31 Appreciating small-group active learning include students with varied preferences and that all preferences would be valued, especially students who feel they might have distinct preferences. Q-methodological studies do not benefit from large numbers of participants, mainly because they are interested in establishing the existence of viewpoints in their sample, which theoretically can be achieved with as many participants as there are viewpoints. That is why the sampling procedure is so important. A general guideline is to include fewer participants than items in the Q-set (24). Therefore, we aimed to include 50 students in the study. All first-year bachelor’s students (N = 350) of FMVU were eligible to participate, as we aimed to identify the diversity in appreciation for active learning of students who enter medical schools. All students willing to participate were included. Step 3: Data collection We collected the data for this study between September and December 2018. Participants took part in a one-hour interview (with JWG, AdlC, or research assistant) on the campus. Before the interview, students were informed about the goals and methods of the study, could ask questions, and signed the informed consent form. At the beginning of the interview, participants filled out a questionnaire about their sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, educational background, marital status, student member association, amount of volunteer or paid work, socioeconomic status, ethnic background, living situation). Then they did the Q-sorting procedure: rank ordering the Q-set statements according to agreement on a grid with a prearranged frequency distribution (Figure 2.2). The interviewer observed this process and photographed the completed Q-sort for quantitative analysis (see step 4). Next, the interviewer asked participants to elaborate on the reasons behind their choices (e.g., could you tell me your reasons for putting these statements at ‘agree most’?). The interviewer also asked about observed behaviors during the Q-sorting process (e.g., when a student hesitated before placing a statement on the grid or laughed when reading a statement). These observations might indicate important thoughts and feelings about statements. Answers to these questions were written down on a blank piece of paper. This semi-structured ‘post-sorting interview’ comprised the qualitative data for this study. In Q-methodological studies, these data are not recorded, transcribed, and analyzed, as in qualitative methods, but used to evaluate factor solutions (step 4) and to enrich factor interpretations (step 5). 2
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTk4NDMw