Q-Sort Technique

The technique of Q-sorting was first introduced by William Stephenson, the creator of Q Methodology (see: Stephenson, !"#$ the te%tboo& by 'rown, !()$ or the Sage 'oo&let primer by Mc*eown + Thomas, !((,- Whereas Q Methodology ta&es quite peculiar an epistemological stance as a pri.ileged pathway to human sub/ecti.ity, the Q-sort as well as Q-correlation and Q-factor analysis are techniques that are applied within other schools of thought also: 0arl 1ogers ( !"2, who populari3ed the self sort with ideal sort correlation as a measure of ad/ustment, and 4ac& 'loc& ( !5 , who de.eloped the 0alifornia Q-set (0QS, as a standard psychometric instrument6 Q-sample (or Q-set, consists of a set of stimuli each printed on a separate cardTypically, the stimuli are statements e%pressing different opinions on a certain issue, and the number of statements is somewhere between #) and 5), though as much as )) statements are not quite unusual- The process of Q-sorting a set of stimuli amounts to ha.ing the sub/ect model his or her sub/ecti.e point of .iew on the issue at hand by ran&ordering the stimuli along a continuum defined by a condition of instruction (Mc*eown + Thomas, !((, p- #),- 6 condition of instruction is a guide for sorting Q-sample itemsThis can be a simple request, li&e:

Sort the items according to those with which you most agree (7", to those with which you most disagree (-",Sort the items according to those that are most like ob/ect 8 person 9 (7", to those most unlike that ob/ect 8 person (-",-

Sometimes, the sub/ect is as&ed to sort the same Q-sample under two or more .ariations on the same basic condition of instruction- :or instance, the target ob/ect 8 person may .ary, li&e in 1oger;s assessment of real self .s- ideal self descriptions- <r the ran&ing continuum may be applied to differing theoretical constructs- :or e%ample, in a study of political perceptions, the respondent could be as&ed to sort the sample items according to =what is most li&e 8 unli&e a conservative point of view=, and =what is most li&e 8 unli&e a liberal point of view-= The usual technique in.ol.es a forced sort, i-e- putting under each point on the continuum a prescribed number of cards- The distribution of the pile si3es usually follows a modification of a (flattened, normal cur.e as displayed in the following e%ample of a finished Q-sort:

Q-Sort Example: "My Personal View of Bill"

Least Characteristic Traits

Neutral / No Salience

Most Characteristic Traits

-2
(1)

-1
(2)

0
(3)

+1
(2)

+2
(1)

Timid

Unsparkling

Boastless

Persistent

Tricky

Distant

Coldhearted

Jovial

Charitable

>ote that this e%ample ser.es demonstration purposes only, and that the .ery small number of .ery simple items should not be misrepresented as in any way typical for Qsamples in general- The same e%ample will be shown later in WebQ;s layout, and it is also used for the Sample WebQStrategy for rank-ordering a Q-sample, procedural steps. ?ow was this e%ample Q-sort (pro.ided by an anonymous obser.er of 'ill;s character, arri.ed at@ An addition to the well-shuffled pac& of cards, the sub/ect in a Q-sort session is pro.ided with either a single long ruler or a set of separate distribution mar&er cards which would represent the ran&ing continuum with its pile categories (-B through 7B, under which the cards will be layed out in the prescribed distribution ( - B - # - B - ,, and a detailed step-by-step instruction- The general idea of the sorting strategy is to begin with presorting items into three piles (left: disagree - middle: neutral - right: agree,, then pic& out the most significant representati.es of both, the e%treme right (7B,, and for the e%treme left pile (B,, and then continue to wor& towards the center of the ran&ing continuum- 6 prototypical set of instructions is gi.en by Mc*eown + Thomas ( !((, p- # f-,?owe.er, note that the following quotation refers to a more typical Q-sort design with piles (-" through 7", with frequencies #-2-2-C-C- )-C-C-2-2-#,:

- The sub/ect is as&ed to read through the items to become familiar with them- 6s this is done, the
sub/ect sorts them into three piles: Dlaced to the right are those with which the sub/ect agrees, to the left those with which he or she disagrees, and in the middle those about which he or she is either neutral, ambi.alent or uncertainEuring Q-sorting the sub/ect spreads the items out under the distribution mar&ers, while maintaining the general left-center-right relationship- This facilitates the reading of the items contextually and the making of comparisonsStudying the items to the right, and in conformity with the distribution, the sub/ect selects the three items that are most li&e his or her position (or, the number of items called for, and places them .ertically, under the 7" mar&er- The order of the items under the mar&ers is not important$ all three items beneath the 7" mar&er will recei.e the same score when the data are recordedTurning now to the left side, the sub/ect studies the items, and selects three from among those on the left that are most unli&e his or her position- These are placed under the -" mar&er- 6gain, the specific order does not matter1eturning to the right side, the sub/ect now pic&s the four items that are more li&e his or her position than the remaining ones among the grouping but which are not as significant as the four already selected (located under 7",, and places them under the 72 mar&er- <n second thought the respondent might decide that an item selected for 72 is more importatnt than one uder 7"- ?e or she is perfectly free to switch it with another at this or any other time6ttention re.erts to the left side and the process is repeated, with the sub/ect wor&ing toward the middle ) position, until all of the Q-sort statements are positioned from left to right- Atems placed under the middle mar&er (), often are the ones left o.er after all of the positi.e and negati.e positions ha.e been filled- The reason for ha.ing sub/ects wor& bac& and forth is to help them thin& anew the significance of each item in relation to the others- <nce completed, the Q-sort should be re.iewed, the sub/ect ma&ing ad/ustments among items that, upon rearrangement, more accurately portray his or her personal point of .iew:inally, statement scores for the completed Q-sort are recorded by writing the item numbers on a score sheet that reproduces the Q-sort distribution (cf-, the figure abo.e,-

B-

#-

2"-

5-

C-