Question

overview of grounded theory

Answer 1

Grounded theory: Overview

A theory is a coherent statement or set of ideas that explains observed phenomena or facts. A Hypothesis confirmed by experiment, observation etc, also called as theory. Grounded theory is a theory that " grounded " in actual data or it is a theory that involves the process of methodical collection and or gathering and analysis of data.

Grounded theory ( GT ) was introduced in 1967 by Barney Glazer and Strauss. This systematic methodology is mainly used in social sciences and it uses inductive reasoning ( The process of making inferences based upon observed patterns or simple repetition. example: Chair in the living room is blue. Chairs in the bedroom are blue. All the chairs in the house are blue. ) This methodology provides a systematic guidelines ,that helps the researcher to collect, synthesize and analyse the data, resulting in theory construction by conceptualizing  qualitative data.

In Grounded theory, development of theory or theories happens after the researcher collected the data. Collected data undergoes the process of coding or categorizing. Then the abstract categories are inductively approached . Theoretical sampling will use for refining the categories. Analytical memos can be used in the final step to bridge the gap between categorizing and writing. The result will be the integration of categories into a theoretical framework.