Grounded theory has been derived through inductive reasoning giving it a firm grounding in data or observations of the world. Grounded Theory was an attempt to avoid sociological theory which was overly abstract and for which the references to the real world were unclear. The basic idea of the grounded theory approach is to read a textual database and "discover" or label variables and their interrelationships. Grounded theory refers to theory that is developed inductively from a corpus of data. If done well, this means that the resulting theory at least fits one dataset perfectly. This contrasts with theory derived deductively from grand theory, without the help of data, and which could therefore turn out to fit no data at all.
Although not part of the grounded theory rhetoric, it is apparent that grounded theorists are concerned with or largely influenced by emic understandings of the world: they use categories drawn from respondents themselves and tend to focus on making implicit belief systems explicit. The grounded theory approach, particularly the way Strauss develops it, consists of a set of steps whose careful execution is thought to "guarantee" a good theory as the outcome. Strauss would say that the quality of a theory can be evaluated by the process by which a theory is constructed.
Grounded theory takes a case rather than variable perspective, although the distinction is nearly impossible to draw. This means in part that the researcher takes different cases to be wholes, in which the variables interact as a unit to produce certain outcomes. A case-oriented perspective tends to assume that variables interact in complex ways, and is suspicious of simple additive models.
Grounded Theory and
Organizational Research -
Patricia Yancey Martin.
Grounded theory is an inductive, theory discovery methodology that allows the researcher
to develop a theoretical account of the general features of a topic while simultaneously
grounding the account in empirical observations or data (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). The authors describe and
explain specific strategies for conducting grounded theory research in and on
organizations. Throughout the article emphasis is
placed on grounded theory's ability to facilitate understanding and to identify desirable
improvements in work contexts.
Grounded Theory Research and Theory Building
- T. Marshall Egan.
The problem and the solution. A challenging mandate recently advanced by human resource
development (HRD) scholars and practitioners has been the development of theory with clear
implications for practice. The grounded theory research approach presents promising
possibilities for the development of theoretical frameworks that emerge from research
situated in practice and enhance the HRD theorist–HRD practitioner partnership in the
process of theory building.
The Development of Constructivist Grounded Theory
Jane Mills, Ann Bonner, and Karen Francis.
Abstract: Constructivist grounded theory is a popular method for research studies
primarily in the disciplines of psychology, education, and nursing. In this article, the
authors aim to locate the roots of constructivist grounded theory and then trace its
development. They examine key grounded theory texts to discern their ontological and
epistemological orientation. Grounded theory can be
seen as a methodological spiral that begins with Glaser and Strauss’ original text
and continues today. The variety of epistemological positions that grounded theorists
adopt are located at various points on this spiral and are reflective of their underlying
ontologies.
A Grounded Theory of Portfolio Working - Experiencing the Smallest of Small
Businesses
Michael Clinton, Peter Totterdell, Stephen Wood.
Portfolio working has been championed, most noticeably by Handy (1995), as a new way in
which we should understand many working lives. It is said to be characterized by obtaining
and doing a variety of pieces of work for a number of different clients or employers and
is suggested by many to be an increasing practice. To understand how individuals who work
in this way experience portfolio working, 26 semi-structured interviews were carried out
with a range of portfolio workers and then analysed using a grounded theory technique.
Beyond Two Dimensions - A Grounded Theory Model of Conflict-Handling Behavior -
Anne Maydan Nicotera.
A descriptive model of conflict-handling behavior was developed in an inductive
investigation aimed at overcoming problems of assuming two dimensions of conflict
behavior. The model delineates and defines strategy categories based on actor-salient
aspects of specific behavior in specific situations. Ninety full-time employees of
different organizations provided written accounts of recent conflicts in which they were
involved at work. Using a grounded theory approach, strategy descriptions were subjected
to constant comparison analysis.
Using grounded theory to research parent participation -
Imelda Coyne, Sarah Cowley.
There are many interpretations and applications of the grounded theory method which have
contributed to different understandings of grounded theory and different versions of how
the key components should be implemented. This paper uses data from
a study on parent participation to illustrate the application of the key components of
grounded theory. Grounded theory provides clear guidelines on how to analyse qualitative
data and so is a rigorous method that provides structure and direction to the researcher.
However, theoretical sampling with vulnerable groups can be problematic and requires
further discussion and debate from other users of grounded theory.
The Grounded Theory
Institute
Dr. Barney Glaser and Classic Grounded Theory.
Barney Glaser's now world famous troubleshooting seminars are designed for PhD candidates
to trouble shoot exactly their next question in writing, doing their Grounded Theory
dissertation. Seminars cover the many Grounded Theory issues candidates face in
completing their PhD dissertation.
The Grounded Theory Review is an international peer-reviewed
journal for the advancement of classic grounded theory research and scholarship.
Each issue of the Review contains papers featuring substantive theories
developed using classic grounded theory methodology as well as papers with a
focus on methodological perspectives.