The Study of Behavior. Q-Technique and its Methodology.

Reviews The Study of Behavior. Q-Technique and its Methodology (see record 1954-06810-000) by William Stephenson. The reviewer notes that this book does not, as the title implies, deal with behaviour, at least, not in the sense that the term is usually understood by psychologists; it deals essentially with techniques of obtaining self-ratings and ratings of others, called Q-sorts by Stephenson, and with techniques of correlating persons and factor analyzing the resulting tables of correlations, called Q-techniques by Stephenson. It constitutes, therefore, a summary and detailed statement of work carried on intermittently by Stephenson since 1935, and well known in its main aspects to statistically-minded psychologists. Those who have followed this work, and the many controversies to which it has given rise, will turn to this book in anticipation of finding a detailed discussion of the main points, together with an empirical proof of the effectiveness of the methods suggested. The reviewer notes that a great deal of the argument is difficult to follow because of Stephenson's somewhat explosive and disjointed manner of writing. In summary, there is much that is ingenious, interesting, and suggestive in this book, but it cannot be recommended to anyone not thoroughly familiar with the field and able to discount the more unorthodox and less acceptable parts of the argument. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)