Q Methodology as a Tool for Committee Governance Research

Abstract

The allegiance of national bureaucratic elites to European, national, institutional and policy-specific identities or associations is the subject of a growing body of European integration literature. Reviewing the methods employed by committee governance research, Q methodology is suggested as an alternative mechanism for measuring bureaucrat norms, beliefs and values. Its application to research on European committee governance could therefore increase the robustness of the qualitative element of existing mixed methods approaches. This would provide further insight into policy-making processes at the international level.

Acknowledgements

This research has been kindly supported by the UK Economic and Social Research Council Large Grants Scheme, RES-060-25-0015, 2007–2012. Conflict in Cities and the Contested State: Everyday life and the possibilities for transformation in Belfast, Jerusalem and other divided cities. I would like to thank Professor Claudio M. Radaelli, Dr Rachel Ibreck and the anonymous referees for their most useful comments on an earlier draft. The usual disclaimer applies.

Notes

1. . I do not wish to inadvertently conflate terms such as identity, role conception, value alignment, preferences and causal beliefs. Q methodology, however, is adept in investigating any of these dependent variables.

2. . In my previous research experience I have found 40–45 to be an absolute maximum. With this number of statements, the interviews tended to last about 1–1.5 hours. However, many interviewees enjoyed the process so much that interviews sometimes lasted over 2 hours.