Steven R Brown

Kent State University | KSU · Program in Research Measurement & Statistics

The study of single cases has occupied an important position in the history of the human sciences and William Stephenson (1902–1989) has been explicit that the study of single cases from the centrality-of-self standpoint is the only way to proceed scientifically. Adopting the view that abductions, like laws, are for future use and provide guidance...

The conceptual boundaries of international mediation are defined, and the variety of available techniques is summarized. Philosophical premises are discussed, and the issue of appropriate technology is raised. Q methodology is then introduced as a method for exploring the structure of parties' perspectives, and an example of its potential applicabi...

Subjectivity is ubiquitous and implies perspectives that range in scope from the intrapersonal (as in individual musings and daydreams) to the intercultural (as in communication between and among identities) and in sophistication from the inchoate babblings of infants to the theoretical pronouncements of philosophers and mathematicians. Q methodolo...

The study of public opinion at the collective level can be profitably complemented through the intensive study of single cases which serve to illustrate the connections among feelings and images as they relate to opinions. Images of primary and secondary objects and the moods which they stimulate are represented through Q technique, with factor ana...

Misunderstandings have arisen about the nature and purpose of structured statement samples in Q methodology and their relation to concourses (the parent populations of statements) and to theory testing. Moreover, there is little discussion or understanding of proposition sets, or theoretical conditions under which participants are invited to perfor...

We are grateful to the Editor of Operant Subjectivity for inviting the five of us to write this collaborative article addressing the comparability of and differences between our two independently submitted Q studies (Burkholder & Janson, 2013; Baltrinic, Waugh, & Brown, 2013) examining doctoral student completion. The virtually simultaneous appeara...

Thirty-five novice counselors completed a Q sort that assessed their perceptions of what was most helpful about teachers of didactic classes in their master's degree program. Participants perceived teachers who used a contextual teaching pedagogy and had an authentic, empathic, and compassionate way of being as helpful to their learning.

The proposition that “participants pursue values through institutions utilizing resources” finds expression in the problems with which participants become concerned and which they choose to address, and these choices in turn are a function of prior life experiences as revealed in policy-related autobiographies. As part of a pedagogical exercise foc...

Book review: Weintraub on verbal behavior

Syllabus for summer workshop, Kent State University, May 2016

302 Bowman (office 29), 672-2719, <sbrown@kent.edu> The purpose of this seminar is to introduce statistical and methodological principles associated with the use of Q method in the study of subjectivity—with primary emphasis on its applicability to problems of public policy—and to locate Q methodology within the framework of contempo-rary science....

Despite its importance, there is no universally accepted definition of excellent teaching, yet excellent teaching is expected across educational settings. Uncovering the structures of communication around excellent teaching can provide teacher training programs with perspectives for programming and curriculum design. The purpose of the study was to...

The critical audit of Q methodology by Kampen and Tamás contains many errors of fact and understanding—indeed, a resistance to understanding that is compared to the Medicis’ stance toward Galileo. Following a brief historical summary of similar ill-advised critiques of Q methodology in the 80 years since its introduction, responses are presented to...

The purpose of this study was to describe and illustrate a strategy for uncovering student and faculty perspectives about program retention and completion in a department of counselor education and supervision and then to use those perspectives as a springboard for recommending policy innovations.

Research shows that children of divorce are at risk of adjustment problems and school problems. In previous studies of young children of divorce, most often parents or teachers have supplied data. In this study, we explore the children's own feelings and experiences through Q methodology with visual images. The study includes 17 children of divorce...

The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) was created in 1993 to advance conservation in a 1.2million km2 portion of the North American Rocky Mountains. We assembled 21 people with influence over Y2Y in a workshop to elucidate perspectives on challenges and solutions for this organization at a key point in its evolution, and used Q met...

Research shows that children of divorce are at risk of adjustment problems and school problems. In previous studies of young children of divorce, most often parents or teachers have supplied data. In this study, we explore the children's own feelings and experiences through Q methodology with visual images. The study includes 17 children of divorce...

Abstract: The 2011 Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Scientific Study of Subjectivity in Birmingham offered numerous opportunities for reflecting on the role of theory in Q methodology and on further theoretical implications in applied Q studies. A summary is provided of the opening addresses from Eefje Cuppen and David Ockwell an...

Although fatigue is an unpleasant symptom commonly experienced by pediatric oncology patients, it also tends to be under-recognized and under-treated. A conceptual understanding of how patients perceive fatigue is beneficial for better identification and treatment planning. The purpose of this study was to understand how adolescents with cancer per...

Reducing current conflict over large carnivore conservation and designing effective strategies that enjoy broad public support depend on a better understanding of the values, beliefs, and demands of those who are involved or affected. We conducted a workshop attended by diverse participants involved in conservation of large carnivores in the northe...

Marginalization consists in not taking others into account on any number of valued outcomes, resulting in powerlessness, ignorance, poverty, illness, insecurity, and other manifestations of devaluation. Two illustrations are presented, including a brief summary of Q methodology, an innovation in factor theory that was marginalized by 20th century d...

A disparit y exists between the conceptualization of empowerment on the one hand and its measurement on the other. Conceptually, we are challenged "to look at the world through the eyes and spirit of the poor, to start with poor people's realities" (Narayan, 2000, p. 274), but implementation typically falls short of this worthy goal. For instance,...

Fernandes and Simon propose to examine decision making in complex and ambiguous situations by inviting various professionals (architects, doctors, engineers, and lawyers) to contemplate a paradoxical case, but the thoughts which this exercise generates are then summarized in terms of categories proposed a priori (structural information). A function...

Q methodology combines the strengths of both qualitative and quantitative methods, and its use in research has been facilitated by recent developments in computer software. Q methodology is briefly illustrated in a single-case study of the subjective experience of health care, and the data generated are used to illustrate the QMethod package, a men...

Various social and political factors often block the emergence of good ideas — e.g., the presence of an overbearing leader, the loquaciousness of some actors and the shyness of others, conventional and doctrinal thinking, the political climate, etc. — and devices have been invented to overcome some of these obstacles in decisionmaking settings: the...

Discusses the highlights of W. Stephenson's (1902–1989) international work in psychometrics and his development of the Q technique and factor analysis. Stephenson's concern was with establishing the conditions for a science of subjectivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Discusses the highlights of W. Stephenson's (1902–1989) international work in psychometrics and his development of the Q technique and factor analysis. Stephenson's concern was with establishing the conditions for a science of subjectivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved)

The conceptual boundaries of international mediation are defined, and the variety of available techniques is summaried. Philosophical premises are discussed, and the issue of appropriate technology is raised. Q methodology is then introduced as a method for exploring the structure of parties' perspectives, and an example of its potential applicabil...

Comments on P. Gould's (see record 1985-21792-001) discussion of the differences between R. Atkin's (1974) Q-analysis and W. Stephenson's (1982) Q methodology. Implications for the study of operant subjectivity are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Fishkin's Beyond Subjective Morality (1984) provides the basis for demonstrating the operant nature of meta-ethical thought and the structure of communicability that enters into it. A Q sample is composed of statements from the book, and four factors emerge from the Q sortings of 12 persons. Factors I to III bear similarities to categories in Fishk...

Theoretical debates in the communication and other sciences often overlook the relativity of reference frames which give rise to conflicting interpretations over facts in dispute. Drawing on Newton's unpublished Fifth Rule of reasoning as applied to a problem in political communication, conclusions arising from diverse theoretical commitments are s...

Views the statistical strength of factors in both R and Q studies as artifactual to sampling considerations. Factor strength, therefore, may not be truly representative of variable contributions in the external situation. Two case studies illustrate the importance of considering psychosocial context in determining the strength and relative contribu...

The 1st part of a supplemental bibliography that will bring a 1968 publication up to date is presented (to be continued in subsequent issues). The influence of post-1968 trends on Q methodology is discussed. Social climates, moving toward greter flexibility and person-centered approaches, are changing psychological perspectives and Q techniques. Th...

The influence of political literature has often proved elusive to empirical political science, partly because of the subjectivity of literary response, and partly because of social science methods which are largely incapable of dealing with subjective phenomena in a satisfactory way. A distinction is made between the experimental methods of express...

The influence of political literature has often proved elusive to empirical political science, partly because of the subjectivity of literary response, and partly because of social science methods which are largely incapable of dealing with subjective phenomena in a satisfactory way. A distinction is made between the experimental methods of express...

Results from a study in Ohio, and replicated in six additional states, show public opinion toward state land use regulation to be aggregated around two major attitudes: the Environmentalists stress the impact of negative developmental externalities and favor broader review of land use decisions; the Localists are concerned with accountability and l...

This paper uses the Interpersonal Perception Method (IPM) to analyze a single episode in a group's experience. The authors feel that such an approach is much more useful than the more usual trait analysis in understanding those experiences which will mediate the group's functioning. (NG)

Die Q-Technik wurde von William Stephens 1) on Dent wickelt und in den fünfziger und sechziger Jahren vor allem in der Psychologie angewandt 2); in jüngster Zeit wurde sie aber in größerem Maß auch zur Erforschung des Sozialverhaltens eingesetzt. Die Q-Technik ist im Grunde die Abart eines Rangordnungverfahrens, bei dem die Befragten eine Reihe von...

Results from a study in Ohio, and replicated in six additional states, show public opinion toward state land use regulation to be aggregated around two major attitudes: the Environmentalists stress the impact of negative developmental externalities and favor broader review of land use decisions; the Localists are concerned with accountability and l...

Q methodology is employed for purposes of providing an instrumental base to Lasswell's concept of the continuing decision seminar. Policy-making is regarded as essentially subjective and value-laden in nature, hence the use of instruments to assist in the micromodeling of complex decision processes—as embodied in decision seminars—must give central...

Intensive analyses of single cases have often lacked precision, and their position in logic-of-science respects has remained in doubt due to questions of generalizability. In this paper, the conceptualizations of behavioral laws, representativeness, and operation ism are restated in order to place intensive analysis on firmer foundations. A study o...

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Three studies are conducted on the subjective perceptions of extraverts and introverts, using Q technique and factor analysis. In the first two studies, intensive analyses indicate that both introverts and extraverts have extraverted aspirations. These results are confirmed and extended in the third study with a larger sample of subjects. Both intr...

Arguments favoring free- over forced-distribution Q sorts have assumed that forcing leads to loss of important statistical information and interferes with interval properties, rendering Pearson's r inappropriate for analysis. Q sorts with identical item orderings but with varied distributions are shown to provide essentially the same correlations a...

Notes that experiments investigating the relation between similarity and attraction have been completely consistent in finding a positive, linear relation between the 2 variables. The hypothesis was tested that similarity-dissimilarity on the trait of introversion would yield an inverse relation between similarity and attraction. 205 undergraduates...

In many ways the study of political groups from a theoretical point of view can be said not to have progressed much beyond the conceptions of Arthur F. Bentley. There have been countless studies of political groups, to be sure, but it seems most have been little more than the collection and presentation of ad hoc facts obtained from the testing of...

Misgivings concerning the use of variance design and analysis in the structuring and evaluation of Q samples derive from the basic assumptions of deductive methodologies. Several alternative uses of variance design, as discussed by Stephenson, are suggested. Criticism of Stephenson’s use of factorial arrangement is based on a misunderstanding of hi...

Is ideology the exclusive property of an “articulate elite,” or are we all ideologists in one way or another&quest; Professor Brown's experimental test of these alternative positions indicates that belief structure persists among the “inarticulate mass” just as it does among his more articulate subjects, and he concludes that the conflicting findin...

Subjectivity is ubiquitous in social and politica l life, and is conceptualized in a variety of ways, most of them substantive, categorical, and dualistic. A summary is provided of the principles associated with the study of subjectivity as a natural science, as found in the works of Kantor and Stephenso n, and procedures are illustrated in a study...

More than 580 references on Q technique and its methodology are grouped in the following categories: [1] History, Principles, Controversies, and Evaluation; [2] Factor Analysis and Related Statistics; [3] Measurement Theory: (a) Nonprojective tests and assessment, (b) Application to projective tests, (c) Q sort tests; [4] Applications of Q Techniqu...