components of grounded theory

Glaser and Strauss’s Challenge

In The Discovery of Grounded Theory, Glaser and Strauss countered the ruling methodological assumptions of mid-century. Their book made a cutting-edge statement because it contested notions of methodological consensus and offered systematic strategies for qualitative research practice. Essentially, Glaser and Strauss joined epistemological critique with practical guidelines for action.

They proposed that systematic qualitative analysis had its own logic and could generate theory. In particular, Glaser and Strauss intended to construct abstract theoretical explanations of social processes.

Components of grounded theory practice

For Glaser and Strauss (1967; Glaser, 1978; Strauss, 1987), the defining components
of grounded theory practice include:

• Simultaneous involvement in data collection and analysis
• Constructing analytic codes and categories from data, not from preconceived logically deduced hypotheses
• Using the constant comparative method, which involves making comparisons during each stage of the analysis
• Advancing theory development during each step of data collection and analysis
• Memo-writing to elaborate categories, specify their properties, define relationships between categories, and identify gaps
• Sampling aimed toward theory construction, not for population representativeness
• Conducting the literature review after developing an independent analysis.

Reference:

Charmaz, Kathy. Constructing grounded theory : a practical guide through qualitative analysis. London Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications, 2006. Print.