Q Methodology

Concourse and Q Samples

The concept of concourse refers to the stream of commentary revolving around any topic, be it the price of gasoline, the war in Iraq, the steroid scandal in baseball, or any other topic. These comments are matters of opinion and are shared with others in the culture. Researchers can gather concourses from a number of sources (e.g., interviews, texts, etc.), with interview responses having the virtue of being in the natural language of participants. From this concourse, a selection of statements is drawn that constitutes the Q sample, which may be either structured or unstructured. Whereas an unstructured sample is composed unsystematically and is made up of statements relevant to the subject under consideration, a structured Q sample usually embodies a theoretical framework, with greater attention given to coverage of subissues in the statement selection process. Q samples are typically structured in terms of the principles of factorial experimental design, with statements provisionally placed into categories of the design. However, unlike the case in scale construction, there is no assumption that these categories will (or should) hold together once the participants begin to respond to these statements.

P Set

Individuals who serve as study participants are known as the P set, and their selection is a function of the research question. Participants may be chosen [Page 800]because of theoretical concerns thought to be relevant. For example, a Q study concerning health care in the United States might predispose the researcher to try to get doctors, lawyers, patients, hospital administrators, politicians, insurance company representatives, and so on as participants. On the other hand, a Q study of understandings of the Judy Garland film The Wizard of Oz might lead the researcher to seek out participants who are readily available, assuming almost everyone has a level of familiarity with that classic film.

P sets in Q studies are typically small, most often 40 or fewer. The aim is to allow subjective viewpoints to be revealed, not to make the claim that all possible viewpoints are represented or that a certain percentage of the population holds a particular view.

Q Sorting

Participants are given the Q sample (each statement being printed on an individually numbered card) to rank order along an established continuum according to a “condition of instruction,” typically “most agree” to “most disagree.” However, the condition of instruction may be “most like me” to “most unlike me” or “most like my view in 20 years” to “most unlike my view in 20 years” and so on. Conditions of instructions can be used to create experimental conditions for testing theories. For example, conditions of instruction might be constructed to tap into interpersonal dynamics, for example, “most like the view my father would like me to have” to “most unlike the view that my father would like me to have.”

...