A short and long form of Kelly's original repertory grid technique are available in Idiogrid. These two forms are completely automated. The user simply selects the short or long form from the menu and follows the instructions. The person completing the grid is guided through three phases: (1) generating names from role titles (e.g., "Someone who has been like a mother to me", "A threatening person", etc.), (2) generating bipolar constructs via Kelly's triadic method, and (3) conducting binary ratings. Both the short and long form of these automated versions of the grid are faithful to Kelly's (1955) original technique specifically described in pages 267-277 in Volume 1 of his The Psychology of Personal Constructs.
With the generic repertory grid option in Idiogrid, the user can design and administer his or her own repertory grid. The user has four general sets of options to manipulate.
- Construct Elicitation. The user controls how the constructs are elicited from the participant. The triadic, dyadic, and monadic methods of elicitation can be requested; the participant can be prevented from entering duplicate constructs or duplicate words or phrases; the constructs can be aligned according to some criterion; and the instructions accompanying the elicitation procedures can be edited.
- Element Elicitation. The user can enter role titles (e.g., "Your mother or someone who has been like a mother to you", "A person whom you would like to get to know better", etc.) and then request that Idiogrid elicit the actual element names from the participant that fit these role titles. The instructions that accompany the element elicitation (if requested) can also be edited by the user.
- Grid Administration. Here the user controls the appearance of the rating scale and the general features of the grid administration process. Bipolar rating and Likert scales can be designed by the user. Two to thirteen points can be requested for the bipolar scale, and up to nine points can be requested for the Likert scale. A ranking scale can also be requested. The constructs and/or elements can be presented in random order, and the instructions accompanying the rating or ranking procedures can be edited by the user.
- Setup Options. The user can save all of the changes made to the designed grid. The same grid design can then be loaded into Idiogrid at a later date and administered again.
of the Generic Repertory Grid options menu
With the generic rating task the user can administer a repertory grid for which the constructs and/or elements are already known, or the user can design and administer a nomothetic type of questionnaire (such as a measures of the Big Five personality traits) or a semantic differential scale. The user has two general sets of options to manipulate.
- Grid Administration. Here the user controls the appearance of the rating scale and the general features of the grid administration process. Bipolar rating scales and Likert scales can be designed by the user. Two to thirteen points can be requested for bipolar scales, and up to nine points can be requested for Likert scales. A ranking scale can also be requested. The constructs and/or elements can be presented in random order, and the instructions accompanying the rating or ranking procedures can be edited by the user. Element names can also be elicited from role titles entered by the user.
- Setup Options. The user can save all of the changes made to the designed grid. The same grid design can then be loaded into Idiogrid at a later date and administered again.
of the Generic Rating Task options menu
This option presents a unique method of elicting personal constructs devised by the author of Idiogrid. As the title implies, the participant (the person completing the grid) responds to a set of incomplete sentences designed by the user. For example, an incomplete sentence might be "When I am alone, I feel _________." The response to this sentence is the emergent pole of the construct. The participant can then be prompted for the implicit pole, if desired by the user, and the responses can be used to create anchors for rating scales or used in item stems for Likert scales. The elicited contructs can also be used in a ranking procedure involving the elements.The sentence completion task is perhaps most useful for eliciting constructs from a particular domain or within a particular context. For example, sentences can be written to elicit constructs regarding romantic relationships; "When preparing for a date, I feel ___________" or "I really wish my partner was more _____________." The user has four general sets of options to manipulate.
- Construct Elicitation: The user creates the incomplete sentences that will be used to elicit the personal constructs. The user can also prevent the participant from entering duplicate constructs or duplicate words or phrases in response to the sentences; the constructs can be aligned according to some criterion; and the instructions accompanying the incomplete sentences can be edited. The user can also request that the participant be prevented from using English pronouns in his or her responses to the incomplete sentences. Preventing pronouns usually improves the quality of the responses to the sentences.
- Element Elicitation: The user can enter role titles (e.g., "Your mother or someone who has been like a mother to you", "A person whom you would like to get to know better", etc.) and then request that Idiogrid elicit the actual element names from the participant. The instructions that accompany the element elicitation (if requested) can also be edited by the user.
- Grid Administration. Here the user controls the appearance of the rating scale and the general features of the grid administration process. Bipolar rating scales and Likert scales can be designed by the user. Two to thirteen points can be requested for bipolar scales, and up to nine points can be requested for Likert scales. A ranking scale can also be requested. The constructs and/or elements can be presented in random order, and the instructions accompanying the rating or ranking procedures can be edited by the user. Finally, the user defines the item stems for the rating procedure that correspond to the incomplete sentences.
- Setup Options. The user can save all of the changes made to the designed grid, including the incomplete sentences and item stems. The same grid design can then be loaded into Idiogrid at a later date and administered again.
of the Sentence Completion Task options menu
The coordinate grid is an esoteric type of repertory grid in which figures (people or things) are compared to one another in terms of their general similarity to one another. Measures of logical consistency and integrative complexity can be computed from coordinate grids. Similar to other types of grids in Idiogrid, three general sets of options can be manipulated by the user.
- Element Elicitation: The user can enter role titles as the figures (e.g., "Your mother or someone who has been like a mother to you", "A person whom you would like to get to know better", etc.) and then request that Idiogrid elicit the actual element names from the participant. The instructions that accompany the element elicitation (if requested) can also be edited by the user.
- Grid Administration. Here the user can request that the figures be presented in random order during the ranking procedures. The user can also request that an introduction window be shown to the participant prior to the grid administration. The user can edit the contents of this window as well as the instructions that accompany the ranking procedures.
- Setup Options. The user can save all of the changes made to the designed grid. The same grid design can then be loaded into Idiogrid at a later date and administered again.
of the Coordinate Grid options menu