagem de gestão adaptativa para alocar investimentos, na qual as partes interessadas aprendam juntas para implementar estratégias de projeto mais eficazes.
... The concern of our interviews were the conversational possibilities from the standpoint of individuals involved concretely in the situations to build a concourse (Stephenson, 1986). In other words, through the flow of communicability, new meanings arise, and discoveries are made (Brown, 1993). Through an inductive approach, transcripts were read to identify the core messages reported by participants (Thomas, 2006). ...
Project management increasingly focuses on delivering benefits, considering institutional complexity and global challenges. Inland waterway transport (IWT) projects appear in the Brazilian Nationally Determined Contribution following the Paris Agreement. However, Brazilian IWT projects remain underdeveloped, and waterway freight transport capacity is underutilized. There is a literature gap on the links between budget performance, policy, politics, and project management. In particular, we know little about the effects of the interactions between governance mechanisms and public budget execution on the procurement of waterway transport infrastructure projects in Brazil. This paper aims to assess Brazilian waterway infrastructure budgetary execution and governance arrangements to determine the influence of these factors on policy failures. We performed a qualitative analysis of policy plans and investments made between 2014 and 2020 through interviews and documental research to examine 109 waterway infrastructure projects. All respondents pointed out the lack of planning as an obstacle to waterway projects, and 74% reported budget shortness. Nevertheless, we found USD 43.2 million available in budgets that were never utilized. The inability to invest is a bigger obstacle for Brazilian waterway projects than budget insufficiency. We recommend an adaptive management approach to allocate investments, in which stakeholders learn together to implement more effective project strategies.
... Lower factor correlations indicate less commonality between factors. Correlations of greater than 0.8 can indicate problematic correlations (Brown 1993). ...
Vulnerable youth and youth with disabilities are at great risk of not having their rights met. In addition, they face challenges with regard to empowerment and participation in their own lives. Youth development programmes frequently focus primarily on the individual skills of the youth. However, reviews have indicated that for youth to be able to drive change, additional opportunities at community and broader society levels are required. This project sought to evaluate the changes facilitated by the Changing the Story—Leadership Development Programme as implemented in the Youth Accountability and Deaf Inclusion in South Africa project, for both vulnerable and Deaf youth. A longitudinal Q-sort methodology was used to measure the youths’ changes in perceptions. The results provided evidence of significant change following the programme, including increases in perceptions of empowerment within the community. Furthermore, although vulnerable and Deaf youth began the programme with differing perceptions of self, community and society, these perceptions were more aligned after completion of the programme. The results and challenges experienced using a longitudinal Q-sort methodology are presented and discussed. Recommendations and limitations are also highlighted.
... All graduate faculty in the department were provided with a URL link to the Q set and asked to initially sort the randomized statements into three categories: statements they agreed with, had neutral feelings about, or disagreed with. After the initial sorting, participants were asked to re-sort the statements into a forced, quasinormal distribution from "most agree" (+4) to "least agree" (−4), forming the individual Q sort (Brown, 1993). It is important to note that statements ranked with a negative value do not necessarily mean the individual disagreed with the statement. ...
Introduction
Although distance education is a growing field, there are benefits and challenges in creating and implementing new online degrees. Faculty play a critical role in forming new online programs and hold differing perceptions about online learning. The purpose of this research was to identify faculty opinions about implementing an online, non-thesis master’s degree as an alternative to the existing thesis-based degree.
Methods
In this study, 17 faculty members in the field of horticulture were surveyed at a major university in the southeastern United States. Q methodology was selected as the research tool to identify the primary opinions faculty held about an online, non-thesis master’s degree. Once participants were surveyed, factor analysis was used to reduce the responses into three perspectives.
Results
Three distinct perspectives were summarized as: (A) in-person instruction is more effective than online education, (B) online programs increase accessibility to graduate degrees, and (C) successful online programs require independent learners. Participants holding the first perspective believed an online program would not benefit student learning and would increase the workload of faculty. Participants with perspectives B and C agreed that an online program would be beneficial in reaching a broader audience of students. Although perspective C placed a high importance on independent learning, perspectives A and B indicated engaging with students was critical to student learning.
Discussion
All factors agreed an online degree would help our department reach non-research-oriented students. However, there was discrepancy in faculty willingness to support the program. Based on the identified faculty perspectives, it is believed that an online, non-thesis master’s would be successful if faculty who are willing to participate in the online degree were trained to be effective online educators and if they encouraged students to hold a deeper level of engagement with the content.
Research grounded in religious studies and attachment theory demonstrates links between experiencing and resolving faith crises with a perceived break and restoration of a relationship with God. Experiences of faith crises are unique, however, and little research has explored the diverse ways in which faith can be restored—particularly from a messaging perspective. The present study used Q methodology to capture the varied and nuanced messages that resonated with Christian respondents who had experienced and resolved a faith crisis. The Q-sort consisted of 37 statements that participants sorted on a nine-category continuum. Brief, semistructured qualitative interviews followed the Q-sort. The results identified four distinct factors that conveyed unique messages about an individual’s return to religion and/or spirituality after experiencing a crisis of faith: (1) resilient God Seekers, (2) self-compassionates, (3) marathon runners, and (4) scripture seekers. Thus, the present study suggests that religious organizations and practitioners should refrain from using a generalized approach in their communication with members who struggle with faith as the participants gravitated toward separate, distinct, and unique messaging.
Qualitative methods are under-represented in the articles published by the main journals in Information Systems, which seem to privilege quantitative studies and statistical representativity of results, following the R logic. This chapter provides an in-depth description of Q-method and demonstrates how its use could be beneficial to studies of technology and could reinforce the transparency and validity of other qualitative methods. The focus of this chapter lies in explaining how Q-method works, so that readers are equipped to set up their own Q-studies. It is based on prior literature and ongoing reflections being held by Q-methodologists online.
Cambridge Core - Political Theory - Discursive Democracy - by John S. Dryzek
A fundamental theory of communicability is proposed, covering all human communication in its subjective mode. It is correlative to information theory and communication in the objective mode of modern science. An equation for functional-information is provided, equivalent in importance to that for structural-information on which experiments in objective science are based. The theory leads to a scientific explanation for consciousness, or mind, and for all subjective communication.