grounded theory Flashcards
what is grounded theory used for?
developing a theory from research evidence
what kind of data does it focus on?
qualitative
what kind of method is it called?
an inductive method
what is meant by an inductive method?
where data is collected first and theory is made after
what must the researcher first identify?
a particular behaviour that they wish to gather data on
how many stages are in grounded theory?
four
what are the stages in grounded theory?
coding
concepts
similarities and differences
forming a model of explaination
what is involved in the first stage?
coding is done, this involves taking text in small pieces and putting it under a header that suits it
what is involves in the second stage?
codes and collected into concepts which groups dead together
idea is to see how coded data may fit together
why is the second stage not static?
as analysis goes on concepts may change
active process
what is involved in the third stage?
takes concepts and groups them into similarities and differences this is where the theory starts to develop
researcher takes notes alongside analysis to see what their thought process was
what is memoing what where does it occur?
where researcher takes notes of thought processes
third stage
where does the theory start to develop?
in the third stage
what is involved on the fourth stage?
this is where a model is formed that can explain the data
looking over the categories and revising the theory
why should the theory that is built have validity? S
evidence is integrated into the theory as it is based on research data
so theory should have a degree of validity
although evidence is integrated how is this a weakness?
if the data was problematic in some way such as researcher bias the the theory would also suffer, may be based on subjective opinion
why are there issues with reliability/
as if another researcher was to do the same thing they may come to different conclusions as may code the data differently coming to very different conclusion
what is a weakness of data and a strength?
it allows the strength and detail of qualitative data to survive analysis
not very scientific as no quantitative data usually
what is meant by forcing a theory?
it could be said that researchers try ti force a theory from occurring
why is grounded theory difficult?
it can take a very long time and it can be unclear of what researcher is actually looking for
important to take on a viewpoint of all information
who is GT used in clinical psychology?
it is udesful when assessing peoples though, beliefs and feelings as it may not be possible to come up with a theory of how schizophrenia affects people without gathering data
