Introduction to a special issue on concept mapping

•Concept mapping is a unique integrative mixed method designed to enable a group of people to map their ideas for any topic.•The method follows six standard steps: preparation, generation, structuring, representation, interpretation and utilization.•Concept mapping has been used successfully for pla...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEvaluation and program planning Vol. 60; pp. 166 - 175
Main Authors Trochim, William M., McLinden, Daniel
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2017
Elsevier Science Ltd
Subjects
Brainstorming
Cluster Analysis
Concept mapping
Cooperative Behavior
Empirical Research
Group Processes
Humans
Mapping
Multidimensional scaling
Pattern matching
Research Design
Sorting
Structured conceptualization
Concept mapping
Brainstorming
Cluster analysis
Structured conceptualization
Multidimensional scaling
Pattern matching
Sorting
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Summary:•Concept mapping is a unique integrative mixed method designed to enable a group of people to map their ideas for any topic.•The method follows six standard steps: preparation, generation, structuring, representation, interpretation and utilization.•Concept mapping has been used successfully for planning and evaluation for over 25 years.•This paper introduces the special issue on the past, present and future of the concept mapping methodology. Concept mapping was developed in the 1980s as a unique integration of qualitative (group process, brainstorming, unstructured sorting, interpretation) and quantitative (multidimensional scaling, hierarchical cluster analysis) methods designed to enable a group of people to articulate and depict graphically a coherent conceptual framework or model of any topic or issue of interest. This introduction provides the basic definition and description of the methodology for the newcomer and describes the steps typically followed in its most standard canonical form (preparation, generation, structuring, representation, interpretation and utilization). It also introduces this special issue which reviews the history of the methodology, describes its use in a variety of contexts, shows the latest ways it can be integrated with other methodologies, considers methodological advances and developments, and sketches a vision of the future of the method’s evolution.
Bibliography:SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-General Information-1
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ISSN:0149-7189
1873-7870
DOI:10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2016.10.006