"Q-Analysis": Caveat Emptor

Abstract

R.H. Atkin's Q-analysis is described in terms of a study of nurses' countertransferences toward patients, and the outcome of a Q-analysis is compared with Stephenson's Q methodology. The conclusion is reached that Q-analysis is a variant of R methodology inasmuch as it is logico-categorical and oriented toward discovering inherent structure among objective features of the external world, hence is distinct from Q methodology which is designed to provide a science for subjectivity.