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Repertory Grids (repertory + grid)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	60%

Selected Abstracts

IT project managers' construction of successful project management practice: a repertory grid investigation

INFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 3 2009
Nannette P. Napier
Abstract Although effective project management is critical to the success of information technology (IT) projects, little empirical research has investigated skill requirements for IT project managers (PMs). This study addressed this gap by asking 19 practicing IT PMs to describe the skills that successful IT PMs exhibit. A semi-structured interview method known as the repertory grid (RepGrid) technique was used to elicit these skills. Nine skill categories emerged: client management, communication, general management, leadership, personal integrity, planning and control, problem solving, systems development and team development. Our study complements existing research by providing a richer understanding of several skills that were narrowly defined (client management, planning and control, and problem solving) and by introducing two new skill categories that had not been previously discussed (personal integrity and team development). Analysis of the individual RepGrids revealed four distinct ways in which study participants combined skill categories to form archetypes of effective IT PMs. We describe these four IT PM archetypes , General Manager, Problem Solver, Client Representative and Balanced Manager , and discuss how this knowledge can be useful for practitioners, researchers and educators. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research. [source]

Understanding the elements of empathy as a component of care-driven leadership

JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP STUDIES, Issue 1 2009
Yosep Undung
Empathy plays a pivotal role in educational leadership practice. It creates and maintains a sound and dynamic interpersonal milieu in dynamic social enterprises such as schools, colleges, and universities. A phenomenological study was conducted to probe deeper the meaning of empathy as it is lived and constituted in the awareness of a select group of 13 Filipino academic administrators representing colleges in the Philippines. Anchored on the central question, "how do Filipino academic administrators collectively typify in their school leadership practices the elements of empathic concern, perspective taking, and empathic matching," semistructured (Patton, 1990) and in-depth interviews were conducted. Field texts were analyzed via a repertory grid. Through constant comparative analyses, an interesting set of conceptual categories notably describes the human and humane side of a caring leader, typified in the ability to effect listening, confluencing, and scaffolding in the journey with the faculty. [source]

Describing clinical teachers' characteristics and behaviours using critical incidents and repertory grids

MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 7 2006
Praminthra Chitsabesan
Context, Completion of a rating questionnaire is the method used most frequently to evaluate a teacher's performance. Questionnaires that largely assess ,high-inference' teaching characteristics, such as ,enthusiasm' and ,friendliness', require the observer to make a judgement about the teacher but do not describe what the teacher actually did and so have limited use in providing feedback. Measures of ,low-inference' teaching behaviours (i.e. those that are concrete and observable), such as frequency, amount or types of verbal interaction, do not demonstrate how these are linked to good teaching. Objectives, To describe high-inference teacher characteristics and define the associated low-inference behaviours. Methods, A purposive sample of consultants, postgraduate and undergraduate students, nurse lecture practitioners and patients were selected for semistructured interviews using repertory grids and critical incidents to elicit preferred characteristics and behaviours of clinical teachers. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and then content-analysed using a framework to pair teachers' characteristics and their behaviours. Results, We identified a variety of preferred high-inference characteristics and their associated observable and recordable low-inference behaviours. Discussion, We carried out a study that included all participants in clinical teaching and found that participants differed in their preferred characteristics and behaviours. It is important for future research to look at behaviours interdependently, rather than alone, and to take into account the evidence that participants tend to infer characteristics rather than think in terms of behaviours. This information will be used to inform the development of a formative tool for evaluating clinical teaching. [source]

Clinical reasoning in neurology: Use of the repertory grid technique to investigate the reasoning of an experienced occupational therapist

AUSTRALIAN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY JOURNAL, Issue 4 2009
Kathy Kuipers
Background/aim:,The aim of this paper is to describe the use of a structured interview methodology, the repertory grid technique, for investigating the clinical reasoning of an experienced occupational therapist in the domain of upper limb hypertonia as a result of brain injury. Method:,Repertory grid interviews were completed before and after exposure to a protocol designed to guide clinical reasoning and decision-making in relation to upper limb neurological rehabilitation. Data were subjected to both qualitative and quantitative analyses. Results:,Qualitative analysis focussed on clinical reasoning content. Common themes across the pre- and post-exposure interviews were the use of theoretical frameworks and practice models, the significance of clinical expertise, and discrimination of ,broad' and ,specific' aspects, as well as differentiation between ,therapist and client-related' aspects of the clinical situation. Quantitative analysis indicated that for both pre- and post-exposure repertory grids, clinical reasoning was structured in terms of two main concepts. In the pre-exposure grid, these were related to the therapist's role, and to the ,scope' of practice tasks (either broad or specific). In the post-exposure grid the two main concepts were upper limb performance, and client-centred aspects of the therapy process. Conclusions:,The repertory grid technique is proposed as an effective tool for exploring occupational therapy clinical reasoning, based on its capacity for accessing personal frames of reference, and elucidating both the meaning and the structure supporting clinical reasoning. [source]