TPC Journal V7, Issue 2 - FULL ISSUE

158 The Professional Counselor | Volume 7, Issue 2 Phase 1: Concourse Development This study was completed in two phases. The first phase involved developing the concourse. In Q methodology a concourse represents a collection of ideas that is composed around a topic (Stephenson, 1978). The concourse for this study was generated in two ways. First, we conducted a literature review and selected important themes for inclusion in the concourse. Second, after obtaining Institutional Review Board approval, we conducted interviews with five participants and then included statements from the participant interviews into the concourse. Five beginning-level professional counselors were interviewed and asked the following question: “What was it about teachers of your clinical classes during your program that was most helpful in becoming the professional counselor you are today?” To ensure a diverse range of viewpoints would be represented in the second phase of the study, we interviewed different gendered individuals (i.e., two male counselors, three female counselors) who worked in a variety of professional settings (i.e., two counselors worked in a private practice, one counselor worked in a community agency, and two counselors worked in a hospital setting) and who had differing racial identities (i.e., two Caucasian counselors, one African American counselor, one Asian American counselor, one Hispanic counselor). The lead researcher then analyzed all of the statements in the concourse (from the literature and participant interviews) and began identifying unique statements, grouping similar statements together. Groups of similar statements were further analyzed by the lead researcher, and one statement was selected from each group. Participant statements selected for inclusion were edited to abbreviate long statements or to change the tense of statements. The co-researchers then reviewed the lead researcher’s analysis to ensure that each remaining statement was distinct from other statements and relevant to the study. This process culminated in a 34-item instrument that would be used in the Q sample (see Table 1). Phase 2: Q Sample and Q Sort The second phase of this study entailed constructing a Q sample and administering Q sorts to participants. A Q sample is a composite of stimulus items administered to participants for rank- ordering during the Q sorting process (Stenner, Watts, & Worrell, 2008). Thirty-two participants were given the Q sample and were asked to rank order 34 items in the Q sample on a 9-point scale in the shape of a normal distribution. Prior to rank ordering statements for the Q sort, participants were prompted to reflect on teachers they had in clinical courses during their master’s degree programs and then to reflect on what it was about those teachers that had been most helpful to them in becoming the counselors they are today. Participants were then directed to read all statements and rank order them on a response grid that ranged from +4 ( most helpful ) to -4 ( most unhelpful ). After rank ordering the statements, participants were asked to provide written responses to several post-Q sort questions designed to elicit qualitative data about why certain items were important to them. Two examples of post-Q sort response questions were as follows: (a) “describe how the two items you ranked at 4 ( most helpful ) were helpful to the counselor you have become,” and (b) “describe how the two items you ranked at -4 ( most unhelpful ) were not helpful to the counselor you have become.” P Sample The P sample refers to the participants sampled for the Q sort, which in the case of this study were beginning-level professional counselors. Participants were required to meet the following criteria in order to be eligible for this study: (a) were a graduate of a counselor education master’s degree program in CMHC, (b) accrued at least 400 direct hours of post-master’s clinical service working with clients as a licensed counselor and (c) were no more than four years removed from graduating with their degree. After obtaining a second IRB approval to collect data using the Q sort, participants were recruited in several ways. The researchers called on the telephone and sent general recruitment e-mails to supervisors and directors of counseling agencies, private practices and in-patient