Educational Research Methods

 

A site to support teaching and learning...

PCT as the basis of a methodology

Personal construct theory provides a theoretical perspective on the way people make sense of their experiences/worlds.


Research tools


Kelly’s theory developed from his work as a psychologist/counsellor. He devised research techniques to explore his client’s ‘construct systems’ of their worlds:


The construct repertory test (a.k.a. ‘Kelly’s triads’) - to elicit constructs

Repertory grid - to see how constructs were related




Method or methodology?


The method of triads and the grid are data collection techniques (‘methods’). We might refer to “Kelly’s methodology” as a collective term for his set of tools seen from within constructive alternativism.

If we employ PCT as the basis of our theoretical perspective, and this informs our research questions, and leads to us building a research design using Kelly’s techniques for collection and analysis of data, then we might claim to be using Kelly’s methodology.

This is a personal site of Keith S. Taber to support teaching of educational research methods.

(Dr Keith Taber is Professor of Science Education at the University of Cambridge.)

2016

Figure from Taber, K. S. (2014). Methodological issues in science education research: a perspective from the philosophy of science. In M. R. Matthews (Ed.), International Handbook of Research in History and Philosophy for Science and Mathematics Education: Springer.

Variations on Kelly’s methods:


Walker and Winter (2007) report a range of variations on Kelly’s original approach that have been applied as alternative forms of grids or as means to elicit constructs to include in grids (see their review for further details):

  1. •Construct-construct grids.

  2. •Element-element grids.

  3. •Laddering and pyramiding

  4. •ABC technique

  5. •Self-characterization and textual analysis.

  6. •Construct content analysis

  7. •Interview methods.

  8. •Questionnaires.

  9. •Visual techniques

Walker, B. M., & Winter, D. A. (2007). The Elaboration of Personal Construct Psychology. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 453-477. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085535


An approach that is close to Kelly’s but with a more rigid structure is Q-methodology.

Index of topics