What is grounded theory?

Despite the not inconsiderable growth in the number of research papers describing themselves as grounded theory, contrary to initial impressions, not all qualitative studies are grounded theory.

What distinguishes a grounded theory study from other forms of qualitative research is the philosophical and theoretical underpinning that guides the research process, that is, grounded theory as a methodology. Using grounded theory as a methodology provides a qualitative research framework based on a set of principles and assumptions about how knowledge is generated, the role of different forms of reasoning in making sense of the data, the importance of context, and the generation of theory from data. Is knowledge found (objective uncovering of something that pre-exists) or constructed (subjective interpretations of the participants daily realities acknowledging the role of the researcher)? How are inductive, deductive and abductive reasoning used in coding and theory development? The absence, or presence, of a priori hypothesis? The answers to these questions both inform whether a grounded theory methodology is being used and how research methods will be applied.

Grounded theory as a method refers to the systematic use of techniques to collect and analyse qualitative data. These methods are not unique to grounded theory, though must be present and used in a particular combination for a study to accurately be described a grounded theory study, including: coding approach, concurrent data generation and constant comparative analysis, memoing, theoretical sampling, theoretical saturation, and theoretical integration.

It’s the bringing together of the methods and methodology that make a grounded theory.

References

Birks, M., & Mills, J. (2023). Grounded theory: a practical guide (3rd ed.). London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Bryant, A., & Charmaz, K. (2007). The SAGE handbook of grounded theory. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory (2nd ed.). London: Sage.

Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. New York: Aldine.

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