PQMethod is a statistical program tailored to the requirements of Q studies. The software is free and distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). It was developed by Peter Schmolck, who ported the original FORTRAN program, QMethod, developed by John Atkinson at Kent State University in 1992 for mainframe platforms.
PQMethod allows to easily enter data (Q-Sorts) the way they are collected, i.e. as ‘piles’ of statement numbers. It computes intercorrelations among Q-Sorts, which are then factor-analysed with the Centroid or, alternatively, PCA method. Resulting factors can be rotated either analytically (Varimax), or judgmentally with the help of two-dimensional plots. Finally, after selecting the relevant factors and ‘flagging’ the entries that define the factors, the analysis step produces an extensive report with a variety of tables on factor loadings, statement factor scores, discriminating statements for each of the factors as well as consensus statements across factors, etc.
Download the Software (Release 2.35)
The current release of the PQMethod software is available for download for Windows, DOS and Linux.
The source code for PQMethod (FORTRAN77) and PQROT (free pascal) is contained in the Linux package, see link above.
Documentation
The detailed documentation is available in the current version of the PQManual (2014-Mar-26).
Q study Archive
This archive provides example datasets from Q methodology studies, including published research. The materials can be used for learning, teaching, and practicing Q analysis with PQ method (or another) software.
References and contacts
Schmolck, P. (2008, October). Common and specific approaches in the analysis of Q-sort data with PQMethod. Keynote speech presented at the 24th Annual Q Conference. Hamilton, Ontario. Presentation: http://schmolck.org/qmethod/Schmolck_Hamilton-2008_Talk.ppt
Peter Schmolck: Peter.Schmolck@unibw-muenchen.de