eseu moris

8/13/2019 Eseu Moris

1/12

Vasile Andra

A short introduction to grounded theory

Motivation

In the following paper, as requested in the admission procedure for this master

program, I had to choose a subject that would apply to one of these two conditions: to be part

of a current theoretical debate or to correspond to a methodological innovation in sociological

research.

A theme that matches both these two topics is, in my opinion, grounded theory and I

shall motivate my choice. First of all, since its founding until present days, it has been

surrounded by debates, by diverse lawyers! who would appeal in favour or in contrary to its

principles. It has been, also, updated, by its founding fathers! "#laser and $trauss% or by its

followers "&harma' or #oulding% and it has been disputed by both the qualitative and

quantitative researchers. (hose who prefered qualitative methods were not content with the

techniques implied by the grounded theory, which they accused of resemblance with positivist

methods. )ut also, those who practiced the quantitative research didn*t approve it and

considered it to be not rigourous and objective enough as their own methods. Above all these

considerations, there rises only one certainty: that grounded theory constitutes a true

innovation in the way the social scientific world regarded the path to enrich the sociological

+nowledge and to acquire new perspectives. #rounded theory stimulated the imagination and

encouraged the researchers to loo+ widely and deeply into the social hori'on using eploring

and systematic manners in order to contribute to the general +nowledge of the social field.

As a personal remar+, I should add the fact that I was introduced to grounded theory

by a short chapter in a -ethods and (echniques in $ociological esearch manual in my first

year as a $ociology student. /ven though it was a brief description of grounded theory, I was

interested in discovering more about what this method had to offer. -y findings will be

revealed in the net lines of my paper. First, I shall present its general meaning and a short

history about its founding and development, then I will shortly describe its process of

research. (he debates that surround it will not be missed in the presentation and in end, I shall

discuss the implications that grounded theory would have had in my own eploratory research

that too+ place recently. -y study was based on thematic and narrative analysis on semi0

1


2/12

Vasile Andra

structured interviews about the social organisation of a professional category called music

promoters.

$o, to begin with, I will present the basic principles of grounded theory, and also its

start point and how it developed since.

General discussion and short story

#rounded theory was elaborated with the purpose of disputing a trend widespread in

sociological research which involved testing and verifying already +nown theory. In other

words, the goal of grounded theory was to generate +nowledge developed directly from the

careful collection and analysis of data "#laser, $trauss, 1234%.

(his methodology is contained by qualitative research and its roots lie in the

pragmatic and symbolic interactionist paradigma "&orbin, $trauss, 1225, p.612%.

7evertheless, it is often criticised by qualitative reasearchers for its highly technical methods

and attention to coding and categorising, while others consider it to be a proof of discipline

and rigurous way of dealing with data. Its methods are indeed precise and very well

described, but are as well very difficult to apply on the field "it is the case of saturation, I shall

discuss it further in the paper%. 8en'in stated that If the researcher needs to invent, or piece

together, new tools or techniques, he or she will do so. &hoices regarding interpretive

practices to employ are not necessarily made in advance! "8en'in, 9incoln, 1226, p.6%. (he

grounded theory supporters will agree with these last words because indeed, the codes,

categories and concepts are submited to constant comparative method i.e. are permanently

confronted to new data and as the data changes, so does the theory "#laser, $trauss, 1234%.

-aybe the word theory! can seem a little intimidating because people are used to

thin+ mostly about high level theories. Actually, a theory as $trauss and &orbin say, is a

group of plausible relantionships proposed among concepts and set of concepts! "$trauss,

&orbin, p.4;%, with the purpose of offering an eplanation about a social phenomena or even

a prediction. I would say that, regarding qualitative data, it offers an interpretative insight.

#rounded theory also fought against #rand theories as -ills called them "#oulding, 1222,

p.3% i.e. those anchored in a pretentious abstract level of conceptuali'ation.


3/12

Vasile Andra

of codes "of several types: open, aial%, categories, core categories, concepts, and all of them

are in a constant comparison with each other.

)asically, grounded theory does not follow a straight path in reasearch, but a circular

one. >we Flic+ suggested an ilustrative model "fig. 1 and % for eplaining the differences

between a usual research and grounded theory i.e. between a liniar mode and a circular one.

"&helcea, 556, p.6?%.

Fig.1. Circular model of research (Flick, 1998 apud Chelcea, 2004, p.43)

Fig.. 9iniar model of research "Flic+, 122; apud &helcea, 556, p.6?%

)efore discussing more about the paradigma epressed by grounded theory, about its

techniques and +ey concepts or about the debates that surround it, I propose we ta+e a loo+ at

its moment of birth and development. As a person who believes that the past offers a powerful

eplanation about the present and can foretell the future, I want to briefly page through some

@reliminary

assumption

&ollection

Interpretation

&ase

&ollection

Interpretation

&ase

&ollection

Interpretation

&ase

(heory

comparison comparison

(heory ypotheses


4/12

Vasile Andra

of the milestones of qualitative research and to eamine how it influenced the path of

grounded theory.

Anselm $trauss and )arney #laser were interested in revealing the way dying pacients

faced this eperience bac+ in 1235s. (his particular research led them to elaborate the

principles of an innovative way of research revealed in 1234 in a boo+ entitled (he

8iscovery of #rounded (heory! ")ir+s, -ills, 511, p.%.

(his new method of conducting a research study intrigued and fascinated at the same

time the academic world. =hereas some remain s+eptical to this +ind of innovation and its

bac+wards road to generate +nowledge, others were enchanted by the idea, studied it in0depth

and contributed to its development. It is the case of &harma', &orbin or &lar+e. (he new

wave of grounded theory was determined also by the split up of $trauss and #laser, the

former ending teaming up with Buliet &orbin with whom he released in 1225 the boo+ called

)asics of qualitative research: #rounded theory procedures and techniques!.

)ir+s and -ills tal+ about eight stages of the qualitative journey from its beginning in

the colloni'ing era till present days and reveal how some of these stages influenced the

updates brought to grounded theory. (he second stage, the one that came at the end of ==,

the golden age! as it is +nown, determined the founding of grounded theory. (he thrid stage

is called the blurred genres, when qualitative researchers are questioning their part played in

the actual research and the way their presence influences the final results. (he constructivist

perspective came as a calming eplanation. )ut the eplicit association between

constructivism and grounded theory too+ place in 55C alongside with stage four. In recent

time, the stage is called the triple crises! and it involves debates about legitimation and

prais to representation! ")ir+s, -ills, 511, p.3%. (he doubts about qualitative research*s

results relevance in theory and practice inspired &lar+e*s contribution to grounded theory

which implicated situational analysis ")ir+s, -ills, 511, p.3%.

An important moment in the life of grounded theory must be noted: )laser and $trauss

too+ separate roads in the development of their method. =hile )laser was concerned with the

interpreting process and insisted that the findings should remain contetual, $trauss focused

on the delicacy of coding tehniques and etrapolating the results. )laser would later accuse

his former colleague of erosing #( and blamed him for the critics* assumption of quantifying

results using qualitative methods "$tern apud #oulding, 1222, p.4%.

Grounded theorys paradigmatic skeleton

6


5/12

Vasile Andra

(he first discussion is about the paradigm adopted by grounded theory. At the very

beginning 0 meaning the #olden Age of qualitative research0 , post0positivism is the

dominant school of thought, resulting in researchers wor+ing within an ontological and

epistemological frame where there is an assumed reality worth discovering as a detached

objective observer.! ")ir+s, -ills, 511, p.C%, so it is common for grounded theory to be

associated with this paradigm. Also, in the 8iscovery of #rounded (heory!, the authors

mentioned that this method could have been used by quantitative researchers as well, that it

did not eclude the utility of statistical data. In 1226, $trauss and &orbin would clarify the

principles that conducted grounded theory as they mentioned symbolic interaction "stated also

in the first boo+%, pragmatism and relatively determinism. @ragmatism is against objectifying

the reality and praises the fact that our perception about the world is not an accurate

description. (he sociologists*s perspective is that the individual is given a set of options

"determinism%, but he uses the power of free will in ma+ing his choice "nondeterminism%, so

this could be summed up as a relative determinism "$trauss, &orbin, 1225, p.612% .

(he roots of grounded theory actually lie on &harles &ooley, and later #.. -ead*s

symbolic interactionism. (heir objective was to bring together two etreme perspectives: the

psychologism that put the individual*s neurotical aspect in the center of his behaviour and the

sociologism which overestimated the control of social norms over one*s personal conduct

"#oulding, 1222, p.C%.

(he researcher engaged in symbolic interaction is epected to intrepret actions,

trancend rich description and develop a theory which incorporates concepts of DDself,

language, social setting and social objectEE! "$chwandt apud #oulding, 1222, p.C%!.

$trauss and &orbin deny the eistence of a pre0eisting reality DDout thereEE. (o

thin+ otherwise is to ta+e a positivistic position that...we reject...


6/12

Vasile Andra

information about the subject of interest and ends only when it get to saturation. (he analysis

and data collection are done in parallel because a discovery from the field can be resourceful

and can modify and redirect the analysis. (he systematic comparison will lead to elaborating

concepts which will increase their level of abstract "-ills et al, 553%. (he formulation of

concepts is very important not only for grounded theory but for scientific reasons in general.

erbert )lumer enumerated ? functions of a concept: "1% introduces a new orientation or

point of view, "% serves as an instrument if handling one*s environment, and "?% ma+es

possible deductive reasoning and so the anticipation of new eperiences! ")lumer, 12?1,

p.C3%. (he first and the second arguments are closely lin+ed to the grounded theory agenda.

Finally, the integration of theory proves to be quite difficult and it can be done after time of

research, both collection of data and analysis. (he research is merely done when the

researcher reaches the point of saturation, a moment that is very problematic to be established

because one can never +now when some surprising data can appear and change the course of

interpretation. >sually, when the data is becoming repetitive, saturation can be proclaimed.

(heoretical sensitivity refers to the researcher*s level of insight into the research area,

how attuned they are to the nuances and compleity of the participant*s words and actions,

their ability to reconstruct meaning from the data generated with the participant and a capacity

to DDseparate the pertinent from that which isn*tEE! "$trauss and &orbin apud -ills et al,

553, 6%. (hese qualities are developed throughout several research eperiences and intensive

studies and they are truly necessary in the process of generating theory from data.

Grounded Theory Myths

oy $uddaby "553% identifies si of the most common misunderstandings regarding

grounded theory. I shall ta+e a few and discuss them here because they also contain +ernels of

critics. For eample, it is said that grounded theory is used by those who choose to ignore the

eisting literature on the subject of interest. )laser never recommended the researcher to go

with a complete intellectual blan+ on the field "-ills et al, 1223, p.3%. Actually, he suggested

that reading about it will increase theoretical sensitivity and will not narrow the perspective,

but, on the contrary, will broaden it. $uddaby notes that consulting the theories already

formed tend to influence the researcher into testing hypotheses. )ut if this urge is abated and

the steps of grounded theory are followed, it does not constitute an ecuse to pass by a library

without consulting something from it.

#rounded theory is not just about codes and categories and it needs a lot of

interpretation s+ills and constant comparison between the findings till it reaches some level of

3


7/12

Vasile Andra

abstraction. )ut the researcher must not forget that the perspectives of the individuals must be

represented by the integrating theory. (he important question here is: when do you stop

=hen do you +now that the data collected is enough for generating relevant results. First of

all, a fied number of interviews for eample, is not possible. $econd of all, the data is

considered to be saturated when the informations gathered from the field are being very

repetitive. $o, another myth Gthat of grounded theory being easy G is clearly crumbled.

Another critique refers to the legitimacy and representation of the grounded theory. I

believe that grounded theory does not aspire in creating high level theories, although $trauss

and &orbin do not eclude that completely, but its goal is to formulate, following an inductive

path, plausible eplanations about the social worlds in and around us generating inteligible

substantive theory "$trauss, &orbin, s.a., p.46%.

-oreover, a wea+ point of the grounded theory might the difficulty of evaluating the

accuracy of its findings. )ut $trauss and &orbin "1225% counterattac+ this argument and

formulate a serie of criteria which can help interpreters determine the correctness of grounded

theory*s demarche.

(hese criteria are elaborated regarding the research process and empirical grounding

of findings. For the first issue, the authors specify a number of 4 criterions which refer to: "1%

how is the sampling done, "% the categories that stand out, "?% the cases that sustain evidence

to those categories, "6% how repre'entative are the categories, "C% how the hypothesis based on

the relations established between categories and concepts are made and treated, "3% the

situation in which the hypothesis didn*t match the cases observed, "4% the selection of the core

category and the editing of an integrating theory. (here are also criteria that can test the

empirical foundations: "1% the building of conceptsH "% the systematic relation between

concepts "?% the conceptual density i.e. several dimensions of the concepts and their properties

"6% how much variations is contained by the theory "C% using macro social bac+ground in the

eplanation of the micro social phenomena that is studied, "3% the fluidity of grounded theory,

the consideration of change that can interfere with the theory, "4% the theory*s level of

significance based on the researcher*s creativity in analy'ing the data.

I consider that these sets of criteria are very useful in apreciating grounded theory, in

evaluating its contribution to the sociological +nowledge, as well as the limitations implied.

In the net section I shall present /arl )abbie*s eample of what grounded theory can

offer us and then I will practice a small imagination eercise and discuss how grounded

theory would have influece the results of my own research on musical promoters.

4


8/12

Vasile Andra

How can grounded theory be used

)abbie "515% eemplifies grounded theory with &lifton &onrad*s study reali'ed in

124; about the changes that occur in the academic environment. (he researcher*s objective

was to reveal the factors that influeced the change in university curricula and the mechanism

of this process. (he theoretical sampling resulted in 6 univerisities that &onrad considered

appropiate in eplaining the phenomena: in of them the change was done by a speciali'ed

committee, whereas in the other it was the case of a specific group that would be created on

the spot.

After following grounded theory*s principles, especially after constant comparative

analysis, &onrad discovered a very interesting fact and provided a resourceful eplanation. At

first, it would appear that an adminitrator was the main responsible for academic change, but

in the end the integrated theory showed that the pressure of some interest groups was the

major factor of change because they would influence admistrator to eert the actual

mutations.

(he whole process is functioning li+e this: as a result of internal and eternal

structural forces, interest groups are formed and they use pressure to determine administrative

intervention and then the will is implemented by the deci'ional organisms ")abbie, 515,

p.652%.

In further reflections about the utility of grounded theory, I shall ma+e a short

imaginary eercise and I will discuss the implications of using grounded theory for my own

research paper. (he study I realised in order to obtain my bachelor degree was about the

social organisation of a professional category called music promoters. >sing the concept of

vocabulary of motives, I demonstrated that the promoters, being a relatively recent occupation

in omania with an informal and difuse structure, gathered the features of a community of

practice and of a profession and followed a social career of their own. I started the research,

based on my personal observation, as an employee in a events management company, with

the premise that the promoters I interviewed will reveal through their discourse that they form

a community of practice and a profession and that they follow a social career step by step as

8avid -at'a puts it in )ecoming 8eviant. After finding out more about grounded theory, I

couldn*t stop wondering what if I used this method instead of thematic and narrative analysis.

=hould I get different results I appealed to my sociological imagination and I thought what

actual changes would have occured. First of all, spea+ing of data collection, I would have

written memos containing daily observation at my job and at the events I participated as a

promoter or as a part of the audience. -oreover I would have done more informal interviews,

;


9/12

Vasile Andra

unstructered and on the spot "maybe without recording, but with more memos%, I would have

+ept the interviews I too+ but I would have applied a different analysis. I believe that after

coding the answers and data from memos, the categories would have been different and lead

to other concepts, maybe more diverse than the concepts I used to eplain how the promoters

are socially organised. -aybe it would have resulted that the promoters form a social world

with all the occupational contact networ+s, invisible colleges, behavior systems, activity

systems, and subcultures! ">nruh, 12;5, p.41%. (he promoters are aware that they form a

community, they +eep in touch with other and they affirm a high level of fellowship, even

though they are not reunited under a formal organi'ation something as an association of their

own. Also, their activity present a high level of professionalism, they +eep an informal code

of conduct "directed towards several characters li+e the artists, the audience, their colleagues

or employees%, and their goals do not imply just material satisfaction but also an idealistic one

i.e. the conscience of doing a good job. )ecause of the particular events they are interested in

promoting, the researcher can try and categori'e them considering this criteria.

As grounded theory states, a concept elaborated using this method should be eplored

in0depth and should be accopanied by its dimensions and properties in the analysis. (a+ing

this principle into account, I can only presume that my research would have generated several

types and perspectives of the social world, far from an omogenous and flat concept.

I can try thin+ing about the possible results that grounded theory would have

generated in my case. -entioning the social worlds is just a guess I ma+e based on my

personal observations but I believe that following the principles of grounded theory would

have offered me more than a concept, but several ones and would have revealed several

connections between them.


10/12

Vasile Andra

In this paper, I tried to offer a brief insight into the grounded theory 'one. I consider it

to be a really important methodology that can provide precious information on a certain

subject. (hose who want to use in a proper way the grounded theory principles have to posses

a high level of theoretical sensitivity, they have to leave aside their own considerations and

prejudices but without ignoring a basic +nowledge about the area that is being studied. In

addition, I thin+ that a researcher who engages in grounded theory has to posses a good

eperience on wor+ing and dealing with the social field and also the ability of creative

interpretation of data.

I believe that the theories resulted using this method are anchored in the social realities

and they constitute a resourceful manner to develop -ichael )urawoy*s idea of promoting a

public sociology that could stimulate social action1. For eample, the findings of a grounded

theory can be very resourceful in identifying and dealing with the problems of a small or

medium community. Also, related to this one is the policy sociology which can generate

social change based on the useful results of grounded theory.

In this paper I intended to ta+e a loo+ at that grounded theory has to offer to the

sociological research. Its practicability is worth ta+ing into account when planning to study a

specific social area because the principles that conduct it are honest "relative determinism,

symbolic interactionism, pragmatism% orientated towards a deeply understanding of the social

phenomena. Also, I apreciate the various choices of collecting data "from a structured

interview to memos% combined with the rigurous and constant analysis. #rounded theory is

still a matter of debate in the sociological world and it remains a huge innovation in the

research 'one. As long as the scientists play by its rules, it can satisfy our sociological

curiosity, enrich the sociological +nowledge and train our sociological imagination.

1#hamari0(abri'i, ). &an )urawoy ma+e everyone happy&omments on public sociology


11/12

Vasile Andra

Reerences

1. )abbie, /. "515%. &ercetarea calitativM de teren. In )abbie. @ractica

cercetMrii sociale. Ia i, @olirom, pp 6540652

. )ir+s. -, -ills, B. "511%. /ssentials of grounded theory. In Grouded

!heor"# $ %rac&ical Guide.


12/12

Vasile Andra

http:KKwww.ualberta.caKRiiqmKbac+issuesKCN1K@8FK-I99$.@8F. Accesed at

11.54.51?J

1. $uddaby, . "553%. From the editors: what grounded theory is not. In

$cadem" of aageme& 'oural, "62%6, pp 3??036 .

1
http://www.ualberta.ca/~iiqm/backissues/5_1/PDF/MILLS.PDFhttp://www.ualberta.ca/~iiqm/backissues/5_1/PDF/MILLS.PDF

eseu moris

Documents