Grounded Theory

1. Grounded Theory With the help of the computer (andreas.werr@hhs.se)

2. Agenda • Grounded theory – background, characteristics and relevance today • Discussions about your theories and experiences • Grounded theory – strengths and weaknesses • Reflections and additional examples of how to use NVivo in the research process (Love & Peter)

3. Historic background of GT • A reaction against the prevalent ideal in the USA in the 60’s • At that time two research approaches were dominating • Verification studies, quantitative based on positivistic ideals • Grand theories without empirical connections (e.g. Parsons) • Grounded theory must be understood as a reaction against these dominating research paradigms. Differences are maximized and the method appears as extreme • The method also reflects a romantic ideal of originality and individuality which is in harmony with the Zeitgeist of the 60s.

4. Relevance for contemporary management research • Scandinavian management research is often problem driven. It has its roots in practice • Glaser & Strauss are often quoted in dissertations but are seldom used rigorously • GT has links to other methodological traditions which take the empirical material seriously - such as ethnography and ANT

5. Foundations of GT • Pragmatism – usefulness as important criterion • Idiographic point of departure • Qualitative focus • Focus on exploration • Sensitizing concepts in constant change • Focus on social actions • Closeness to the empirical material

6. Some key aspects of GT • Suggests the use of a broad range of different and rich data • Coding as a central aspect of analysis • Create categories with properties from data • The power of comparison • Different people, different points in time, different categories… • Theoretical sampling • Minimizing and maximizing differences in two steps • From categories to substantial (focusing on an empirical phenomenon) and formal (focusing on a theoretical phenonenon) grounded theories (Based on Alvesson & Sköldberg, 1994)

7. What is a good grounded theory? • Fit with data • Works in explaining the phenomenon • Has relevance through analytic explanations of important problems and processes in the empirical setting • Is durable through flexibility (Charmaz, 2000)

8. Steps in developing a grounded theory • Develop categories • Use data available to develop labeled categories that fit data closely • Saturate categories • Accumulate examples of a given category until is is clear what future instances would be located in this category • Abstract definitions • Abstract a definition of the category by stating in a general form the criteria for putting further instances into this category • Use the definitions • Use definitions as a guide to emerging features of importance in further field work and as a stimulus to theoretical reflection Turner (1981; Baserad på Glaser & Strauss)

9. Steps in developing a grounded theory • Exploit categories fully • Be aware of additional categories suggested by those you have produced, their inverse, their opposite, more specific and more general instances • Note, develop and follow up links between categories • Note relationships and develop hypotheses about the links between the categories • Consider the conditions under which the links hold • Examine any apparent or hypothesized relationships and specify the conditions • Make connections, where relevant to existing theory • Build bridges to existing work at this stage rather than at the outset of the research • Use extreme comparisons to the maximum to test emerging relationships • Identify the key variables and dimensions and see whether the relationship holds at the extremes of these variables Turner (1981; Baserad på Glaser & Strauss)

10. Your reflections - GT strengths • Makes analysis traceable and easier to refine • Increases reliability and validity by proposing a rigorous process • Helps deal with the generalizability issue in qualitative research • Provides theories that fit data • Enables new insights • Requires and experienced and ”broad” researcher

11. Your reflections - GT weaknesses/risks • Cannot be entirely theory free • The process/coding restricts the interpretive process • Time consuming • Theories become very local • How is prior knowledge incorporated? • Concept definition is a challenge

12. Critique against GT • Difficult to get beyond the ”common sense” level of analysis. Reveals surface structures but misses the underlying deep structures • Data can never be free of theory • Over reliance on a mechanical coding process • A positivistic flavor which does not fit the focus on qualitative data Based on Alvesson & Sköldberg (1994)