ten Klooster, Peter M., Martijn Visser, & Menno D.T. de Jong (2008). Comparing two image research instruments: The Q-sort method versus the Likert attitude questionnaire. Food Quality and Preference, 19, 511�518.

Abstract: Despite the attention for corporate, brand and product images, only few studies focus on methodological comparisons of image research methods. This article presents a comparison of two current instruments: the Q-sort method and a Likert attitude questionnaire. The study applies both methods to measure the image of beef, using the same assertions in similar samples of consumers. The two methods produce consistent results, but differ in the possibilities of data analysis and interpretation. An advantage of the Q-sort method is that it offers straightforward insights in the underlying structure of image within audience segments. On the other hand, the Q-sort method does not give overall indications of an image, and limits occur for analyzing the relationships between image and other variables.

M.D.T. De Jong and his co-authors are with the Institute for Behavioral Research, Faculty of Behavioral Sciences, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.

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Author of Political Subjectivity (Yale University Press 1980), founding editor of Operant Subjectivity (1977), organizer of first Q conference (1985) and founding member of the International Society for the Scientific Study of Subjectivity (1989), founder and moderator of Q-Method electronic discussion list (1991), and laureate of ISSSS's William Stephenson Award (2010). Also past editor of Policy Sciences, co-founder of the International Society of Political Psychology and the Society of Policy Scientists, list manager of PolicySciencesSociety, executive director of ISPP, laureate of ISPP's Harold Lasswell Award (2009) for lifetime scientific contributions, and Kappa Tau Alpha award (2001) for contributions to journalism and mass communication.