Qualitative methods An example of Grounded theory

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Qualitative methodsAn example of Grounded theory

• Dr. Nilay Oza
• SOFTWARE BUSINESS LABORATORY Helsinki University
  of Technology
• http//www.sbl.tkk.fi/

Presented from a variety of GT sources including
Oza and Makela (2004) draft paper
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Types of qualitative research
Attempts to shed light on phenomena by studying
indepth a single case example of the phenomena. 
The case can be an individual person, an event, a
group, or an institution.
Case study
Theory is developed inductively from a corpus of
data acquired by a participant-observer.
Grounded theory
Describes the structures of experience as they
present themselves to consciousness, without
recourse to theory, deduction, or assumptions
from other disciplines
Phenomenology
Focuses on the sociology of meaning through close
field observation of sociocultural phenomena.
Typically, the ethnographer focuses on a
community
Ethnography
Systematic collection and objective evaluation of
data related to past occurrences in order to test
hypotheses concerning causes, effects, or trends
of these events that may help to explain present
events and anticipate future events. (Gay, 1996)
Historical
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Grounded theory

• The aim of the grounded theory is to develop
  theory from data rather than to use data to test
  a theory or hypothesis.
• Part of qualitative research family
• It may be somewhat misleading to use the term
  qualitative research that can understandably be
  taken to refer to the absence of employing
  quantitative data.
• a grounded theory study can collect data via
  survey an instrument assigned by many as
  distinctively one of quantitative research

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Grounded theory - 1

• The grounded theorist begins with specific
  observations and builds toward general patterns
  from the empirical world under study. The
  analysis can focus on individuals or other units
  of analysis.
• In the case of individuals,
• analysis begins with individual experiences
  without restricting what those experiences will
  be in advance of the fieldwork.
• In the case of units,
• the researcher compares multiple programs,
  organizations, or communities to look for unique
  characteristics that make each setting a case in
  itself.

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Grounded theory - 2

• Grounded theory research allows important
  propositions to emerge from themes identified in
  the cases studied without presupposing in advance
  what the important propositions will be (Patton,
  1990).
• it advocates developing a sense of the situation
  without imposing pre-existing expectations on the
  phenomenon or setting under study (Glaser and
  Strauss, 1967)

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Evolution

• Barney G. Glaser and Anselm L. Strauss
• Motivation came from inductive reasoning and
  symbolic interaction.
• While working on the collaborative research
  project on studying dying patients, Glaser and
  Straus inductively discovered the core themes
  dying awareness as well as its dying
  trajectory. Subsequently, they coined their
  research methods as grounded theory methodology
  in their book The Discovery of Grounded Theory
  (1967).
• Glaser and Strauss (1967) hoped to help bridge
  the gap of empirical research and theory building
  and advocated for qualitative research to move
  more towards a theory-development goal.
• Later, Glasers book Theoretical Sensitivity
  (1978) made grounded theory techniques more
  explicit, and Strauss book Qualitative Analysis
  for Social Scientists (1987) improved the
  accessibility of grounded theory to readers.

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Perceptions on theory

• theory is just a model that has been established
  for a long time (e.g. Sutton and Staw, 1995).
• alternatively use theorizing or theoretical
  insights for lesser frameworks (Weick, 1995)
• Strauss and Corbin (1998) refer to theory in
  describing the end-results of following a
  grounded theory approach.
• A set of well-developed themes that are
  systematically interrelated through statements of
  relationship to form a theoretical framework that
  explains or predicts phenomena.

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Potential outcomes

• a substantive theory is envisaged
• causal theory, wherein relationships of
  mutually interacting constructs are explained
• process theory, wherein the explanation
  specifically focuses on sequences of temporally
  evolving action such that changes can be traced
  to structural and environmental changes
• Other possible outcomes amount to essentially
  less mature building blocks of theory (Sutton and
  Staw 1995), such as individual concepts,
  typologies and suggestions for enablers of
  statistical research like measurement items.

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Position in qualitative research

• employing Handbook of Qualitative Research
  (Denzin and Lincoln 1994)
• Paradigms
• those of positivism, post positivism, critical
  theory and constructivism.
• Research methodologies
• ways of thinking about and studying social
  reality
• Research methods
• techniques for collecting and analyzing empirical
  materials
• Interpretation and evaluation
• interpretation of qualitative research and the
  evaluation of its quality

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Systematic Reviews
(Pandit, 1996)
(Kitchenhalm, 2004)
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Theoretical sampling

• Allows the grounded theorist to build variation
  into theory, thus enhancing its explanatory
  potential (Strauss and Corbin 1998).
• It is the process of data collection for
  generating theory whereby the analyst jointly
  collects, codes, and analyzes his data and
  decides what data to collect next and where to
  find them, in order to develop his theory as it
  emerges (Glaser and Strauss, 1967).

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Theoretical sampling - 1

• Glaser and Straus 1967 note that there are
  three basic questions a researcher must consider
  during theoretical sampling to select data
  sources
• What groups or sub-groups should be included in
  data collection?
• For what theoretical purpose groups or sub-groups
  are to be selected?
• How to select participants?

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Data collection from comparative groups

• Glaser and Strauss 1967 give a number of
  reasons to collect data from comparative groups
• Comparative groups allow the generalisation of
  categories of collected data
• Different data can be collected under the same
  category or issue
• Similarities and differences of data under the
  same category can be studied
• The scope of generated theory is broadened

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Data analysis Open coding

• Open coding
• It refers to the process of applying the
  analytical strength of a researcher to the data
  to identify the thoughts, ideas and meanings
  contained in their properties and dimensions
• researcher looks for concepts with an open mind
  and every new theme identified inductively is
  taken into account and a category system is
  established

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Data analysis Axial coding

• It is the process of developing main categories
  and sub-categories (Pidgeon, 1996).
• Connections between a particular category
  identified in open coding and their relating
  categories are coded to identify higher-level
  category representing dimensions and properties
  of the linked categories.

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Data analysis Selective coding

• It is the process of integrating main and sub
  categories identified in open and axial coding
  respectively.
• Strauss and Corbin (1998) say that during the
  process of open coding and axial coding core
  category that best hold and central to all other
  categories together should emerge with high
  frequency of mention (explicitly or implicitly).
• Furthermore, core category should be logical and
  consistent without any retrospective force of the
  data.

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Analysis Selecting a core category

• Strauss and Corbin 1998 give guidelines to
  select a core category
• It must be central that is, all other major
  categories can be related to it.
• It must appear frequently in the data. This means
  that within all or almost all cases, there are
  indicators pointing to that concept.
• The explanation that evolves by relating the
  categories is logical and consistent.
• There is no forcing of data.
• The name or phrase used to describe the central
  category should be sufficiently abstract that it
  can be used to do research in other substantive
  areas, leading to the development of a more
  general theory.
• As the concept is refined analytically through
  integration with other concepts, the theory grows
  in depth and explanatory power.
• The concept is able to explain variation as well
  as the main point made by the data that is, when
  conditions vary, the explanations still holds,
  although the way in which a phenomenon is
  expressed might look somewhat different. One also
  should be able to explain contradictory or
  alternative cases in terms of the core category

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Propositions and theory building

• Once the core category is found, major categories
  need to be related to it by propositions
• This process of integrating propositions develops
  into emerging theory.
• This theory should be outlined as a theoretical
  framework or scheme.
• Once the theoretical scheme is outlined
  researchers should refine the theory by removing
  excess and filling in poorly developed
  categories, saturating them via further
  theoretical sampling if necessary

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Theoretical replication

• Propositions generated in the process are
  validated by comparing them with raw data.
• More of iterative coding is needed if the
  propositions do not fit the data. Replication can
  be claimed if there is a theoretical reason to
  believe that different results were reached
  because of an intervening external factor.
• Such replication has been labeled theoretical
  replication as opposed to literal replication
  (Yin 2003 46).

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Bringing in the literature

• Existing literature is to bring in to the
  emerging theory. It is about comparing the
  emerged theory with the existing literature to
  evaluate overlaps, and differences.
• Contrasting literature can even be helpful in
  producing new insights to factors such as new
  dimensions or constructs (Eisenhardt 1989).
• Contrasting literature may also just reduce
  confidence in the validity of the results such
  literature may point to the results being
  incorrect or idiosyncratic to one instance in the
  data.

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Iteration closure

• When to stop?
• Too much iteration will consume time, attention
  and other resources, and this could negatively
  impact the quality of research
• At some point in time, saturation occurs in the
  emerging propositions such that further iteration
  would be unlikely to provide significant
  incremental learning of new aspects of the
  framework (Eisenhardt 1989)

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Glaser vs. Strauss

• Strauss and Corbin 1990 developed very detailed
  procedural guidelines for novice GT researchers
  to implement GT in practice.
• Whereas Glaser 1978 further expanded on the
  original work and claims to be true to the
  original approach of GT Bryant 2002.

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Glaser vs. Strauss - 1

• Glaser 1992 criticises Straus and Corbin 1990
  that by setting out concrete procedures for
  grounded theory, their approach is said be
  forcing the theory from data and is therefore not
  a true grounded theory approach.
• However, in the second edition of Strauss and
  Corbin 1998, Strauss and Corbin react to
  Glasers criticism and warn the reader that these
  procedures should be taken just as heuristics
  rather than rigid implementation guidelines.

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Grounded theory and Case study

• Constant comparison method
• Cross-case analysis
• All case studies do not create grounded theory
  (Mäkelä, 2004 Stake, 1994) as case studies can
  be written for purely descriptive or
  theory-testing purposes (e.g. Eisenhardt, 1989
  Yin, 2003)
• Similarly, not all grounded theory studies need
  to employ case studies as data. Other data such
  as large-scale statistical data can be used to
  conduct grounded theory investigations (Mäkelä,
  2004).

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Ensuring credibility

• Integrity in analysis
• Look for rival or competing themes and
  explanations
• Inductively
• Inductively means looking for other ways of
  getting the data that might lead to different
  findings.
• Logically
• logincally means thinking about other logical
  possibilities and then seeing if those
  possibilities can be supported by the data.
• Look for negative case
• Case which doesnt apply to the identified theme.

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Ensuring credibility

• Concerns about Objectivity
• qualitative research is inevitably subjective!?
• subjective means to be biased, unreliable and
  irrational.
• Subjective data implies opinion rather than fact,
  intuition rather than logic, impression rather
  than confirmation.
• possibility of anyone or any method being totally
  objective.
• issue is more clearly stated by talking about the
  neutrality of the evaluator rather than
  objectivity or subjectivity.

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Ensuring credibility

• Generalization
• the small sample sizes involved in qualitative
  methods make it impossible to generalise results.
• Cronbach (1975) argues that empirical
  generalisations in social phenomena are too
  variable and context-bound.
• generalisations decay.

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Distinction

• The distinction between qualitative and
  quantitative data has to do with how the
  information is represented, not whether it is
  subjective or objective Seaman (1999)

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Examples of coding (Seaman, 1999)

• Alpha, Beta and Gama were the only participants
  in the meeting
• Coding the above qualitative data
  num_participants 3
• The fact that information is objective was not
  changed by the coding process. In fact, it
  resulted in some lost information (the names of
  participants).
• Qualitative information often carries more
  content than is easily quantified.