Grounded Theory: Build Explanations from the Data

What Is Grounded Theory?

Grounded theory is a family of approaches for building a conceptual explanation from data rather than testing one set in advance. Glaser and Strauss introduced it in 1967. Its core activities, as Chun Tie, Birks and Francis summarize them, are collecting and analyzing data at the same time, coding in stages, constant comparative analysis, theoretical sampling and memo writing, continued until theoretical saturation.

There are several variants. Chun Tie and colleagues distinguish traditional grounded theory (associated with Glaser), evolved grounded theory (Strauss, Corbin and Clarke) and constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz). They differ on how much the researcher's perspective shapes the theory. Name the variant you follow; "we used grounded theory" is not a complete method statement.

Decision This Supports

Grounded theory answers "how does this process work for the people in it?" An evaluator might use it to explain how families decide whether to keep a child in a support program, when no existing model fits the local situation. The output is a set of connected concepts, not a list of themes or a count of reasons. If a commissioner needs a list of barriers by next month, framework analysis or a rapid approach is usually a better fit.

Before You Start

• Time for several rounds of data collection, because analysis of early interviews directs who to interview next.
• Permission from the commissioner to let sampling and questions change as the study proceeds.
• A person who can write and review analytic memos.
• A stated position on how the researcher's own perspective will be handled. See positionality and reflexivity.

The Moves

A Small Worked Example

This example is fictional. Early interviews with a hypothetical program's participants produce a code "leaving after a missed session." A memo asks whether missing one session changes how people see themselves in the group. The next interviewees are chosen deliberately: someone who missed a session and stayed, and someone who left without missing any. The first has an account of a facilitator who re-welcomed her; the second left because the group moved faster than he could follow. Both accounts push the emerging concept from "missed sessions" toward "falling behind and whether someone helps you catch up." The concept changed because sampling went looking for cases that did not fit.

Limits and Cautions

• Saturation here means the developing categories stop changing. It is a judgment about a theory, not a sample-size rule that transfers to other approaches. See qualitative saturation.
• The method is time-intensive and needs flexible sampling, which many evaluation terms of reference do not allow.
• The word "grounded" does not guarantee the theory is sound. Record the negative cases that shaped it; see negative case analysis.
• A theory built from one program's participants does not transfer to other settings without evidence that those settings are alike.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I Have to Avoid Reading the Literature First?

Variants differ. Chun Tie and colleagues list the use of literature among the factors that distinguish the approaches. Follow your chosen variant and write down what you already knew before starting.

Can I Use Grounded Theory Coding in a Short Evaluation?

You can borrow its habits, such as memos and constant comparison, in a shorter study. That is not the full method, and the report should say so.