cmAnalysis

Analysis and visualization of concept mapping data in R.

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Overview

cmAnalysis provides a complete workflow for the analysis of concept mapping data.

The methodology and its validity are discussed in:
Kampen, J.K., Hageman, J.A., Breuer, M., & Tobi, H. (2025). The validity of concept mapping: let’s call a spade a spade. Quality & Quantity. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-025-02351-z

This package supports:

• Hierarchical clustering of participant-sort data
• Multidimensional scaling (MDS) to map statements in 2D space
• Visualization tools such as cluster maps, dendrograms, and cross-cluster diagrams
• Tools for managing and summarizing statements and clusters

Concept mapping is a participatory research method used in fields such as education, public health, and policy evaluation.

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Installation

Install the latest stable version from CRAN:

install.packages("cmAnalysis")

Or install the development version from GitHub:

# install.packages("devtools")
# devtools::install_github("JosHageman/cmAnalysis")
install.packages("cmAnalysis", repos = c('https://joshageman.r-universe.dev', 'https://cloud.r-project.org'))

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Example

library(cmAnalysis)

# Assume you have participant sorting data
data <- read.csv("sortMatrix.csv")

# Run the concept mapping analysis
result <- conceptMapping(data)

# Visualize the MDS and cluster solution
plot(result)

# Generate a statement overview
overview <- createStatementOverview(result)

More examples are provided in the help files and vignettes.

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Key Functions

Function	Description
conceptMapping()	Performs the full concept mapping analysis
plot.conceptMap()	Visualizes MDS configuration and cluster boundaries
crossClusterMap()	Displays overlap or proximity between clusters
createStatementOverview()	Creates a tidy overview of statements
abbreviateStatements()	Abbreviates long labels for better plotting
numberOfSorters()	Reports the number of sorters in the dataset

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Documentation

• 📦 CRAN: https://cran.r-project.org/package=cmAnalysis
• 🔍 In R: ?conceptMapping, ?plot.conceptMap, or browse help(package = "cmAnalysis")
• 📖 Vignettes: Run vignette("cmAnalysis") (if available)

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Authors

• Jos Hageman – Author and maintainer
• Jarl Kampen – Co-author

License: GPL-3

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Citation

If you use this package, please cite it as:

Hageman, J. & Kampen, J. (2025). cmAnalysis: Analysis of Concept Mapping Data in R. R package version 1.0.0. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=cmAnalysis

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Contributing

Pull requests and issue reports are welcome. Please use the GitHub issues page to report bugs or suggest improvements.