Author: qmethodorg

Hensel, Desirée, & Coleen Toronto (2022). Reading a Q methodology research article. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 53(1), 10-12. (Link: https://doi.org/10.3928/00220124-20211210-05)

Abstract: Health care studies that use Q methodology have increased dramatically in recent years, but most nurses have not learned about this mixed methods approach in their research classes. This teaching column will help readers understand some of the unique terms and characteristics of Q methodology. Understanding this method can help nurses performing evidence-based practice and education.

Desirée Hensel <henselnursinged@gmail.com> is Chief Executive Officer, Hensel Nursing Education Consulting, Dorset, VT (USA).

Takshe, Aseel A., Jon C. Lovett, Paul Stenner, Davide Contu, & Noelia Weber (2022, January). Prioritising climate change actions post COVID-19 amongst university students: A Q methodology perspective in the United Arab Emirates. International Journal of Global Warming, 26(1), 120-139. (Link: https://doi.org/10.1504/IJGW.2022.10043632)

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic caused strict regulations to lower transmission rates. Industries were shut down, people were in lockdown, and travel was curtailed. Restrictions were in effect for an enough period for people’s behaviour to change. For example, online meetings rather than needing to travel. This opens the possibility for alterations to the perception that it is possible to commit to effective climate change actions. A Q methodology study was conducted to analyse how 33 university environmental students across the United Arab Emirates perceive the importance of prioritising climate change actions post-pandemic. Statistical analysis yielded four discourses. The first emphasises the need to learn lessons about climate sustainability and sustain them post-pandemic. The second, more pessimistic but advocates preventing a return to pre-pandemic norms by implementing post-pandemic climate change regulations. The third expects economic recovery to take priority over reducing emissions. The fourth raises opportunities and challenges for environmental sustainability post-COVID-19.

Aseel A Takshe <aseel.takshe@cud.ac.ae> is in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Faculty of Communication, Arts and Sciences, Canadian University Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Marhraoui, Mohamed Amine, Mohammed Abdou Janati Idrissi, & Abdellah El Manouar (2022). Critical success factors for organizational agility: Q-study and the place of IT. In Hakikur Rahman (Ed.), Achieving organizational agility, intelligence, and resilience through information systems (pp. 269-298, Chap 10). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. (Chapter link: http://doi:10.4018/978-1-7998-4799-1.ch010)

Abstract: Companies are facing important challenges related to markets’ internationalization, regulatory restrictions, and fierce competition especially during the COVID-19 context. Environment is thus characterized by rapid and volatile changes. Organizational agility is the key capability allowing firms to adapt continuously by sensing changes in their environment and responding in an efficient and rapid manner. Previous work has addressed organizational agility enablers, including IT ones, allowing the firm to be more agile. In this chapter, the authors first extend their organizational agility enablers list through an in-depth analysis of consulting firms and governmental agencies reports on agility during the COVID-19 context. The final list contains 28 organizational agility enablers belonging to 10 groups. Then, the authors conduct a Q-study in order to identify what factors are critical for a successful journey towards agility and to analyze the results from an IT perspective.

Mohamed Amine Marhraoui <mohamed-amine_marhraoui1@um5.ac.ma> is in ENSIAS Engineering School, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco.

Gannon, Kate Elizabeth, Laetitia Pettinotti , Declan Conway , Swenja Surminski, Edward Ndilanha, & Tobias Nyumba (2022 March,). Delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through development corridors in East Africa: A Q-methodology approach to imagining development futures. Environmental Science and Policy, 129, 56-67. (Open Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2021.12.013)

Abstract: In this paper we advance a novel approach to integrated assessment of the ways in which the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are likely to manifest and interact within a given development context, using Q methodology and the conceptual framing of imaginaries. We apply this to development corridors and identify three qualitatively distinct imaginaries of SDG futures that exist among stakeholders across five development corridors in East Africa. These imaginaries articulate shared understandings of the ways in which corridors are likely to support, or limit, achievement of the SDGs and construct explanatory logics around the ways in which SDG trade-offs and synergies are likely to manifest within corridors. Our analysis suggests that SDG goals and targets are mostly synergistic in corridor landscapes, but that interactions can be multi-dimensional. We also (1) identify specific clusters of goals and targets that may be directly mutually reinforcing and which, strengthened in parallel, could upscale development within corridors, and (2) identify ways in which, following current corridor trajectories, progress towards some SDGs is likely to threaten progress towards other goals and targets. Particularly, the analysis identifies biodiversity conservation (SDG14/SDG15), sustainability (SDG11, SDG12, SDG13), secure and equal access to land (SDG2.3) and inequality reduction (SDG10) to be likely trade-offs to other development gains in current corridor trajectories. The research emphasises the need for more integrated corridor governance to achieve the SDGs efficiently, as a whole and for all. The method is flexible and could be applied to enable rapid assessment of SDG trajectories within other development contexts.

Kate Elizabeth Gannon <k.e.gannon@lse.ac.uk> is in the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.

Doygun, Hakan, Dilay Zülkadiroğlu, & Ilgaz Ekşi (2021, December). Başkonuş Mesire Yeri’nden (Kahramanmaraş) Sağlanan Ekosistem Hizmetlerine Yönelik Algının İncelenmesi [Investigation of perception towards ecosystem services provided from Başkonuş Recreation Area (Kahramanmaraş)]. Çukurova Journal of Agricultural and Food Sciences, 36(2), 219-230. (Turkish) (Link: https://doi.org/10.36846/CJAFS.2021.50)

Abstract (via Google Translate): With this study, it is aimed to examine the perception of ecosystem services provided from Başkonuş recreational area (Kahramanmaraş) with the help of Q methodology. As a result of the evaluations made by the participants, two perspectives emerged, one focused on conservation and the other focused on naturalness. The majority of the participants mentioned the positive effects of the promenade on the comfort of life, but they also stated that recreational activities, which can sometimes intensify, negatively affect the tranquility and natural environment. In this regard, It is recommended to avoid structural arrangements as much as possible in order to calculate the visitor carrying capacity of the promenade, to limit recreational uses and to keep the area in its natural shape. It is expected that the results obtained from the study will contribute to the practices to be carried out at the promenade and to the literature on Q methodology and ecosystem services.

Hakan Doygun <hakan.doygun@idu.edu.tr> is a member of the Faculty of Architecture, Department of Landscape Architecture, Izmir Democracy University, Izmir, Turkey.

Gauttier, Stéphanie (2022, January). A primer on Q-method and the study of technology. In Information Resources Management Association (Eds.), Research anthology on innovative research methodologies and utilization across multiple disciplines (pp. 498-509, Chap. 25). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. (Chapter link: http://doi:10.4018/978-1-6684-3881-7.ch025, chapter $37.50 on demand) (cloth $375.00, ISBN13 9781668438817; eBook EISBN13: 9781668438824)

Abstract: Qualitative methods are under-represented in the articles published by the main journals in Information Systems, which seem to privilege quantitative studies and statistical representativity of results, following the R logic. This chapter provides an in-depth description of Q-method and demonstrates how its use could be beneficial to studies of technology and could reinforce the transparency and validity of other qualitative methods. The focus of this chapter lies in explaining how Q-method works, so that readers are equipped to set up their own Q-studies. It is based on prior literature and ongoing reflections being held by Q-methodologists online.

Stéphanie Gauttier <stephanie.gauttier@grenoble-em.com> is in the Grenoble École de Management, Grenoble, France.

Hai-Jew, Shalin (2021, December). Setting up and running a Q-methodology study in an online survey research suite. In Information Resources Management Association (Eds.), Research anthology on innovative research methodologies and utilization across multiple disciplines (pp. 417-451, Chap. 22). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. (Chapter doi: 10.4018/978-1-6684-3881-7.ch022, chapter $37.50 on demand) (cloth $375.00, ISBN13 9781668438817; eBook EISBN13: 9781668438824)

Abstract: The q-method, as a graphic (visual) elicitation, has existed since the mid-1930s. Setting up a q-method, with q-sort capabilities, in an online survey platform, extends the reach of this method, even as data has to be processed in a quantitative data analytics suite. This chapter describes the setting up of a visual q-sort and the related debriefing on the Qualtrics Research Suite. The available data may be extracted and analyzed in a basic statistical analysis tool for factors and preference clusters.

Shalin Hai-Jew <shalin@ksu.edu> is in the Department of Information Technology Services, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS (USA).

Friant, Martin Calisto, Dirkjan Lakerveld, Walter J. V. Vermeulen, & Roberta Salomone (2021, December). Transition to a sustainable circular plastics economy in The Netherlands: Discourse and policy analysis. Sustainability, 14(1), art. 190. (Open Access: https:// doi.org/10.3390/su14010190)

Abstract: The circular economy (CE) has become a key sustainability discourse in the last decade. The Netherlands seeks to become fully circular by 2050 and the EU has set ambitious circularity targets in its CE Action Plan of 2015. The plastics sector, in particular, has gained a lot of attention as it is a priority area of both the EU and Dutch CE policies. However, there has been little research on the different and often contested discourses, governance processes and policy mechanisms guiding the transition to a circular economy and society. This paper aims to fill these gaps by asking what circular discourses and policies are being promoted in the Netherlands and what sustainability implications and recommendations can be drawn from it. It does so through a mix of media analysis, policy analysis, semi-structured interviews, and surveys using Q-methodology. Results indicate a dominance of technocentric imaginaries, and a general lack of discussion on holistic, and transformative visions, which integrate the full social, political, and ecological implication of a circular future. To address those challenges, this research brings key policy insights and recommendations which can help both academics and practitioners better understand and implement the transition towards a sustainable circular plastics economy.

Martin Calisto Friant <p.m.calisto@uu.nl> is in the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Jenks, Viveka E. (2022). An examination of the relationships between self-regulated learning, a pre-matriculation program, and academic performance on a podiatric medicine mock national board exam. Doctoral dissertation (Higher Education Administration), Kent State University, Kent, OH.

Abstract: The high-stakes nature of national board exams in podiatric medical education calls for robust studies about student preparation and the strategies that correlate most with academic performance. Curricular and co-curricular programming can boost students’ self-regulated learning aptitude and national board exam pass rates. The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to explore self-regulated learning in podiatric medical students in the context of their preparation for the APMLE-Part I exam and participation in a pre-matriculation program. This analysis was achieved using both quantitative techniques and Q methodology.

Quantitative data was collected through 30 second-year students who completed a Likert-type survey and a Q sort. Academic performance was measured by the scores on the mock board exam, which simulates and highly correlates with the APMLE-Part I exam outcomes. Pearson’s correlation was used to determine which characteristics are associated with academic performance. The Independent Samples t-test was used to determine differences in pre-matriculation and non-prematriculation students. Q sort data was analyzed through factor analysis. There were significant positive correlations between exam scores and intrinsic goal orientation, extrinsic goal orientation, control of learning beliefs, and self-efficacy. Significant negative correlations were found between exam scores and the rehearsal and help-seeking subscales. Three factors emerged during the Q sort. Factor one displayed consistency and confidence. Factor two described determined learners who preferred to study alone. Factor three described social learners yet demonstrated test anxiety. The findings identified characteristics of learners that can be used to implement and refine co-curricular programming.

Viveka E Jenks <vjenks@kent.edu> is Educational Innovations & Learning Design Manager, College of Podiatric Medicine, Kent State University, Independence, OH.

Lafferty, Moira E. (2021, December). The views of the few or the voices of many: Methods of exploring leadership roles through alternative approaches within higher education. In Denise Mifsud (Ed.), Narratives of educational leadership: Representing research via creative analytic practices (Educational Leadership Theory series, pp. 179-198, Chap 8). Singapore: Springer Nature. (Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5831-0_8)

Abstract: In the following chapter, I begin by discussing the changing landscape in higher education and argue why “leadership” is an important part of every academic’s journey. I discuss why we need to challenge traditional views of leadership and critically how we need to explore individuals’ views and reflections on their own leadership journeys. Furthermore, I will critically reflect on how we need to adopt different research methods to allow leadership journeys to emerge with a focus on the use of Q-methodology and why such approaches allow not only the emergence of understanding but can serve a dual purpose and contribute not only to a global understanding but also an individual’s personal development.

Moira E Lafferty <m.lafferty@chester.ac.uk> is in the School of Psychology, University of Chester, Chester, UK.