GROUNDED THEORY

GROUNDED THEORY: a research method

concerned with the generation of theory,
which is ‘grounded’ in data that has been
systematically collected and analysed.

It is used to uncover social processes such as

social relationships and behaviours of groups.
Grounded theory was designed to open up a
space for the development of new,
contextualized theories by Glaser & Strauss.
Called “grounded theory” because the results
of the research are “always traceable to the
data that gave rise to them”
Grounded theory requires the researcher to use
a specified set of procedures to code data in a
series of passes (open, axial, and selective).

Data are examined for dimensions and

properties, compared with similar phenomena,
regrouped and reconceptualized until a
provisional theory emerges inductively from
the analysis and is further tested through
theoretical sampling.

Codes are recorded in code notes, integrative

memos, visuals, and balancing matrices.
Grounded theory is based on “systematically
and intensively analyzing data” not just to
order them, but to examine conceptual
relationships and to generate theory. The
theories that result consist of “plausible
relationships proposed among concepts and
sets of concepts”

The iterative nature of the methodology leads

to findings that are rooted in precise analytic
procedures and to theory that is fluid, open,
and provisional.
Grounded theory requires a questioning stance
up to the end of a research project and
beyond. Those applying the methodology must
learn to live without closure.

Use of multiple data collection and reporting

methods. Triangulation in data gathering and
creativity in reporting of the findings are
logical outcomes of constant comparison and
the active search for disconfirming evidence.
Grounded theory involves the progressive
identification and integration of categories of
meaning from data.
It is both the process of category identification and
integration (as method) and its product (as theory).

Grounded theory as method provides us with

guidelines on how to identify categories, how to make
links between categories and how to establish
relationships between them.

Grounded theory as theory is the end-product of this

process; it provides us with an explanatory framework
with which to understand the phenomenon under
investigation.
To identify, refine and integrate categories, and
ultimately to develop theory, grounded theory
researchers use a number of key strategies, including
constant comparative analysis,
theoretical sampling and theoretical coding.

Categories
These designate the grouping together of instances
(events, processes, occurrences) that share central
features or characteristics with one another.
Categories can be at a low level of abstraction, in
which case they function as descriptive labels.
Categories in grounded theory emerge from the data,
they are not mutually exclusive and they evolve
throughout the research process.
Coding
This is the process by which categories are
identified. In the early stages of analysis, coding is
largely descriptive. Here, descriptive labels are
attached to discrete instances of phenomena. New,
low-level categories emerge frequently as a result.
As coding progresses, the researcher is able to
identify higher-level categories that systematically
integrate low-level categories into meaningful units.
In other words, analytical categories are introduced.
Because grounded theory aims to develop new,
context-specific theories, category labels should not
be derived from existing theoretical formulations but
should be grounded in the data instead.
Constant comparative analysis
This ensures that the coding process
maintains its momentum by moving back and
forth between the identification of
similarities among and differences between
emerging categories. Having identified a
common feature that unites instances of a
phenomenon, the researcher needs to
refocus on differences within a category in
order to be able to identify any emerging
subcategories.
Negative case analysis
This ensures that the researcher continues to
develop the emerging theory in the light of
the evidence. Having identified a category, or
a linkage between categories, grounded
theory researchers need to look for ‘negative
cases’ – that is, instances that do not fit. The
identification of such instances allows the
researcher to qualify and elaborate the
emerging theory, adding depth and density to
it, so that it is able to capture the full
complexity of the data on which it is based.
Theoretical sensitivity
This is what moves the researcher from a descriptive
to an analytic level. In grounded theory, the
researcher interacts with the data. That is, (s)he asks
questions of the data, which are in turn modified by
the emerging answers.
Each emerging category, idea, concept or linkage
informs a new look at the data to elaborate or
modify the original construct. The researcher
engages with the data by asking questions, making
comparisons and looking for opposites. This may
involve going back to source to collect further data.
Data collection and coding are both part of the
process of grounded theory analysis.
Theoretical sampling
This involves collecting further data in the light of
categories that have emerged from earlier stages of
data analysis.
Theoretical sampling means checking emerging
theory against reality by sampling incidents
that may challenge or elaborate its developing
claims.
While the earlier stages of grounded theory require
maximum openness and flexibility to identify a wide
range of predominantly descriptive categories,
theoretical sampling is concerned with the
refinement and, ultimately, saturation (see below)
of existing, and increasingly analytic, categories.
Theoretical saturation
Ideally, the process of data collection and
data analysis in grounded theory continues
until theoretical saturation has been
achieved. In other words, the researcher
continues to sample and code data until no
new categories can be identified, and until
new instances of variation for existing
categories have ceased to emerge.
3 stages of analysis of data in GT

1. Open coding – This involves line by line

coding where concepts and key phrases are
identified and highlighted and moved into
sub-categories, then categories. This breaks
the data down into conceptual components
and the researcher can start to theorise or
reflect on what they are reading and
understanding – making sense of the data. The
data from each participant will be ‘constantly
compared’ for similarities.
2. Axial coding – at this stage relationships are
identified between the categories, and
connections identified

3. Selective coding - This involves identifying

the core category and methodically relating it
to other categories. The relationships must be
authenticated and categories refined.

Categories are then integrated together and a

Grounded Theory identified.
Analytical notes are encouraged. These are
notes to oneself to explain thought patterns in
relation to the data analysis. Final theory is
usually generated from the integration of
several analytical memos.
The Core Category is the chief phenomena
around which the categories are built. Theory
is generated around a core category.
The core category should account for the
variation found in the data i.e the categories
will relate to it in some way. The categories
demonstrate how the core category is situated
in the lives of those participating in the study