Affinity Mapping, also known as ‘Affinity Diagrams’ or ‘Clustering’ is a technique used to organise and categorise ideas based on thematic relationships. It can be used both independently or collaboratively to address questions, topics or problems that need to be addressed.
The method of Affinity Mapping stems from the Japanese anthropologist Jiro Kawakita’s ‘KJ Method’ which was developed in the 1960’s as an alternative approach to quantitative methods in ethnography (the study and recording of human cultures which requires immersion of the researcher in the culture and everyday life of those that are the subject of study).
He developed the approach to systematically organise findings from his fieldwork in Nepal on the investigations of environmental equilibrium, and later taught the method to students whilst volunteering at Ido Daigaku; a free campus university in Japan.
Due to issues surrounding the translation of Kawakita’s method, it has been interpreted in vast arrays which have led to the loss major criteria for its intended use. Over time, the KJ method has evolved and adapted to modern frameworks, resulting in the Affinity Map that we are aware of today.
The method of Affinity Mapping is used primarily to organise complex information, identify natural themes and to facilitate creative problem-solving practice through collaboration.
For this example of Affinity Mapping; that shall be on 'Language Learning Techniques', you need a group to work with and to ensure that all members are aware of the problem or question that is being addressed.
Gather Resources: You will need a few materials to begin your Affinity Map, these are:
Collect Ideas: Within your group have everyone write down their ideas onto individual sticky notes. One sticky note should be used per idea to aid the following steps of the method, and this should be placed on the surface of choice in a random manner to avoid unbiased groupings.
Group Production: After compiling the notes, yourself and your peers should begin to group notes that seem related or share a common theme. As there are no predefined categories, groups should form organically based on the context of the notes, which leads into our next heading.
Group Labelling: Once all notes have been sorted, some of the group's titles will be obvious or it may be clear that some notes should be rearranged into others. The title for each group should summarise the theme or idea of the group which cohesively links the notes within.
Review & Reflect: Review the groupings to ensure that they make sense and accurately reflect the relationship between the notes.
Documentation: Ensure that the Affinity Map is documented by taking a photo of the finished result.
A successful Affinity Map achieves an enhanced sense of understanding and organised sets of complex information.
Iba, T. et al. (2017) ‘Philosophy and methodology of clustering in pattern mining: Japanese anthropologist Jiro Kawakita’s KJ method’, in Proceedings of the 24th Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs. [Online]. 2017 The Hillside Group. pp. 1–11. Available at: https://hillside.net/plop/2017/papers/proceedings/papers/12-iba-2.pdf
Scupin, R. (1997). The KJ Method: A Technique for Analyzing Data Derived from Japanese Ethnology. Human Organization, [online] 56(2), pp.233–237. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/44126786.
