Personal construct analysis of autobiographical texts: A method presentation and case illustration

Abstract

This article develops a method for textual analysis on the basis of an author's construction of experience as expressed in self-descriptive texts. The method follows a multiple-step design, which (a) provides procedures for the selection and elicitation of both constructs and elements; (b) transforms constructs and elements into a binary data matrix that is subjected to a two-way cluster analysis; and (c) provides guidelines for psychological interpretation of the raw and computed data in terms of measures of construing, delimitation of the hierarchical level of the constructs, analysis of interpersonal dyads, and qualitative analysis. The method is illustrated through the analysis of jenny's letters–a case study presented by Allport (e.g., 1942), who urged psychologists to develop methods for the analysis of personal documents. As an aid to interpretation, the textual grid provides a plot of jenny's main axes of meaning and several systematic guidelines for a heuristic inquiry into her world.