Grounded Theory

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Grounded Theory

• COE501/EDP591

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Grounded TheoryQuantitative-Qualitative
Transition

• Introduced by medical anthropologists Barney
  Glaser Anselm Strauss
• Emerged in the 1960s from the University of
  Chicago school of sociology
• Tied to Deweys pragmatism of identifying meaning
  through function and context
• Stressed field-work over statistical analysis
  allowing data to create theory emphasizing
  active participation in social issues of the day
• Nevertheless, strongly postpositivist and
  theory-building

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Principles of Grounded Theory

• Trust in emergence
• The quality of a theory is determined by how it
  is constructed
• Iterative testing of theories follows tenets of
  postpositivism, making theories both exploratory
  and confirmatory
• Theories are highly structured and hierarchical

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How to Do It Step 1

• Study should begin as theory-free as possible
  the situation is of interest, not a question or
  problem
• Collect rich descriptions of people, places,
  interactions, events, without looking for a
  particular pattern or making judgments
• Data should support triangulation collect
  interviews, observations, existing documents,
  etc.
• Field notes and other forms of objective
  recording are used observations allowed to flow
  freely

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How-to Step 2

• Data is examined for emergent patterns begins
  with open coding, ad hoc codes without a
  framework
• People, objects, events are examined from the
  perspective of their function in the environment,
  their interactions

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How-to Step 2 continued

• Coding involves line-by-line reading
• Why is this happening? What purpose does it serve
  in this environment?
• How would things be different if this
  person/object/event were absent?
• Constant comparison helps to reveal role, and
  therefore meaning
• In time, patterns emerge in coding

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How-to Step 3

• Memos capture theoretical speculations about
  patterns and their meaning
• Memos also used to reflect on the role of the
  researcher must affect the ecology, so must take
  this into consideration
• Memos should be reviewed frequently, and new
  memos added as spinoffs

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How-to Step 4

• The interaction of memoing and coding gradually
  leads to standardization of codes
• Axial coding codes placed into hierarchical
  categories

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How-to Step 5

• As coding becomes more structured and formal,
  goal turns toward theory testing
• Different data types and sources should
  converge
• Purposive sampling of key situations that could
  support or discredit the theory
• Search for disconfirming cases to try to break
  the theory

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How-to Step 6

• Final framework of codes is honed to the core
  category, the portion of the hierarchy with the
  greatest explanatory power
• This is the theory that would be reported as the
  results of the study

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Uses of Grounded Theory

• Exploration of an ecology
• Development of a theory that could guide
  prediction, intervention, explanation
• Systematic analysis of qualitative data
• Codification of patterns and ideas

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What Grounded Theory is Not For

• Testing of an existing theory
• Addressing a specific question or problem
• Generalizing beyond a particular sort of
  situation, interaction
• Examination of qualitative data without imposing
  a particular framework