Comparing repertory grids to integrate knowledge from multiple statisticians

Abstract

When acquiring knowledge from multiple experts, one has to be aware of the fact that differences of opinion among them may exist. A procedure has been devised that allows for a structured comparison of ideas of multiple experts. Perceived similarities and dissimilarities between statistical analysis methods have been elicited using a card-sorting technique based on the Repertory Grid. Both the elements to be judged and the constructs generated could be chosen freely by each individual expert. Grids were compared by transforming them through principal components analyses into configurations. These configurations have been matched using Procrustes analysis and dimension weighting. This analysis procedure uncovers systematic differences in perceptions, that would otherwise have gone unnoticed.