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Grounded theory
Grounded theory
 GT is the systematic
generation of theory from
data
 could be seen as the
opposite to traditional
research using scientific
method
 collect data first - relating
to general research aims
and questions rather than
a specific hypothesis
Grounded theory
 key points in the transcript
are marked with a series
of codes, extracted from
the text
 codes are then grouped
into similar concepts in
order to make them more
workable.
 From these concepts,
categories are formed,
which are the basis for the
creation of a theory
Grounded theory
 GT developed by 2 sociologists,
Glaser and Strauss
 Developed while doing research
on dying hospital patients
 Later the pair disagreed about
how to do GT and wrote
separately about how it should
be used and conducted
Aims of GT
 to generating concepts that explain people’s
actions regardless of time and place;
 to formulate hypotheses based on the
What’s going on here?
conceptual ideas;
 to discover the participants’ main concern
and how they continually try to resolve it
 “to discover the theory implicit in the data”
(Glaser, 1992)
 GT does not aim for the "truth" but to
conceptualize what's going using empirical
data
What is the Pps
main problem
and how are they
trying to solve it?
Findings in GT
 Findings are not facts; they are probability statements about
relationships between concepts
 Validity in GT is assessed using the following:
 Fit: relates to how closely the concepts fit with the incidents
they are representing, how thorough was the comparison of
incidents to concepts?
 Relevance: a relevant study deals with the real concern of
participants
 Workability: The theory works when it explains how the
problem is being solved with much variation.
 Modifiability: A modifiable theory can be altered when new
relevant data is compared to existing data
 A GT is never right or wrong, it just has more or less fit, relevance,
workability and modifiability.
Data collection and note taking
Barney Glaser ...
 warns against tape recording and transcribing
 says rapport may be lost when data is recorded
 that transcribing is a waste of time in which more data
could be collected
Miss Wood says...
 unless you have an excellent memory or are very practiced
in taking notes during interviews (which can also lead to
loss of rapport) then transcription is fairly commonplace
in the collection of qualitative data from interviews!
Coding
 Stick transcript to A3 paper: big margins





for coding
Make notes about the Pp around the top
edge
Consider each sentence in turn; try to
summarise the sentence with a word or
phrase; this is now a category or theme
Write categories on coloured coded postits and stick round the edge with arrows
linking to example quotes
Use colour-coding to indicate other
quotes which fit your categories/themes
You may find that some sentences fit a
category but are somehow slightly
different; create a sub-category!
Biographical notes
about the participant
Memoing
 Use index cards to record any ideas that you
have while coding, i.e. about how the issues
could be explained or factors which affect the
situation and how a people deals with it; how
the categories might be related
 Eventually, you may find one theme /category
that arises again and again and is linked with
lots of other categories; this is your core
category
 you will know because it will have high
frequency and be highly connected with other
categories
 the theory emerges through the memos
 the coding provides the evidence for that
theory
Sorting, sequencing and modelling
 Having coded all the data; look at the emergent
categories and work out what it is that you have
discovered and decide how to record this and
feedback to the rest of us
How?
 Review your core category, categories, sub
categories and arrange them on the desks in a
way which shows visually the relationships
between categories; aim to create a diagram
that illustrates your findings
 keep moving the post-its around until you feel
that you have found the best way to structure
your response;
 Now create a visual depiction of the links
between your concepts; use arrows, boxes,
bubbles, colour, what ever you need to explain
what you have found clearly
Example of a
grounded theory analysis
Sampling
 IN GT the sample are also emergent;
 once you have developed a hierarchy of
core category, categories and
subcategories, you will want to find out
more about mediating factors which
affect how these categories are
interrelated
 to do this you may need to survey more
people and seek out particular types of
people; given the categories that have
emerged
 You might do this through purposive
sampling