Abductive Reasoning Tendencies of Graduate Students in the Context of Qualitative Research: A Q Methodology Study

Abstract

The aim of this research is to reveal the tendencies of graduate students towards abductive reasoning in the context of qualitative research. To this end, the study is designed within the Q methodology pattern, which is one of the mixed research methods. Q methodology is a research method aimed at systematically analyzing the views of participants on the research question. The study group of the research consists of 11 graduate students determined by criterion sampling. As a data collection tool, 14 sentences related to three themes measuring abductive reasoning tendency were used. The data collection process was carried out using a structured Q sorting. As a result of the research, it has been observed that the tendencies of graduate students towards abductive reasoning in the context of qualitative research are grouped under four factors. These four factors consist of the harmonious creative group, which has a high tendency towards creative abductive reasoning and excessively coded abductive reasoning; the selector group, which has a high tendency towards under coded abductive reasoning; the descriptive group, which has a high tendency towards excessively coded abductive reasoning; and the exploratory creative group, which has a high tendency towards under coded abductive reasoning and creative abductive reasoning.