Why are there limits on the number of sorts and items?
If you are curious about the computational power of contemporary personal computers, many more sorts and items are possible. (In a test, PCQ for Windows has factored 600 sorts, each with 100 items.) However, from a theoretical standpoint, very few Q Studies contain more than 100 items and 100 sorts. In considering sorts, it is important to remember that Q Methodology experiments with communication possibilities in the Q sample. The people who perform the sorts are, in a defensible way, the measuring devices. Thus, 50 sorters produce 50 independent measurements of the Q sample. As a practical matter, 200 items is equivalent to four decks of Bridge cards, and a Q sample with more than 40 items or so will reduce the willingness of people to sort them.
