Pilesorts on firm names
Post date: Aug 31, 2020 8:52:49 PM
In this exercise, you will sort firm names into piles based on how similar you perceive them to be.
Steps
1. Obtain a set of 111 paper cards (like business cards, or badge labels). One each card, print the name of one of the companies in this excel file: firmnames.xlsx. On the back of the card write the id number of the company.
2. Shuffle the cards so they are in random order.
3. Now lay the cards out on a table or floor in piles, according to how similar you think the names are. You can make as many or as few piles as you like. It is ok to make piles that consist of just one name. Here's a link to the video of me doing this in class:
4. After you have sorted them into piles (and made any changes you wanted to), record the results in an Excel sheet. Use one row per pile. For example, if your first pile consists of the companies "apple" "toyota" and "samsung", then the first row of your spreadsheet should look like this:
etc.
the numbers refer to the id codes of apple, toyota, and samsung, which you have written on the back of each card.
5. Repeat the whole process with another person. You can enter their data in a new tab.
6. Email the excel file containing the results of two pilesorts to me by Saturday night before the Tuesday this assignment is due.