grounded theory

Question 1

grounded theory

Answer 1

generally focuses on qualitative research although not exclusively so, and does not being with developing a hypothesis that is then tested and adapted by research. instead, research is conducted to gather information about something of interest and the theory emerges gradually from the data as it is gathered and analysed - it is an inductive method ie observing something empirically and then developing a model how things might be from the data gathered

Question 2

process

Answer 2

• as data is gathered, codes and categories can be drawn out
• researchers begin to code everything in the same way until they begin to see patterns, as the theoretical patterns being to become apparent these codes may become more specific but initially they are likely to be very broad
• once theoretical concepts have become obvious, the researchers will start to selectively code only the relevant data they gather
• once a clear theoretical concept has developed, the researchers can then review other literature and develop the theory in more detail

Question 3

strengths

Answer 3

• grounded theory uses specific terms to explain how it is done and is explicit in its guidance allowing the development of a theory to explain he qualitative data. the process alows the creativity that is needed to move from the data about people to draw up ideas about how to explain the data
• allows the richness and detail of qualitative data to survive the analysis, and so the patients’ experience is kept for richer results

Question 4

weaknesses

Answer 4

• validity could be compromised if the data that was gathered to develop the theory was problematic in some way, such as researcher bias in gathering or interpreting data
• by selectively sampling data as the theory begins to emerge it could be argued that the researchers are forcing the data to support the evidence of the theory as it emerges
• there may be reliability issues of the conclusions drawn if it is possible that another person conducing the same research o coding the same data could come to a very different conclusion about theoretical concepts
• likely to take along time to gather and analyse the information coming in, especially in the early phases when the researchers are unclear about what they are looking for