Free sorting adds post-hoc verbal labels that enable interpreting perceptual dimensions.

Evidence

Free sorting requires subjects to create groups containing stimuli that are perceived similar, based on their own criteria. In addition, they can be asked after the sorting task to describe each group of stimuli with verbal descriptors. This a posteriori labelling is assumed to facilitate the interpretation of perceptual dimensions during the analysis (Cartier et al., 2006). The interview data may be analysed by means of the grounded theory (Corbin and Strauss, 2008), where a theory is systematically developed beginning from the collected data. The key points in the interview notes are labelled with codes, which are further organized into categories to form the basis of the theory, explaining, for example, sound quality. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 945

Categorization

• QUESTION: Grounded theory as a qualitative-methods transplant into audio perception research is a methodological cross-pollination worth chasing.