Description Long

The Repertory Grid was developed by George Kelly in the 1950s. For a time, it fell into relative obscurity, but in recent years it has regained considerable attention. The method is based on the constructivist approach, which assumes that each individual has their own categories of perception and thought. It enables these subjective categories – known as constructs – to be systematically recorded and analysed.
The core idea is that participants compare several elements (e.g. products, brands, services, or situations) and identify similarities and differences. The data collected can then be evaluated and interpreted using various analytical methods.

What can the Repertory Grid do?

• It can be used to explore perceptions and expectations related to products, and to compare services such as events in retrospect.
• It can also help examine the roles of individuals within organisations or analyse situations – for example, in customer interactions.
• Additionally, this questioning technique can be used to describe how brands are perceived, making it easier to distinguish them from competitors.
• Ultimately, it provides insights that support improvements in product design, services, team collaboration, and a company’s overall reputation.
• The Repertory Grid can also be combined with other interview techniques, customer journey mapping, focus groups, and more.

Preparation

• Selection of participants: As participants need to be familiar with the elements, they should be selected in such a way that they are well acquainted with the topic and the research questions.
• Selection of elements: The elements should be known to the participants, allow for meaningful comparison, be relevant to them, and cover a broad range of differences.
• To ensure both a representative result and a manageable level of complexity, the number of elements should ideally range between 6 and 25.

Execution

1. Eliciting constructs:

• Triads are formed, in which participants identify similarities and differences in their underlying constructs (triadic method).
• The identified similarities are referred to as "construct poles", while the differences between them are termed "contrast poles".
• Participants are asked to describe two similarities and one contrasting element.
• This process continues until no further constructs can be identified.

2. Rating the elements:

• The respondent rates all elements on a rating scale with respect to each of the elicited constructs.

3. Analysis:

• A qualitative approach can be used (e.g. content analysis, contingency analysis or equivalence analysis) to examine how frequently categories co-occur or exclude one another.
• The grid can also be evaluated quantitatively – for instance, using principal component analysis or cluster analysis.

Hints from experience

• The process can be relatively time-consuming. An interview may take up to an hour, which can make it difficult to recruit participants.
• Instead of using triads, it is also possible to conduct pairwise comparisons. However, these only reveal the preferences of the interviewees.
• Variations of the process:
  • Both the selection of elements and constructs can be predefined. Research can support the choice of elements, as it is important that the participants are familiar with them. The same applies to selecting constructs from a given pool. This results in four possible approaches: 1. The "classical grid", where participants choose both the elements and the constructs. 2. A grid in which the elements are predefined. 3. A grid in which the constructs are predefined. 4. A grid in which both elements and constructs are predefined.
  • In the rating phase, all elements are rated with regard to all constructs. Five- or six-point rating scales are most commonly used. Participants not only assign bipolar constructs to each element, but also assess the extent to which each construct applies to that element.
• Important note: When using this method frequently, it is easy to fall into a pattern of repeating the same questions and becoming biased. However, this interview technique requires patience, a clear separation from personal interpretations, and an openness to the results. It is essential to critically reflect on whether the questions – even if they seem to suit the project – are truly the ones that matter from the user's perspective. Moreover, due to the many possible variations of the method, it is not always easy to determine the most appropriate approach.

Tools list

• Paper and pencil

References

Author: Thomas Duschlbauer. Der Querdenker - Das Toolkit mit 30 ausgewählten Methoden. ISBN: 9783907100639

http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/research/guides/methods/repertory_grid.htm

https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2007/12/the-repertory-grid-eliciting-user-experience-comparisons-in-the-customers-voice.php

http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Repertory_grid_technique

https://www.beltz.de/fileadmin/beltz/downloads/OnlinematerialienPVU/DifferentiellePsychologie/6.5_Die%20Repertory%20Grid%20Technik.pdf