ABSTRACT
Founded in the 1950s by psychologist William Stephenson (1953) Q methodology has since been adopted across a wide range of social science research domains. The objective of Q methodology is to reveal different opinions or perspectives on a topic of study by exploring how respondents judge the relative importance to them of different dimensions of a problem or situation. To achieve this insight, Q methodology identifies a set of key items, typically short statements, that represent different opinions and viewpoints about the topic, and asks respondents to create a partial ranking of these items in a process known as a Q sort. The purpose of the Q sort ranking is to show the relative significance that respondents attribute to each item presented. Factor analysis is then employed to identify commonalities and differences between the Q sorts produced by different respondents, with the aim of summarising these into a small number of archetypal sorts that represent common viewpoints held by groups of similarly minded individuals. These archetypal sorts provide the framework for discussion of the different viewpoints held, and identification of points of coherence and divergence in opinions between groups.
