Grounded Theory

Definition:

The intent of grounded theory is to generate or discover a theory – an abstract analytical schema of a philosophy, that relates to a particular situation. This situation could be one in which individuals interact, take actions, or engage in a process in response to a phenomenon (Creswell, 1998).

Procedures Involved In Conducting A Study:

· In open coding, the researcher forms initial categories of information about the phenomenon being studied by segmenting information. Within each category (a category represents a unit of information composed of events, happenings and instances), the researcher finds several properties, or subcategories, and looks for data to dimensionalize, or show the extreme possibilities on a continuum of, the property.

· In axial coding, the researcher assembles the data in new ways after open coding. The researcher presents this using a coding paradigm or logic diagram in which he/she identifies a central phenomenon, explores causal conditions (i.e., categories of conditions that influence the phenomenon), specifies strategies (i.e., the actions or interactions that result from the central phenomenon), identifies the content and intervening conditions (i.e., the narrow and broad conditions that influence the strategies), and delineates the consequences (i.e., the outcomes of the strategies) for this phenomenon.

· In selective coding, the researcher identifies a “story line” and writes a story that integrates the categories in the axial coding model. In this phase, conditional propositions (or hypotheses) are typically presented.

· Finally, the researcher develops and visually portrays a conditional matrix that elucidates the social, historical, and economic conditions influencing the central phenomenon.

This process results in a theory, written by the researchers close to a specific problem or population of people.

Challenges:

· The researcher needs to set aside, as much as possible, theoretical ideas or notions so that the analytical, substantive theory can emerge.

· Despite the evolving, inductive nature of this form of a qualitative inquiry, the researcher must recognize that this is a systematic approach to research with specific steps in data analysis.

· The researcher needs faces the difficulty of determining when the categories are saturated or when the theory is sufficiently detailed.

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Biography Phenomenology Ethnography Case Study