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Westminster College Political Science Professor has Article Published

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Posted on Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Dr. James Rhoads, Westminster College professor of political science, co-authored “Are quests for a ‘culture of assessment’ mired in a ‘culture war’ over assessment? A Q-methodological inquiry,” published in a recent issue of SAGE Open.

Co-authored by Dr. Larry Bass, retired professor of political science at Valparaiso University, and Dr. Dan Thomas, professor of political science at Wartburg College, the article focuses in the assessment movement in higher education, which has generated some of the most heated and widespread arguments in academia.

According to the abstract: “Because one critical lesson of extant research in this area is that ‘metrics matter,’ we approach the subjective controversy over outcomes assessment through an application of Q methodology. Forty faculty and administrators from several different institutions completed the Q-sort which resulted in two strong factors: the Anti-Assessment Stalwarts and the Defenders of the Faith. Suggestions are offered regarding strategies for reconciling these ‘dueling narratives’ on outcomes assessment.”

SAGE Open is a peer-reviewed online journal that publishes original research and review articles in an interactive open-access format. The articles may span the full spectrum of the social and behavioral sciences and the humanities.

Rhoads, who has been with Westminster since 1992, earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees and Pd.D. from Kent State University.

Contact Rhoads at jrhoads@westminster.edu for additional information.