Northampton Electronic Collection of Theses and Research

Q-Methodology

Sheffield, K. (2015) Q-Methodology. Paper presented to: Transpersonal Research Methods First Annual Conference, Milan, 22-23 June 2015. (Unpublished)

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Abstract: As part of a wider PhD project exploring practitioners' understanding of the nature and effects of Loving Kindness Meditation (LKM), Q-methodology was employed to study how a range of existing LKM practitioners understand their practice. Q-methodology involves a set of statements about a topic being given to individuals to sort into a normal distribution shape, from strongly agree to least strongly agree, in whatever order they wish. This allows the individual to present their view of what the topic means to them, with correlations and factor analysis allowing the researcher to recognise patterns across individuals in their statement placing preferences and therefore identify groups of thought about a topic. It allows for viewpoints and perceptions to be assessed and so is particularly useful for exploring how individuals understand a concept. The presentation will give an overview of the methodology as applied with a group of experiences LKM practitioners and show how the outcomes can be analysed, interpreted and contextualised using data from the PhD study.
Uncontrolled Keywords: Meditation, Q-methodology, transpersonal psychology, loving-kindness
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology > BF76.5 Psychology research
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology > BF204.7 Transpersonal psychology
Creators: Sheffield, Kimberley
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes: University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Research Centre > Centre for the Study of Anomalous Psychological Processes
University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Faculty of Health & Society > Psychology
Faculties > Faculty of Health & Society > Psychology
Research Centres > Centre for Psychology and Social Sciences
Date: 22 June 2015
Date Type: Presentation
Event Title: Transpersonal Research Methods First Annual Conference
Event Dates: 22-23 June 2015
Event Location: Milan
Event Type: Conference
Language: English
Status: Unpublished
URI: http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/7807

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