Q Methodology: Mapping Shared Viewpoints

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 15:02:57 -0400

September 9, 2025 | 3:00-4:00pm | Public Policy Building 451 | UMBC Main Campus

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In this talk, I introduce Q methodology as a flexible approach for studying people’s viewpoints. Q combines a structured data-collection technique (Q sorting), by-person factor analysis, and a conceptual framework to enable a systematic study of subjectivity. It fits complex and contested questions across disciplines and supports theory building, stakeholder mapping, and policy or design decisions. For doctoral projects, Q bridges qualitative and quantitative traditions, producing defensible, interpretable typologies of shared views with consensus and distinguishing statements. It works well alongside interviews for depth and follow-up surveys for prevalence, yielding actionable narratives grounded in participants’ own reasoning.

Please RSVP by this form by 8 September.

Sponsored by the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) graduate program; the Language, Literacy, and Culture (LLC) doctoral program; and the Center for Social Science Scholarship (CS3).