qmethod (version 1.2.2)

qflag: Q methodology: automatic flagging of Q-sorts

Description

Applies the two standard algorithms to flag Q-sorts automatically, for posterior calculation of the statement scores.

Usage

qflag(loa, nstat)

Arguments

loa

a Q-sort factor loading matrix obtained from unclass(principal(...)$loadings).

nstat

number of statements in the study.

Details

These are the two standard criteria for automatic flagging used in Q method analysis:

1. Q-sorts which factor loading is higher than the threshold for p-value > 0.95, and

Q-sorts which square loading is higher than the sum of square loadings of the same Q-sort in all other factors.

References

Brown, S. R., 1980 Political subjectivity: Applications of Q methodology in political science, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. See further references on the methodology in qmethod-package.

Examples

data(lipset)
library(psych)
loa <- as.data.frame(unclass(principal(lipset[[1]], nfactors=3, rotate="varimax")$loadings))
flagged <- qflag(loa=loa, nstat=nrow(lipset[[1]]))
summary(flagged)