Anyone interested in research related to determining subjectivities, meaning people’s opinions about a topic, will be interested in reading this text. Certainly, this text is a must-have for anyone interested in Q methodology or who has used Q methodology, Q Methodology (Q) is a complete methodology which involves technique (sorting), method (factor analysis), philosophy, ontology, and epistemology. Q reveals and describes divergent views in a group as well as consensus. Q was created by William Stephenson (1902-1989) who possessed PhDs in physics (1926) and psychology (1929) and studied psychometrics with Charles Spearman, the creator of factor analysis.
Professor Steven R. Brown was a student of Stephenson at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he received his undergraduate and graduate degrees. Since 1967, he has been teaching at Kent State University, first in the Department of Political Science, until his retirement in 2011, and since then as an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Education. In addition to his teaching, Brown has distinguished himself as a scholar in the fields of political science, political psychology, the policy sciences, literary criticism, evaluation and measurement, experimental design, methodology, and most importantly, Q methodology. It was during his graduate school days that Brown encountered William Stephenson, who innovated Q methodology in 1935. Brown has devoted his professional life to the advancement of Stephenson’s profound ideas, and along the way has made enormous contributions to Q methodology, himself. In fact, since Stephenson’s passing in 1989, Professor Steven R. Brown has emerged as the foremost authority on Q methodology and its amazing utility in studying every facet of the human sciences.
This festschrift dedicated to Professor Steven R. Brown, consists of thirteen chapters authored by other experts in Q methodology within a variety of disciplines. These chapters are organized into the following three sections: Legacy (of Brown), Methodology (discussions of methodological aspects of Q), and Applications (varied applications across multiple disciplines). In addition, there is an introduction that provides a brief historical overview of Steven R. Brown’s academic history and contributions to Q methodology.
