Projective Techniques and Sort-based Research Methods

Projective Techniques and Sort-Based Research Methods offers a brief introductory guide to the use of these exciting, innovative and often artistic approaches, to students and researchers who have no prior knowledge of these.

This book brings together a wide range of examples of projective and mapping techniques that offer the ideal methodology for researchers wishing to collect less controlled and filtered material, that tap the deeper levels of the conscious and sub-conscious to reveal a more profound, richer and hidden level of response. It presents the techniques in a way that will enable the reader to appreciate their nature and to choose an appropriate method for their own research. Information is also provided that allows readers to design and implement their own projective or sort-based approaches. Each of the approaches the authors present are concisely described, and their usages explained, along with references and examples of the applied usage of the technique.

The book is valuable reading for researchers from a wide range of academic disciplines from within the social sciences, humanities, business studies, marketing, etc. The book is an introductory guide, but it will be appropriate for use with undergraduate, post-graduate and research students. It will also be of great use to professionals working in the areas of consumer behaviour, marketing and communications.

Paul M. W. Hackett is a professor and author with positions at universities in the US, the UK and Nigeria. He is the author of more than 250 publications, including over 25 books. He is the originator of the declarative mapping approach to social science and humanities research, with PhDs in both psychology and fine-art.

James M. Suvak is an Emerson College graduate. He majored in marketing communications and discovered his passion for research after taking a course with Paul Hackett. James now continues his journey in the field of research and marketing by working at a consulting firm in Boston.

Ava Gordley-Smith is a PhD candidate whose work focuses on theoretical and applied research methodologies in the social sciences and creative disciplines. She is engaged in several writing and research projects, utilising ecology-centric and sociological methodologies as an approach to constructing both marketing and brand strategies. Ava has over ten years of marketing management experience and an MA in strategic marketing communication from Emerson College.