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Grounded Theory

* Although there are different approaches to grounded theory, there tend to be some general commonalities.

* Creswell (2013) broadly defines grounded theory as "a qualitative research design in which the inquirer generates a general explanation (a theory) of a process, an action, or an interaction shaped by the views of a large number of participants" (p. 83).

Defining Features of Grounded Theory

Research Article on Grounded Theory

Creswell (2013) offers an explanation of some basic characteristics of grounded theory as it applies to data collection, analysis, and sampling methods (p. 85):

1) The researcher focuses on a process or action that has steps occurring over time.

2)The researcher seeks to develop a theory

of the process or action.

To access the article, click the link below. You will be redirected to University of Calgary library to sign in.

http://ovidsp.tx.ovid.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/sp-3.8.0b/ovidweb.cgi?WebLinkFrameset=1&S=DBBKFPGAMEDDPMCMNCOKEAIBOKHHAA00&returnUrl=ovidweb.cgi%3f%26Full%2bText%3dL%257cS.sh.18.19%257c0%257c01269228-201008000-00006%26S%3dDBBKFPGAMEDDPMCMNCOKEAIBOKHHAA00&directlink=http%3a%2f%2fgraphics.tx.ovid.com%2fovftpdfs%2fFPDDNCIBEACMME00%2ffs046%2fovft%2flive%2fgv025%2f01269228%2f01269228-201008000-00006.pdf&filename=Group+Process+and+Learning%3a+A+Grounded+Theory+Model+of+Group+Supervision.&pdf_key=FPDDNCIBEACMME00&pdf_index=/fs046/ovft/live/gv025/01269228/01269228-201008000-00006

Origin of Grounded Theory

Difficulties of Validity

* Sociologists Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss felt that existing theories could not always be applied to a research study, especially if it was a relatively new experiment or phenomenon. Rather, they asserted that the theory should evolve from data collected during the research experiment.

* In their book The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research (1967) Glaser and Strauss postulate that “the best approach is a initial, systematic discovery of the theory from the data of social research” (p. 3)

Creswell (2009) notes “validity,..., is one of the strengths of qualitative research, and it is based on determining whether the findings are accurate from the standpoint of the researcher, the participant, or the readers of an account” (Creswell and Miller, 2000)

Question for Grounded Theory

When to Use Grounded Theory

* There are two differing opinions when looking developing a theory using the grounded theory method: One group believes that doing a small lit review to familiarize yourself with the topic at hand will help to generate efficient interview questions and focus the research topic, where the opposing field states that this will create researcher biases and may influence the findings as the researcher may be expecting certain trends. What do you think?

Defining Features of Grounded Theory

* Creswell (2013) explains that grounded theory is a good design when:

  • No theory is available to understand or explain the research phenomenon.
  • The literature on the subject was tested or developed for a different population or research group.
  • Theories may be present, but incomplete.
  • A theory is needed to explain how people are experiencing a phenomenon.

* Grounded theory is premised around developing a theory based on perceived and verbal findings in a given situation. Though this process is quite efficient at creating a theory for that situation, how beneficial are the findings for other situations? If the theory is that specific and not applicable to other scenarios, how much funding can a research project receive if it’s one dimensional?

3) Memoing is part of developing the theory as the researcher writes down ideas (or memos) as the data is being collected and analysed. These memos assist in sketching out the flow of the research process.

4) Data collection is primarily through interviews in which the researcher is constantly comparing new interviews to the existing theory.

Variations of Grounded Theory

* Building off the work of Glaser and Strauss, researchers have added different perspectives to the theory in order to suit their research purposes.

* The following slides will focus on two main deviations within the field of grounded theory and their emphasis on using grounded theory in varied ways to form theory.

Difficulties of Validity

1) Validity of what people tell you

Observations

  • researcher may be seen as intrusive,
  • private information may be observed that cannot be reported
  • Researcher may not have good attending and/or observing skills
  • Certain participants may present special problems in gaining rapport

Interviews

  • Researcher’s presence may bias responses
  • Not all people are equally articulate and perceptive

Questions for Grounded Theory

* Even though Glaser and Strauss created grounded theory together, Strauss went on to develop a slightly different approach. Glaser used induction as the focus, moving from the data to empirical generalization and then progressed to developing a theory. However, Strauss went away from this approach and used a deductive process that focused on verification, when a hypothesis did not work or was not significant, then they would drop it and move on. These two approaches have their own strengths and limitations, when would you use one over the other?

Research Questions Common to the

Methodology

Anselm Strauss and Juliet Corbin

  • What is going on during the experiment?
  • What is the problem of the participants, and how are they trying to solve it?
  • What do the interviews tell us about the emergence of a phenomenon?
  • What do we discover through the research experiment?
  • What theory can be derived through the coding of the research data post-experiment?

Difficulties of Validity

Defining Features of Grounded Theory

* Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) Basics of Qualitative Research explain the use of a structured coding device called a “conditional matrix” to assist the researcher in forming relationships between different levels of data (p. 87).

* This coding is a series of labelled concentric circles that illustrate the relationship of the research group to the larger environment.

* This type of coding represents a more systematic and unified way of understanding the relationship of factors in the research experiment.

5) Data analysis can be presented in varied ways. It can be conveyed in categories with one category as the focus of the emerging theory which is then filled out with additional categories (axial coding). This can be presented as a diagram, prepositions, or a discussion Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The analysis can also be less structured with a focus on implicit meaning within any given category (Charmaz, 2006).

2) Researcher Bias

  • According to Giske and Artinian (2007) “the first step in grounded theory is to enter the substantive field for research without knowing the problem. This requires suspending your knowledge, especially of the literature, and your experience. The researcher must take a ‘no preconceived interest’ approach and not ask questions that might be on his mind.” (p.122)
  • And Glaser (2002) notes “In planning the study, we worked on phrasing possible questions to make sure that our own ideas, interests or theoretical understandings were not imposed on the participants.” (p.70)

References

Babchuk, W. (n.d.). Grounded Theory as a "Family of

Methods": A Geneaological Analysis to Guide

Research. Lincoln: University of Nebraska.

Charmaz, K. (2006). constructing Grounded Theory.

London: Sage.

Cherubini, L. N. (2010). A grounded theory of new

Aboriginal teachers' perceptions: the cultural

attributions of Medicine Wheel Teachings. Teachers

and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 16(5), 545-557.

Creswell, J. (2009). Research Design: Qualitative,

Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Los

Angeles: Sage.

Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative Inquiry and

Research Design. London: Sage.

Egan, T. (2002). Grounded Theory Research and

Theory Building. Advances in Developing Human

Resources, 4(3), 277-295.

Aim of Research Methodology

* The goal of grounded theory varies depending on which type of grounded theory you subscribe to.

  • The goal of Glaser and Strauss’ (1967) grounded theory was to use the data found in the research experiment to formulate a new theory.
  • Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) aim was to formulate a theoretical explanation based on the conditional matrix coding of research data.
  • Charmaz’s (2006) aim is to explore and interpret findings rather than provide an explanation or singular “truth” from the research findings.

Strauss and Corbin's (1998) Structure for Developing a Grounded Theory

References

Difficulties of Validity

Elliott, N. a. (2005). How to Recognise a 'Quality'

Grounded Theory Research Study. Australian

Journal of Advanced Nursing, 22(3), 48-52.

Gasson, S. (n.d.). Rigor In Grounded Theory Research:

An Interpretive Perspective on Generating Theory

From Qualitative Field Studies. Drexel University.

Giske, T. a. (2007). A Personal Experience of Working

with Classical Grounded Theory: From Beginner to

Experienced Grounded Theorist. Ineternational

Journal of Qualitative Methods, 67-80.

Glaser, B. (2002). Conceptualization: On Theory and

Theorizing Using Grounded Theory. International

Journal of Qualitative Methods 1 (2), 1-30.

3) Following the exact model – Grounded theory has a specific model identified earlier (slides 3 and 4) and if that process is not followed you end up with a study that is part grounded theory and part something else and therefore, not necessarily valid as a grounded theory study

4) Following 4 criteria of fit, work, relevance, and modifiability (Glaser, 2002) – data cannot be forced into theories, it must fit in, work with the situation, have relevance and be modifiable

Theoretical Assumptions

References

* Grounded theorists assume that there is no theory sufficient to apply to their studies, so they form new theoretical models based on the information collected through interviews.

* Creswell (2013) posits that grounded theorists tend to “end their studies with a theory developed in selective coding, a theory that might be viewed as a low-level theory rather than an abstract grand theory”(p. 87). This selective coding is achieved by reviewing the data and forming a core category on which to base the theory, and coding interview results into the main category, or a sub-category.

Gleming, L. G. (2010). Group Process and Learning: A

Grounded Theory Model of Group Supervision.

Training and Education in Professional Psychology,

4(3), 194-203.

Gregory, J. a. (2009). 'Maintaining competence': a

grounded theory typology of approaches to

teaching in higher education. Higher Education, 57,

769-785.

Strauss, A. L. (1998). Basics of Qualitative Research.

London: Sage.

White, J. a. (2010). A Grounded Theory Analysis of

Older Adults and Information Technology.

Educational Gerontology, 26, 371-386.

Areas of Grounded Theory Research

Grounded theory tends to be popular among those in fields where interviewing participants in open ended question format is more advantageous for gaining the information they are seeking, gaining perceptions and experiences

  • Nursing and patient care settings
  • Medical conditions – like depression, pregnancy
  • Sociology
  • Teaching

Difficulties of Validity

Criticism of Strauss and Corbin’s

Grounded Theory

5) Not ‘scientific’

  • Grounded theory is a qualitative research “based on inductive conclusions from a superficial analysis of collected data” (Gasson, n.d. p.85)

6) Data misinterpretation

  • Researcher misinterprets the data, leading to possible compromising of the emergent theory (Elliot and Lazenbatt, 2005, p.51)

* Researchers have criticized Strauss and Corbin’s approach as being too structured and systematic to be an effective research tool.

* Kathy Charmaz’s (2006) Constructing Grounded Theory, writes against the positivist leanings of Glaser, Strauss, and Corbin by asserting that “Positivist theory seeks causes, favors deterministic explanations, and emphasizes generality and universality” (p. 126). Charmaz advocates for interpretive theory that emphasizes understanding instead of a focusing on explanation.

Areas of Grounded Theory Research

Grounded Theory research covers two main areas

  • Those studying different topics in a qualitative grounded theory approach to their research
  • Those studying the use of grounded theory, looking to improve it, looking to improve the use of grounded in research and to advance grounded theory

Ethical Questions

As with all qualitative research and interviews – the moral inquiry

  • How an interview will improve the human situation
  • How a sensitive interview interaction may be stressful for the participants
  • Whether participants have a say in how their statements are interpreted
  • How critically the interviewees might be questioned
  • Possibility of harmful or intimate information being disclosed during the data collection process
  • Researcher bias leading the questions/research instead of following where it leads

Constructivist Grounded Theory

* Charmaz (2006) favours constructivist grounded theory stating that “Constructivist grounded theorists take a reflexive stance towards the research process, and consider how their theories evolve” (p. 131; emphasis hers).

* Within the field of grounded theory, there remains some debate regarding which grounded theory approach best suits the purposes of the research experiment.

Researchers Working with Grounded Theory

Grounded theory has been used to study a wide range of issues in different practice settings including

  • Cherubini et al (2010) A grounded theory of new Aboriginal teachers’ perceptions: the cultural attributions of Medicine Wheel Teachings
  • Weatherall (2010) A Grounded Theory Analysis of Older Adults and Information Technology
  • Gregory and Jones (2008) ‘Maintaining competence’: A grounded theory typology of approaches to teaching in higher education
  • Fleming et al (2010) Group Process and Learning: A Grounded Theory Model of Group Supervision

Researchers Working with Grounded Theory

There are also those working with grounded theory in order to help others already working with it, improve their understanding of the method

  • Giske and Artinian (2007) looked at the personal experience of the researcher ranging from beginner to experienced researcher, working with grounded theory specifically in a study related to patients' experience awaiting diagnositics in a hospital ward
  • Babchuk (n.d.)Grounded Theory as a “Family of Methods”; A Genealogical Analysis to Guide Research
  • Egan (2002) Grounded Theory Research and Theory Building
  • Elliott and Lazenbatt (2004) How to Recognise a ‘Quality’ Grounded Theory Research Study
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