Reviews

Doing Q Methodological Research: Theory, Method and Interpretation by Simon Watts, Paul Stenner

ehanjian's review

4.5

This book was lent to me by my advisor, who I am working on a Q-method project with. This book is incredibly useful for students or researchers who are interested in using Q-method (mixed method for studying subjectivity/perspectives on a topic). I find the writing to be very clear and the instructions on how to perform, analyze, and interpret extremely useful. If anyone has a master’s thesis/undergrad thesis/research project in their future (and is sick of boring old interviews), I would absolutely recommend trying out Q-method - and using this book. 

Some shortcomings - Q-method was developed by a psychologist, and the examples used in this book do not stray from this too much. I think the world of this method could be refreshed with a more diverse set of examples of where and when the method can be used … hope that makes sense. 

This book also assumes (bc it is outdated) that automated analysis tools like Q-Assessor and Q-Method Software do not exist. It gives instructions on how to perform analysis by hand. If you want/need to do that b/c lack of funding then I think the instructions are great. If you have the funding, I would recommend using q-assessor (which also allows you to perform studies remotely)[the authors also assume you would be performing the study in person]. 

tita's review

5.0

I really really really recommend this book to anyone interested doing Q. Providing crystal clear step by step instruction, it's like "Q methodology for dummies"!