Grounded theory 1.pptx

What is

Grounded

Theory?

• A systematic method of analyzing and collecting data to develop theories

• Merge the process of data collection and analysis

• Move back and forth between data collection and analysis in a attempt to “ground” the

Purposes of

Grounded

Theory

• Minimize the imposition of the researcher’s own categories of meaning upon the data during the research process

The principles of

grounded theory

method

• Categories

• Coding

• Constant comparative analysis

• Negative case analysis

• Theoretical sensitivity

• Theoretical sampling

• Theoretical saturation

Categories

• Identify categories at a higher level of abstraction

• Be analytic categories

• Interpret instances of phenomena

• Emerge from the data • Evolve throughout the

Coding

• The process by which categories are identified

• Theoretical coding involves the application of a coding paradigm to the data

Constant

comparative analysis

• Ensure that the coding process maintains its momentum by moving

back and forth between the identification of similarities among and differences

between emerging categories

• Ensure that the research does not merely build up categories but also breaks them down again into

Negative case

analysis

• Develop emerging theory in the light of the evidence

• Look for “negative cases” that do not fit into identified category or linkage between

categories

• Allow to qualify and elaborate the emerging theory, adding depth and density to it

Theoretical

Sensitivity

• Is what moves the researcher from a

descriptive to an analytic level

• Engage with the data by asking questions, making comparisons and looking for opposite

Theoretical

Sampling

• Collect further data in the light of categories that have emerged from earlier stages if data analysis

• Check emerging theory against reality by sampling incidents that may challenge or elaborate its developing claims

Theoretical

Saturation

Continue to sample

and code data until

no new categories

can be identified, and

until

new instances

of

variation

for

Memo-writing

• _{Write definitions of categories and justify labels}

chosen for them

• _{Trace their emergent relationships with one}

another

• _{Keep a record of the progressive integration of} higher-and lover-level categories

• _{Show the changes of direction in the analytic} process and emerging perspectives

• _{Provide reflections on the adequacy of the} research question

• _{Provide information about the research process.} The substantive findings of the study

Research Question in

Grounded Theory

• Serve to identify the

phenomenon wishing to study at the outset

• Become progressively focused throughout the research process

• Can change altogether in the light of emerging

Formulate

the

Research

Question in

Grounded

Theory

DO

• Be open-ended question

• Identify the phenomenon of interest without making (too many) assumptions

• Orientate towards action and process (HOW)

DON’T

• Be compatible with “Yes/No” answers

• Employ constructs derived from existing theories

Data

Collection

• Data collection techniques:

– Semi-structured interview – Participant observation – Focus groups

– Diaries

Full version

of Grounded

Theory

• Collect some data

• Explore the data through initial open coding

• Establish tentative linkages between categories

• Return to the field to collect further data

Abbreviated

version of

Grounded

Theory

• Work with the original data only – interview transcripts or other documents

• Do not have opportunity to leave the

confines of the original data set to broaden and refine the analysis

Data

Analysis -

Coding

• Coding – carried out by:

– Line-by-line

– Sentence-by-sentence – Paragraph-by-paragraph – Page-by-page

– Section-by-section

• The smaller the unit of analysis, the more numerous the descriptive categories that emerge initially

• Should carry out line-by-line coding to ensure that the analysis is truly grounded and that higher-level

categories and theoretical formulation actually emerge from the data

• Rely on interaction between researcher and their data

Data

Analysis -

Coding

• Involve a close coding of statements,

actions, events and documents  define connections between data

• Break data up into their components or properties

• Define actions that shape and support these data

• Invoke analytic questions from the start:

– What do the data suggest?

– From whose point of view?

– What theoretical category does this datum indicate?

Data

Analysis -

Coding

Generate largely descriptive

labels for occurrences or

phenomena

1

Establish linkages between

such categories

2

Integrate them into

higher-order analytic using coding

paradigm

Writing up

• Introduction

• Method

• Results

• Discussion

Introduction

• Identify a recent un-investigated social phenomenon

• Identify a phenomenon that a large research literature has studied about but none of

them reported asked the type of question

Method

• Include information about:

– Data collection techniques

– Choice of contexts and participants – How data were coded

– How categories were integrated

• Contain ethical consideration and discussion of reflexivity

• Full version of the grounded theory:

– Provide an account of how the cyclical process of data collection and analysis progressed throughout the research

• Abbreviated version of the grounded theory:

Results

relationships with one another in the form of a flowchart or a table

• Introduce and discuss each category • Examine the relationships between

categories in details

Discussion

– What has the study contributed to our understanding

of the phenomenon under investigation?

– What may be the practical applications of our findings?

– Was our research question the right question to ask? – Why may we have got it wrong?

– What does this tell us about our assumptions about the phenomenon?

• Discuss our findings in relation to the existing literature:

– To what extent does our research challenge or support existing theories?

– What can our work contribute to theoretical

developments in the filed?

References

and

Appendices

• Include a list of references – all authors referred to in the report

• Include appendices

– Contain additional data supporting the analysis presented in the report