Because grounded theory primarily relies on collected data to determine the final outcome, the findings are tightly connected to that data. This is in contrast to other research approaches that rely more heavily on external research frameworks or theories that are further removed from the data. Grounded theory is a strong, inductive research method for discovering new theories. Instead, you allow the data you collect to guide your analysis and theory creation, leading to novel discoveries.
The process of grounded theory describes specific strategies for analysis that can be incredibly helpful. While grounded theory is a very open ended methodology, the analysis strategies enable you to stay structured and analytical in your discovery process. Data collection and analysis are tightly interwoven. As you collect data, you analyze it, and as you learn from analysis, you continue to collect more data. This helps ensure that the data you collect is sufficient enough to explain the findings that arise from analysis.
Because data collection and analysis are tightly interwoven, you are truly following what is emerging from the data itself.
This provides a great buffer against confirming preconceived beliefs about your topic. Grounded theory relies on an iterative recruiting process called theoretical sampling where you continuously recruit and conduct new rounds of interviews with new participants and previous participants while you analyze data. The recruiting criteria also evolves and changes based on what you learn. Because the recruiting is not predefined, it can be challenging to continuously find the right participants for your study.
There is no way to know ahead of time how much data you will need to collect, so you need to be flexible with your time. With grounded theory, you continuously collect and analyze data until you reach theoretical saturation, which is the point at which new data does not contribute new insight to your evolving theory.
This means that you are likely to conduct many rounds of data collection before your theory is complete. Data analysis occurs on a rolling basis and involves making constant comparisons between different excerpts of data. It can be challenging to keep track of your comparisons and findings as you go.
It can be helpful to use a qualitative data analysis software like Delve to help you stay organized during your analysis. During this period, they criticized the predominant approach to qualitative research, which they found to be very limited. Qualitative studies at this time were following traditional methods which basically involved coming up with a hypothesis and conducting research to validate it. Glaser and Strauss pioneered a new methodology for discovering theory by taking an inductive approach to qualitative research.
They formally presented their newly developed research method by publishing Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for qualitative research Since then, various evolutions of grounded to theory emerged, including Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques by Strauss and Corbin.
This shifted from the concept of the natural emergence of theory by designing an analytical coding framework for generating theories from data systematically. In s, Kathy Charmaz published a new approach called constructivist grounded theory , and argued that neither data nor theories are discovered but are constructed through the researchers' past and present experiences.
Read more about the history of grounded theory here. This is an overview of how you can approach the process of grounded theory. Note: We adjusted some terminology and language from the original grounded theory papers in order to make this guide as practical as possible for anybody aiming to use grounded theory with qualitative data analysis software. If you wish to gain more depth in your grounded theory knowledge, we highly encourage you to read the original papers from Glaser, Strauss, Corbin and Charmaz, which we link to in the references at the bottom of this page.
It is an iterative research methodology that involves cycling through the steps iteratively. Part of what made Grounded Theory revolutionary was that it mixed data collection with analysis.
It emphasized going back to the field even after conducting some analysis. You will recruit some participants, gather data and analyse it, and go back into the field again with a different recruiting strategy and focus of inquiry. Grounded theory is deliberately cyclical in nature. Start off with your initial research questions. Have an idea for what phenomenon you are trying to explain. Thus, theoretical sampling is used to focus and generate data to feed the iterative process of continual comparative analysis of the data.
Intermediate coding, identifying a core category, theoretical data saturation, constant comparative analysis, theoretical sensitivity and memoing occur in the next phase of the GT process. Where initial coding fractures the data, intermediate coding begins to transform basic data into more abstract concepts allowing the theory to emerge from the data.
During this analytic stage, a process of reviewing categories and identifying which ones, if any, can be subsumed beneath other categories occurs and the properties or dimension of the developed categories are refined.
Properties refer to the characteristics that are common to all the concepts in the category and dimensions are the variations of a property. At this stage, a core category starts to become evident as developed categories form around a core concept; relationships are identified between categories and the analysis is refined.
Birks and Mills 6 affirm that diagramming can aid analysis in the intermediate coding phase. These authors promote storyline technique described in the following section and theoretical coding as strategies for advancing analysis and theoretical integration. Advanced coding is essential to produce a theory that is grounded in the data and has explanatory power. The findings are presented as a set of interrelated concepts as opposed to presenting themes.
Storyline is a tool that can be used for theoretical integration. Storyline technique is first proposed with limited attention in Basics of Qualitative Research by Strauss and Corbin 12 and further developed by Birks et al. The storyline is the conceptualisation of the core category. Birks et al. Theoretical coding occurs as the final culminating stage towards achieving a GT.
As presented in Figure 1 , theoretical sensitivity encompasses the entire research process. Glaser and Strauss 5 initially described the term theoretical sensitivity in The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Theoretical sensitivity is the ability to know when you identify a data segment that is important to your theory. Developing sensitivity as a grounded theorist and the application of theoretical sensitivity throughout the research process allows the analytical focus to be directed towards theory development and ultimately result in an integrated and abstract GT.
The meticulous application of essential GT methods refines the analysis resulting in the generation of an integrated, comprehensive GT that explains a process relating to a particular phenomenon. Procedural precision requires careful attention to maintaining a detailed audit trail, data management strategies and demonstrable procedural logic recorded using memos.
An audit trail of decision-making, changes in the direction of the research and the rationale for decisions made are essential to ensure rigour in the final grounded theory. This article offers a framework to assist novice researchers visualise the iterative processes that underpin a GT study. The fundamental process and methods used to generate an integrated grounded theory have been described. Novice researchers can adapt the framework presented to inform and guide the design of a GT study.
This framework provides a useful guide to visualise the interplay between the methods and processes inherent in conducting GT.
Research conducted ethically and with meticulous attention to process will ensure quality research outcomes that have relevance at the practice level. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Published online Jan 2. Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Email: ua. Received Jul 30; Accepted Dec This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract Background: Grounded theory is a well-known methodology employed in many research studies.
Objective: The aim of this article is to provide a contemporary research framework suitable to inform a grounded theory study.
Result: This article provides an overview of grounded theory illustrated through a graphic representation of the processes and methods employed in conducting research using this methodology.
Discussion: As grounded theory is not a linear process, the framework illustrates the interplay between the essential grounded theory methods and iterative and comparative actions involved. Conclusion: Rather than an engagement in philosophical discussion or a debate of the different genres that can be used in grounded theory, this article illustrates how a framework for a research study design can be used to guide and inform the novice nurse researcher undertaking a study using grounded theory.
Keywords: Framework, grounded theory, grounded theory methods, novice researcher, study design. Background History Glaser and Strauss are recognised as the founders of grounded theory. Genres: traditional, evolved and constructivist grounded theory Grounded theory has several distinct methodological genres: traditional GT associated with Glaser; evolved GT associated with Strauss, Corbin and Clarke; and constructivist GT associated with Charmaz.
Research process Before commencing any research study, the researcher must have a solid understanding of the research process.
Results The following section provides insight into the process of undertaking a GT research study. Open in a separate window. Figure 1. Constant comparative analysis Constant comparative analysis is an analytical process used in GT for coding and category development.
Coding Coding is an analytical process used to identify concepts, similarities and conceptual reoccurrences in data. Charmaz 10 posits, codes rely on interaction between researchers and their data.
Table 1. Initial coding Initial coding of data is the preliminary step in GT data analysis. Theoretical sampling The purpose of theoretical sampling is to allow the researcher to follow leads in the data by sampling new participants or material that provides relevant information.
Box 1. Examples of theoretical sampling. In Edwards 36 grounded theory study, theoretical sampling led to the inclusion of the partners of women who had presented to the emergency department. This statement led me to ask other women during their interviews if they had similar experiences, and ultimately to interview the partners to gain their perspectives.
Intermediate coding Intermediate coding, identifying a core category, theoretical data saturation, constant comparative analysis, theoretical sensitivity and memoing occur in the next phase of the GT process. Box 2. Writing the storyline. To address the gaps the researcher iteratively returned to the data and to the field and refine the storyline.
Theoretical sensitivity As presented in Figure 1 , theoretical sensitivity encompasses the entire research process. Box 3. Theoretical sensitivity. Important practical, philosophical and historical elements as well as barriers and facilitators were present during a complex adaptation process.
Time was needed to allow dentists and practice staff to go through this process of slowly adapting their practices to this new way of working. Patients also needed time to incorporate home care activities and more frequent visits to dentists into their daily routines. Despite being able to adapt or not, all dentists trusted the concrete clinical evidence that they have produced, that is, seeing results in their patients mouths made them believe in a specific treatment approach.
This paper provides a detailed explanation of how a study evolved using grounded theory methodology GTM , one of the most commonly used methodologies in qualitative health and medical research [[ 8 ], p47]. In , Bryant and Charmaz argued:. GTM is based around heuristics and guidelines rather than rules and prescriptions. Moreover, researchers need to be familiar with GTM, in all its major forms, in order to be able to understand how they might adapt it in use or revise it into new forms and variations.
Our detailed explanation of our experience in this grounded theory study is intended to provide, vicariously, the kind of 'experience' that might help other qualitative researchers in medicine and health to apply and benefit from grounded theory methodology in their studies.
We hope that our explanation will assist others to avoid using grounded theory as an 'approving bumper sticker' [ 10 ], and instead use it as a resource that can greatly improve the quality and outcome of a qualitative study.
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Download references. We thank dentists, dental practice staff and patients for their invaluable contributions to the study. We thank Emeritus Professor Miles Little for his time and wise comments during the project.
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar. Correspondence to Alexandra Sbaraini. All authors have made substantial contributions to conception and design of this study.
AS carried out data collection, analysis, and interpretation of data. SMC made substantial contribution during data collection, analysis and data interpretation. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Additional file 1: Initial interview schedule for dentists and dental practice staff.
DOC 30 KB. Additional file 2: Questions added to the initial interview schedule for dentists and dental practice staff. Additional file 3: Questions added to the modified interview schedule for dentists and dental practice staff. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. Reprints and Permissions. Sbaraini, A. How to do a grounded theory study: a worked example of a study of dental practices. Download citation.
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Subsequently, the potential of grounded theory methods for generating middle-range theory has not been fully realized. To access this article you must have a Temple University AccessNet account. If you are not affliated with Temple University, use the citation below to find the article at a library to which you have access. Sandi Wolfe has translated the above English text into Ukrainian. To see her other translations, click her blog. Charmaz, Kathy. SAGE Publications.
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