Combining a Naturalistic and Theoretical Q Sample Approach: An Empirical Research Illustration

Abstract

An important step in any Q-methodological study is the identification of the concourse and the development of the Q set. Inspired by the writings of William Stephenson (1953) and Steven Brown (1980) about the development of the Q set, we illustrate how two different approaches to Q sampling, naturalistic and theoretical, may be combined. We draw on examples from a Q study scrutinizing adolescents’ subjective viewpoints about collaboration and participation in interprofessional teams. The example is used to illustrate how naturalistic and theoretical approaches to Q sampling may be combined in the same research design. The Concourse Box is introduced as a new tool to help visualize these joint contributions.