1. Chapter 13: Grounded Theory Designs
Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research
Edition 5
John W. Creswell

2. By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
Define grounded theory research, and describe when to use it, and how it developed
Distinguish among three types of grounded theory designs
Identify the key characteristics of grounded theory research
Identify some potential ethical issues in conducting grounded theory research
Describe the steps in conducting a grounded theory study
Evaluate the quality of a grounded theory study

3. What Is Grounded Theory Research?
A grounded theory design is a systematic, qualitative procedure used to generate a theory that explains, at a broad conceptual level, a process, an action, or an interaction about a substantive topic.

4. When to Use Grounded Theory Research
To generate a theory rather than use one “off the shelf”
To explain a process, action, or interaction
When you want a step-by-step, systematic procedure
When you want to stay close to the data

5. How Grounded Theory Developed
1967 Glaser and Strauss book, The Discovery of Grounded Theory
1990, 1998 Strauss and Corbin prescriptive form with predetermined categories and concerns about reliability and validity
2000 Charmaz introduces “constructivist” method

6. Types of Grounded Theory Designs: The Systematic Design (Strauss & Corbin, 1998)
Open coding: Properties and dimensionalized properties
Axial coding: Researcher selects one open coding category and places it at the center as the central phenomenon and then relates all other categories to it
Selective coding: Writing a theory based on the interrelationship of the categories from axial coding

7. Open Coding to the Axial Coding Paradigm
Open Coding Categories
Axial Coding Paradigm
Category
Context
Category
Core
Category or
Phenomenon
Category
Causal
Conditions
Strategies
Consequences
Category
One open coding
category as core
phenomenon
Intervening
Conditions
Category

8. Types of Grounded Theory Designs: The Emerging Design (Glaser 1992)
Grounded theory exists at the most abstract conceptual level rather than the least abstract level as found in visual data presentations such as a coding paradigm.
A theory is grounded in the data and not forced into categories.
The four essential criteria are fit, work, relevance, and modifiability.

9. Types of Grounded Theory Designs: Constructivist Design (Charmaz 2006)
Philosophically positioned between positivist and postmodern researchers
Theorist explains feelings of individuals as they experience a phenomenon or process
Study mentions beliefs and values of the researcher and eschews predetermined categories
Narrative is more explanatory, discursive, and probing the assumptions and meanings for the individuals in the study

10. Key Characteristics of Grounded Theory Designs
A process approach: A sequence of actions and interactions among people and events pertaining to a topic
Theoretical sampling: The researcher chooses forms of data collection that will yield text and images useful in generating a theory
Constant comparative data analysis: An inductive (from specific to broad) data analysis procedure in grounded theory research of generating and connecting categories by comparing incidents in the data to other incidents, incidents to categories, and categories to other categories

11. Key Characteristics of Grounded Theory Designs (cont’d)
A core category: A category that can become the theme that describes or becomes the main theme of the process
Theory generation: An abstract explanation or understanding of a process about a substantive topic grounded in the data
Memos: Notes the researcher writes throughout the research process to elaborate on ideas about the data and the coded categories

12. A Process and Categories Within the Flow of Research in Grounded Theory
The research problem leads to
A study of a central phenomenon
in grounded theory research questions
That addresses a process
which contains
- a sequence of activities
- including actions by people
- including interactions by people
Which a grounded theorist
begins to understand by developing
- categories
- relating categories
- developing a theory that explains

13. Zigzag Approach to Data Collection and Analysis
Data Analysis
Close to Saturated
Categories
More Refined
Categories
Third
Interview
Toward
Saturation
of Categories
Refined
Categories
Second
Interview
First
Interview
Preliminary
Categories

14. Constant Comparison Procedures in Data Analysis
Category I
Category II
Code A
Code B
Code C
Indicators
Raw Data (e.g., transcripts,
fieldnotes, documents)

15. Core Category of Ethnicity in a Theory of Ethnic Minority Students’ Process of Community Building
- Hispanic
- Black
Gender
- Male
- Female
Background
- Economic Differences
- Diversity
- Adapting to Change
-Sense of Self
Intervening
Conditions
Community
Peer
Interactions
Causal Condition
Phenomenon
Properties
Properties
- Nature of Interactions
- Racial Differences
- Quantity of Friends
- Intensity
- Time to Develop
Friends
- Sense of
Belonging
- Source
- Importance
Strategies
Withdrawal
Passive, low risk
Active

16. Memos Notes the researcher writes throughout the research process
Used to elaborate on ideas about the data and the coded categories
Researcher explores hunches, ideas, and thoughts, and then takes them apart, always searching for the broader explanations at work in the process

17. Potential Ethical Issues in Grounded Theory
Not advancing the purpose of the study
Creating power and authority imbalances in interviewing
Not building a useful chain of evidence from data to theory
Not engaging in a study that benefits participants

18. Conducting a Grounded Theory Study
Decide if a grounded theory design best addresses the research problem
Identify a process to study
Seek approval and access
Conduct theoretical sampling
Code the data
Use selective coding and develop the theory
Validate your theory
Write a grounded theory research report

19. Evaluating a Grounded Theory Study
The researcher identifies the process or action being studied.
The researcher generates a theory in the grounded theory project.
Throughout the study there is a link among the data, the categories, and the theory.

20. Evaluating a Grounded Theory Study (cont’d)
The researcher uses memoing in the procedure.
The grounded theory report presents a visual model of the theory.
The researcher uses one of the types of grounded theory designs.