Abstract:
This article introduces readers to the fundamentals of Q-methodology, which was invented by William Stephenson in 1935 and refined thereafter. This methodology is composed of two parts: philosophical and methodological background and q-technique (Q-method). Q aims at discovering one person or multiple persons' subjective viewpoints, such as feelings, opinions, beliefs, or evaluations, not objective facts. Q researchers capture research participants' subjectivities by asking them to express their viewpoints through ranking a sample of statements on cards or a computer screen. The sample comes from a concourse of statements that is collected from interviews, mass media, and literature review. It emphasizes a random sample of questions rather than a random sample of research participants. Like qualitative methods, Q focuses on finding people's schema of thoughts about a research topic, what ideas are important to them, and how ideas are patterned. Furthermore, Q is not interested in generalization of a research result to the entire population from which a sample was derived. Research participants are selected mostly from stratified sampling to garner as many viewpoints as possible. Q takes a holistic, gestalt approach to collect statements from a wide different spectrum, rather than an algebraic approach where interactions are often ignored among variables. Q belongs to qualitative methods, even though it is aided by a numerical tool of factor analysis. Using a small number of research participants, Q can test theories and/or generate hypotheses. It adopts an abductive approach to find the most plausible explanation, rather than a deductive approach that quantitative studies traditionally adopted or an inductive approach that qualitative studies did. Q uses factor analysis, a quantitative tool, which results in quick and deep analysis that otherwise might not be possible. Because of its use of factor analysis, some call Q a mixed method rather than a
qualitative one.
Keywords: Q methodology, q technique, fundamentals of Q, correlations among people, holistic approach, abduction