Using Q Methodology to Explore Science Teachers’ Socioscientific Decision-Making

Abstract

In this study, Q methodology was used to explore science teachers’ socioscientific decision-making. In Q methodology, participants are presented with a number of statements about a topic and are asked to sort these statements according to a guideline. The methodology allows researchers identify more information about participants’ decision-making by putting them at the center of analysis. The participants of the study consisted of 8 science teachers (5 females, 3 males), who were asked to sort a number of 22 statements about socioscientific issues; and as they completed their sorting, they were interviewed. Findings revealed two distinct perspectives that science teachers had about socioscientific decision-making: (i) traditional and (ii) universal. Even though all science teachers were aware of the value and importance of environment and human health, their perspectives differed in the subject areas of science, policy and sociology/culture, and in the intellectual baggage of experience and value.