Transcript Developing Grounded Theory

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The Grounded Theory
Method
Benefits of Using the Grounded
Theory Method
• Can be used to interpret complex and multifaceted phenomena
• Can accommodate a multiplicity of social issues
• Is appropriate for socially constructed
experiences
• Allows for the emergence of novel insights
• Not hampered by constraints of a priori
knowledge
• Good fit with different types of researchers and
varied research aims
Benefits (cont.)
• Can result in meaningful emergent concepts and
production of substantive theory
• Also valuable when available literature does not
explain evolving social phenomena
• Enables researcher to move beyond preconceived
theories of the social world
• Although it has its roots in symbolic interactionism,
One of the creators, Barney Glaser sees it as “an
alternative to positivistic, social constructionist and
interpretive qualitative data methods” (Glaser,
2001)
Two Schools of Grounded Theory
• Initially developed by two researchers – Barney
Glaser and Anselm Strauss in 1967
• Early on the two researchers disagreed
• Bifurcation of the theoretical process:
– Glaser’s version vs. Strauss & Corbin’s version
• Now two fundamentally different schools of
Grounded Theory:
– 1) the Glaserian School
– 2) the Straussian School
Glaserian vs. Straussian School
(adapted from Jones and Alony, 2011)
Glaserian and Straussian (cont.)
Overview of the Process
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An acknowledgment of the researchers’ bias
Selection of a data collection site
Data collection process, concurrent with….
Coding and analysis:
– Open and axial coding, employing constant
comparison and memoing, resulting in themes, subcategories, and core categories
– Selective coding, also using constant comparison
and memoing, resulting in dense, saturated core
categories.
– Theoretical coding: core categories are sorted
theoretically and cross-referenced with literature.
• The result is a basic social process and a
theoretical model.
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(Source: Jones and Alony, 2011)
Developing a Codebook
• 1. Read through your data and identify
themes/classes/categories.
• 2. Identify important sub-themes.
• 3. Ensure consistency in the themes.
• 4. Confirm depth of themes.
• 5. Assign codes to your themes
– For example A1 for main theme, A11 and A12 for
sub-themes, etc.
– You are now ready to begin coding your data
Grounded Theory Coding
• 3 stages of coding in analysis
• Coding done throughout data collection
– 1. Open coding: Find conceptual categories in
the data
– 2. Axial coding: Look at relationships between
the categories
– 3. Selective coding: To account for
relationships, find core categories.
Analytic Memo Writing
• Start writing memos as soon as you begin
coding
• Essential aspect of coding process
• Made up of reflections and ideas about
codes and relationships between codes
• Creates the link between raw data or
evidence and formal theorizing and
hypothesis creation
Guidelines for Open Coding
• Open coding is “the process of breaking down,
examining, comparing, conceptualizing, and
categorizing data” (Strauss and Corbin)
• Ask the data a specific and consistent set of
questions
• Analyze the data minutely
– May require multiple passes through the data
• Frequently interrupt the coding to write a
theoretical note (your analytic memo)
• Never assume the analytic relevance of any
traditional variable (i.e. demographic)
Axial Coding
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assembling the data in new ways after open coding
“intensive coding around one category”
The “first coding frame” (Berg, 2009)
Grouping the initial categories and exploring the
relationships between them
• Creates a coding “paradigm” which
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Identifies a central phenomenon
Explores causal conditions
Identifies the context and intervening conditions
Delineates the consequences
Selective Coding
• Selective coding involves the integration of the
categories found in the axial coding
• Straus and Corbin refer to it as “the process of
selecting the core category, systematically
relating it to other categories, validating those
relationships, and filling in categories that need
further refinement and development”
• This becomes the “grounded theory”
• Theoretical sampling takes place to find cases
or data to confirm and “ground” the theoretical
explanation in the data.
According to Glaser, using the grounded
theory method requires that you…
1. tolerate confusion
• no need to know a priori and don’t need to force the data;
2. tolerate regression
• you may get ‘lost’ before finding your way;
3. trust emerging data without worrying about justification
• Over time, the data will provide the justification if you adhere to the
rigor of the method;
4. have someone to talk to
• At times,isolation is needed to get deeply into the data analysis but
consultation and discussion also needed (i.e. research meetings);
5. be open to emerging evidence that may change the way you
thought about the subject matter, and be ready to act on the
new evidence;
6. be able to conceptualize to derive theory from the data; and,
7. be creative
• devise new ways of obtaining and handling data by incorporating the
approach of others, or by using a tested approach in a different way.
Source: Fernández and Lehmann (2005)
Practice Exercise
• Carefully watch and make notes on the interview
with Elizabeth Gilbert “Your Elusive Creative
Genius”
• Read the transcript of the interview
• Code (all stages) the notes you have made as
well as the transcript. Use memoing as you go.
• Identify various themes and one emerging core
category.
• Can you detect a basic social process? Write a
paragraph outlining your findings and your
thoughts on a tentative theory, grounded in the
data at hand.
• Be prepared to discuss your ideas with your
classmates.