The Easy Guide to Repertory Grids

Citation

Barker, S. (2006), "The Easy Guide to Repertory Grids", Personnel Review, Vol. 35 No. 1, pp. 118-119. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480610636821

It was with some hesitancy and trepidation that I approached my review of this book. This was partly due to my lack of experience in using the repertory grid technique; but, principally it was because I have always had an aversion to any text with the word “easy” in its title. Such books have tended to remind me of the sense of frustration and failure that has always accompanied my reading of DIY‐made‐easy texts. It was with a huge sigh of relief that within a dozen pages or so I became totally hooked on repertory grids. Or, rather the way in which they have been presented in this excellent book.

It is apparent that there is considerable substance to the author's comments in the preface. He has successfully combined his extensive experience in “teaching repertory grid to a variety of audiences” with an intuitive understanding of student learning. There is no doubt that the content and style (he refers to it as a “guidebook”) is most suited to the intended audience – managers and practitioners. The introduction suggests “five simple steps” for reading the book and I would urge novices at repertory grid to heed this advice if they wish to maximise their learning. Experienced users of the technique might also find the book useful for dipping into and clarifying specific issues.

Each chapter is structured in a consistent way, designed to maximise the reader's understanding of how to use the technique in an effective manner. The explanations are clear and easy to understand and it is tempting to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next. This should be avoided apart from the first step in the five‐step reading plan, which is to skim read the entire book. More serious study requires the reader to heed the author's advice and to practise the exercises at the end of each chapter (under the heading “Things to do”). In so doing your understanding of what the technique entails and how to use it effectively, will follow. Each chapter also includes advice on further reading, including some helpful tips on how to get hold of the references. In many ways this sense of helpfulness pervades the book and this becomes more critical as the reader progresses to the more complex task of analysing the results from using the technique. Working through these later chapters more slowly and completing the exercises is critical. But the effort is worth it. By the end of the book the reader will progress from being a novice to, if not an expert, at least a competent user of repertory grid.

Chapter 2 offers an informative and interesting explanation of the technique. This is ideal as a stand‐alone for anyone who needs to improve her or his understanding of what the repertory grid actually is. This is followed by practical advice on how to conduct a structured interview using the technique (chapter 3), which is developed further in the next chapter. Chapters 5 to 7 enter the increasingly challenging arena of analysis. The contents of these chapters need to be studied carefully and the phrase “practice, practice, practice” leaps to mind. It is at this point that the diligence and determination of readers to achieve deep rather than surface learning will start to be tested. By chapter 8 it becomes important for the novice user to have developed a more intuitive feel for the technique in order to be able to start capturing the personal values of participants. The final chapter explores alternative ways of construing and unlike the preceding chapters looks at comparing two or more grids. A comprehensive set of seven appendices (60 pages or put another way, 20 per cent of the book!) include answers to the exercises and extracts from the transcript of a grid session, as well as other helpful information.

Overall, this is a well written and structured “guidebook” that the reviewer can honestly claim was a delight to read – as well as being a highly useful learning experience.