Grounded Theory is a qualitative research methodology that emerged in the 1960s as a systematic approach to generate theories grounded in empirical data. Developed by sociologists Barney G. Glaser and Anselm L. Strauss, this method has since been widely adopted across various fields, including sociology, psychology, nursing, education, and management.
Grounded Theory is a research methodology designed to develop theories or explanations based on the data collected during the research process rather than starting with preconceived hypotheses or theories. It is a systematic and inductive approach that aims to uncover the underlying patterns, categories, and concepts within qualitative data. Grounded Theory is particularly well-suited for exploring complex and poorly understood phenomena.
Grounded Theory is guided by several key principles:
Emergence: Grounded Theory assumes that theories emerge from the data rather than being imposed on it. Researchers start with an open mind and minimal preconceptions.
Constant Comparison: Researchers continually compare new data with previously collected data to identify patterns and relationships, a process known as constant comparison. This iterative approach helps refine emerging concepts.
Theoretical Sampling: Researchers purposefully select new participants or sources of data based on the emerging concepts and theories. This sampling strategy allows for a deeper exploration of relevant aspects.
Coding: Data analysis in Grounded Theory involves coding, where researchers assign labels or codes to segments of data. Initial or open coding involves identifying concepts, while axial coding focuses on relationships and categories. Finally, selective coding synthesizes the core category and related concepts.
Saturation: Grounded Theory seeks theoretical saturation, a point at which no new concepts or patterns emerge from the data. Saturation indicates that the theory is well-developed and comprehensive.
The Grounded Theory Research Process
1. Data Collection:
The Grounded Theory process begins with data collection. Researchers typically use qualitative methods such as interviews, observations, or document analysis to gather data related to the phenomenon under study. Data collection continues iteratively throughout the research process.
2. Open Coding:
The first stage of data analysis involves open coding, where researchers break down the data into discrete elements or codes. This process is characterized by line-by-line coding, which involves assigning labels or codes to individual pieces of data. Through open coding, initial concepts or categories start to emerge.
3. Axial Coding:
In the axial coding phase, researchers begin to explore the relationships between the concepts identified during open coding. This step involves organizing data around a central category or core concept and identifying subcategories and properties. Axial coding helps researchers establish connections and patterns within the data.
4. Selective Coding:
Selective coding is the final coding phase in Grounded Theory research. Researchers focus on refining the core category and its associated subcategories. The goal is to develop a cohesive and integrated theory that explains the phenomenon under study. Selective coding involves looking for additional data to support and validate the emerging theory.
5. Theory Development:
As the coding process progresses, researchers continually refine and develop the theory that emerges from the data. This theory should provide a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon, including its causes, processes, and outcomes.
6. Theoretical Sampling:
Throughout the research process, researchers may engage in theoretical sampling, where they deliberately seek out additional data or participants to test and refine their emerging theory. Theoretical sampling ensures that the theory remains grounded in the data.
7. Saturation:
Theoretical saturation is a critical criterion in Grounded Theory research. Researchers continue collecting and analyzing data until they reach a point of saturation, where no new concepts or patterns emerge. Saturation indicates that the theory is well-developed and complete.
Contemporary Relevance of Grounded Theory
Grounded Theory remains a relevant and influential qualitative research methodology for several reasons:
1. Rich Understanding:
Grounded Theory provides a systematic and rigorous approach for gaining a rich and deep understanding of complex phenomena. It is particularly valuable when exploring topics that lack well-established theories.
2. Flexibility:
Grounded Theory is adaptable and can be applied to a wide range of research questions and settings. It accommodates both inductive and deductive approaches, allowing researchers to explore new areas or test existing theories.
3. Practical Applications:
Grounded Theory research has practical applications across various disciplines. For example, in healthcare, it is used to develop patient care models, and in education, it helps design effective teaching strategies.
4. Theory Development:
Grounded Theory contributes to theory development in both basic and applied research. It generates theories grounded in real-world data, which can inform practice, policy, and further research.
5. Qualitative Research Standards:
Grounded Theory adheres to qualitative research standards, ensuring rigor and credibility in qualitative inquiry. It emphasizes transparency, reflexivity, and the systematic handling of data.
Critiques and Challenges
While Grounded Theory is a valuable qualitative research method, it is not without its critiques and challenges:
1. Time-Consuming:
Grounded Theory research can be time-consuming due to its iterative and data-intensive nature. The process of collecting, coding, and analyzing data requires significant dedication.
2. Complexity:
Theoretical coding and theory development in Grounded Theory demand a high level of analytical skill and experience. Novice researchers may find it challenging to navigate the complexities of this method.
3. Subjectivity:
Despite its systematic approach, Grounded Theory research is not entirely free from subjectivity. Researchers’ interpretations and decisions during coding and theory development can influence the outcomes.
4. Resource Intensive:
Conducting Grounded Theory research often requires access to resources such as software for qualitative analysis, interview transcription services, and substantial time commitments.
Conclusion
Grounded Theory is a powerful qualitative research methodology that offers a systematic and inductive approach to theory development. By starting with the data and allowing theories to emerge organically, Grounded Theory provides a valuable framework for understanding complex and poorly understood phenomena. Its flexibility and practical applications make it a relevant and enduring method in contemporary qualitative research across diverse fields. While it presents challenges, the insights gained through Grounded Theory research contribute to the advancement of knowledge and the development of theories that are firmly rooted in empirical data.
Related Concepts
Description
Purpose
Key Components/Steps
Grounded Theory
Grounded theory is a qualitative research methodology aimed at generating theories or conceptual frameworks grounded in empirical data. It involves systematically collecting and analyzing data to develop theoretical explanations that emerge from the data itself, rather than from preconceived hypotheses or theoretical frameworks.
To develop theories or conceptual frameworks that are grounded in the data and reflective of participants’ perspectives or experiences, allowing for the exploration of social processes, relationships, and phenomena from an inductive and contextually embedded perspective.
1. Data Collection: Gather qualitative data through methods such as interviews, observations, or document analysis, focusing on participants’ experiences or perspectives. 2. Open Coding: Analyze the data line-by-line to identify initial concepts, categories, or themes, without imposing preconceived ideas or theories. 3. Axial Coding: Organize and connect the initial codes into broader categories or themes, exploring relationships and patterns within the data. 4. Theoretical Sampling: Select additional participants or data sources based on emerging theoretical insights or gaps in understanding, guiding further data collection and analysis. 5. Constant Comparison: Continuously compare new data with existing codes and categories to refine and develop theoretical explanations, ensuring theoretical saturation and coherence.
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative research approach focused on the systematic study of people and cultures in their natural settings. It involves immersive fieldwork and participant observation to understand social phenomena from the perspectives of the participants, often resulting in rich, descriptive accounts of cultural practices, beliefs, and behaviors.
To explore and understand cultural practices, beliefs, and behaviors within their natural contexts, allowing for in-depth immersion and participant observation to capture the complexities and nuances of social phenomena.
1. Immersive Fieldwork: Conduct extended periods of fieldwork in natural settings, engaging in participant observation and interaction with participants to understand their cultural context. 2. Reflexivity: Reflect on the researcher’s role and biases in shaping data collection and interpretation, maintaining awareness of how the researcher’s presence may influence the research process. 3. Thick Description: Provide detailed and contextually rich descriptions of observed phenomena, capturing the intricacies and meanings embedded within cultural practices and social interactions. 4. Triangulation: Use multiple data sources, methods, or perspectives to corroborate findings and enhance the credibility and validity of the ethnographic study.
Phenomenology
Phenomenology is a qualitative research approach focused on exploring the lived experiences of individuals or groups. It seeks to understand how people make sense of and interpret their everyday experiences, emotions, and perceptions, often through in-depth interviews or reflective analysis of subjective accounts.
To investigate and understand the subjective experiences, perceptions, and meanings attributed to phenomena by individuals or groups, allowing for the exploration of lived experiences and the uncovering of underlying structures and essences of phenomena.
1. Phenomenological Reduction: Adopt a bracketing or epoché approach to suspend preconceived assumptions or biases and focus on the phenomenon as experienced by participants. 2. In-Depth Interviews: Conduct open-ended interviews to elicit rich descriptions of participants’ lived experiences, emotions, and perceptions related to the phenomenon of interest. 3. Horizonalization: Analyze interview transcripts or qualitative data to identify common themes, patterns, or essences across participants’ experiences, focusing on shared meanings and variations in interpretation. 4. Epoche Analysis: Reflect on the researcher’s interpretations and assumptions throughout the data analysis process, maintaining openness to alternative perspectives and interpretations of the phenomenon.
Case Study
A case study is an in-depth examination of a single individual, group, organization, or phenomenon within its real-life context. It involves intensive data collection and analysis to provide a detailed understanding of the case’s unique characteristics, processes, and dynamics, often using multiple sources of evidence to triangulate findings.
To explore and understand complex phenomena or contexts within their natural settings, allowing for detailed examination and analysis of specific cases to uncover underlying mechanisms, processes, and contextual factors influencing outcomes or behaviors.
1. Case Selection: Identify a specific case or unit of analysis that is relevant to the research question or objectives, considering its uniqueness and potential for providing rich insights. 2. Data Collection: Gather data from multiple sources, such as interviews, observations, documents, or archival records, to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the case. 3. Data Analysis: Analyze the collected data using qualitative methods such as thematic analysis, pattern recognition, or narrative analysis, focusing on identifying key themes, patterns, or insights within the case. 4. Triangulation: Use multiple sources of evidence or data collection methods to corroborate findings and enhance the credibility and validity of the case study.
A failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a structured approach to identifying design failures in a product or process. Developed in the 1950s, the failure mode and effects analysis is one the earliest methodologies of its kind. It enables organizations to anticipate a range of potential failures during the design stage.
Agile Business Analysis (AgileBA) is certification in the form of guidance and training for business analysts seeking to work in agile environments. To support this shift, AgileBA also helps the business analyst relate Agile projects to a wider organizational mission or strategy. To ensure that analysts have the necessary skills and expertise, AgileBA certification was developed.
Business valuations involve a formal analysis of the key operational aspects of a business. A business valuation is an analysis used to determine the economic value of a business or company unit. It’s important to note that valuations are one part science and one part art. Analysts use professional judgment to consider the financial performance of a business with respect to local, national, or global economic conditions. They will also consider the total value of assets and liabilities, in addition to patented or proprietary technology.
A paired comparison analysis is used to rate or rank options where evaluation criteria are subjective by nature. The analysis is particularly useful when there is a lack of clear priorities or objective data to base decisions on. A paired comparison analysis evaluates a range of options by comparing them against each other.
The Monte Carlo analysis is a quantitative risk management technique. The Monte Carlo analysis was developed by nuclear scientist Stanislaw Ulam in 1940 as work progressed on the atom bomb. The analysis first considers the impact of certain risks on project management such as time or budgetary constraints. Then, a computerized mathematical output gives businesses a range of possible outcomes and their probability of occurrence.
A cost-benefit analysis is a process a business can use to analyze decisions according to the costs associated with making that decision. For a cost analysis to be effective it’s important to articulate the project in the simplest terms possible, identify the costs, determine the benefits of project implementation, assess the alternatives.
The CATWOE analysis is a problem-solving strategy that asks businesses to look at an issue from six different perspectives. The CATWOE analysis is an in-depth and holistic approach to problem-solving because it enables businesses to consider all perspectives. This often forces management out of habitual ways of thinking that would otherwise hinder growth and profitability. Most importantly, the CATWOE analysis allows businesses to combine multiple perspectives into a single, unifying solution.
It’s possible to identify the key players that overlap with a company’s business model with a competitor analysis. This overlapping can be analyzed in terms of key customers, technologies, distribution, and financial models. When all those elements are analyzed, it is possible to map all the facets of competition for a tech business model to understand better where a business stands in the marketplace and its possible future developments.
The Pareto Analysis is a statistical analysis used in business decision making that identifies a certain number of input factors that have the greatest impact on income. It is based on the similarly named Pareto Principle, which states that 80% of the effect of something can be attributed to just 20% of the drivers.
A comparable company analysis is a process that enables the identification of similar organizations to be used as a comparison to understand the business and financial performance of the target company. To find comparables you can look at two key profiles: the business and financial profile. From the comparable company analysis it is possible to understand the competitive landscape of the target organization.
A SWOT Analysis is a framework used for evaluating the business’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It can aid in identifying the problematic areas of your business so that you can maximize your opportunities. It will also alert you to the challenges your organization might face in the future.
The PESTEL analysis is a framework that can help marketers assess whether macro-economic factors are affecting an organization. This is a critical step that helps organizations identify potential threats and weaknesses that can be used in other frameworks such as SWOT or to gain a broader and better understanding of the overall marketing environment.
Business analysis is a research discipline that helps driving change within an organization by identifying the key elements and processes that drive value. Business analysis can also be used in Identifying new business opportunities or how to take advantage of existing business opportunities to grow your business in the marketplace.
In corporate finance, the financial structure is how corporations finance their assets (usually either through debt or equity). For the sake of reverse engineering businesses, we want to look at three critical elements to determine the model used to sustain its assets: cost structure, profitability, and cash flow generation.
Financial modeling involves the analysis of accounting, finance, and business data to predict future financial performance. Financial modeling is often used in valuation, which consists of estimating the value in dollar terms of a company based on several parameters. Some of the most common financial models comprise discounted cash flows, the M&A model, and the CCA model.
Value investing is an investment philosophy that looks at companies’ fundamentals, to discover those companies whose intrinsic value is higher than what the market is currently pricing, in short value investing tries to evaluate a business by starting by its fundamentals.
The Buffet Indicator is a measure of the total value of all publicly-traded stocks in a country divided by that country’s GDP. It’s a measure and ratio to evaluate whether a market is undervalued or overvalued. It’s one of Warren Buffet’s favorite measures as a warning that financial markets might be overvalued and riskier.
Financial accounting is a subdiscipline within accounting that helps organizations provide reporting related to three critical areas of a business: its assets and liabilities (balance sheet), its revenues and expenses (income statement), and its cash flows (cash flow statement). Together those areas can be used for internal and external purposes.
Post-mortem analyses review projects from start to finish to determine process improvements and ensure that inefficiencies are not repeated in the future. In the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK), this process is referred to as “lessons learned”.
Retrospective analyses are held after a project to determine what worked well and what did not. They are also conducted at the end of an iteration in Agile project management. Agile practitioners call these meetings retrospectives or retros. They are an effective way to check the pulse of a project team, reflect on the work performed to date, and reach a consensus on how to tackle the next sprint cycle.
In essence, a root cause analysis involves the identification of problem root causes to devise the most effective solutions. Note that the root cause is an underlying factor that sets the problem in motion or causes a particular situation such as non-conformance.
A break-even analysis is commonly used to determine the point at which a new product or service will become profitable. The analysis is a financial calculation that tells the business how many products it must sell to cover its production costs. A break-even analysis is a small business accounting process that tells the business what it needs to do to break even or recoup its initial investment.
Stanford University Professor Ronald A. Howard first defined decision analysis as a profession in 1964. Over the ensuing decades, Howard has supervised many doctoral theses on the subject across topics including nuclear waste disposal, investment planning, hurricane seeding, and research strategy. Decision analysis (DA) is a systematic, visual, and quantitative decision-making approach where all aspects of a decision are evaluated before making an optimal choice.
A DESTEP analysis is a framework used by businesses to understand their external environment and the issues which may impact them. The DESTEP analysis is an extension of the popular PEST analysis created by Harvard Business School professor Francis J. Aguilar. The DESTEP analysis groups external factors into six categories: demographic, economic, socio-cultural, technological, ecological, and political.
The STEEP analysis is a tool used to map the external factors that impact an organization. STEEP stands for the five key areas on which the analysis focuses: socio-cultural, technological, economic, environmental/ecological, and political. Usually, the STEEP analysis is complementary or alternative to other methods such as SWOT or PESTEL analyses.
The STEEPLE analysis is a variation of the STEEP analysis. Where the step analysis comprises socio-cultural, technological, economic, environmental/ecological, and political factors as the base of the analysis. The STEEPLE analysis adds other two factors such as Legal and Ethical.
Activity-based management (ABM) is a framework for determining the profitability of every aspect of a business. The end goal is to maximize organizational strengths while minimizing or eliminating weaknesses. Activity-based management can be described in the following steps: identification and analysis, evaluation and identification of areas of improvement.
PMESII-PT is a tool that helps users organize large amounts of operations information. PMESII-PT is an environmental scanning and monitoring technique, like the SWOT, PESTLE, and QUEST analysis. Developed by the United States Army, used as a way to execute a more complex strategy in foreign countries with a complex and uncertain context to map.
The SPACE (Strategic Position and Action Evaluation) analysis was developed by strategy academics Alan Rowe, Richard Mason, Karl Dickel, Richard Mann, and Robert Mockler. The particular focus of this framework is strategy formation as it relates to the competitive position of an organization. The SPACE analysis is a technique used in strategic management and planning.
A lotus diagram is a creative tool for ideation and brainstorming. The diagram identifies the key concepts from a broad topic for simple analysis or prioritization.
Functional decomposition is an analysis method where complex processes are examined by dividing them into their constituent parts. According to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK), functional decomposition “helps manage complexity and reduce uncertainty by breaking down processes, systems, functional areas, or deliverables into their simpler constituent parts and allowing each part to be analyzed independently.”
The multi-criteria analysis provides a systematic approach for ranking adaptation options against multiple decision criteria. These criteria are weighted to reflect their importance relative to other criteria. A multi-criteria analysis (MCA) is a decision-making framework suited to solving problems with many alternative courses of action.
A stakeholder analysis is a process where the participation, interest, and influence level of key project stakeholders is identified. A stakeholder analysis is used to leverage the support of key personnel and purposefully align project teams with wider organizational goals. The analysis can also be used to resolve potential sources of conflict before project commencement.
Strategic analysis is a process to understand the organization’s environment and competitive landscape to formulate informed business decisions, to plan for the organizational structure and long-term direction. Strategic planning is also useful to experiment with business model design and assess the fit with the long-term vision of the business.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
