From the Editor’s Desk

I am humbled by the opportunity to work with the classic grounded theory community and to follow in the footsteps of the previous two editors, Judith Holton and Astrid Gynnild. I am excited to work closely with Barney Glaser, the editorial board, and peer reviewers. One of the most exciting aspects of the Review is the engagement of a global community of classic grounded theorists. Internationally diverse researchers from many disciplines collectively engage in this important research method. As editor, I pledge to continue international multi-disciplinary collaboration...

Getting Started

Editor’s Note: In my career as an educator, I found that PhD students stumbled on the most basic questions about how to get started with a grounded theory study, what to study, and how to craft the research question. Students find it most difficult to be open to emergence—to trust that the core category will emerge if study participants are allowed to divulge their main concern as they perceive it. The following is advice from Barney Glaser on how to overcome these fears. Excerpted from chapter 4 of Basics of Grounded Theory Analysis (1992), and edited for clarity, Barney...

Navigating Infant Death from Life-Limiting Congenital Anomaly: A Class...

Susan Bush Welch, PhD, RN Abstract The purpose of this classic grounded theory study was to explore how parents experience the expected death of an infant from a life-limiting congenital anomaly. These anomalies are the leading cause of death of infants in the United States. Death typically occurs in intensive care units with limited access to adequate palliative/end-of-life care.  An extensive knowledge gap about the experience of these parents exists. The grounded theory Navigating Infant Death from Life-Limiting Congenital Anomaly contains three stages and two cutting...

Negotiating Emotional Order: A Grounded Theory of Breast Cancer Surviv...

Jennifer A. Klimek Yingling, Utica College Abstract In this article, classic grounded theory captures the processes of 12 women who had completed initial treatment for breast cancer. The qualitative data analysis reveals the basic social process of negotiating emotional order that describe how breast cancer survivors perceive their illness and decide to take action. From the data, five stages of the process of negotiating emotional order emerge: 1) Losing Life Order, 2) Assisted Life Order, 3) Transforming 4) Accepting, and 5) Creating Emotional Order. This study may help...

Developing Mind Body Hunger Mastery

Siri Khalsa-Zemel, Focus Treatment Centers, USA Kara Vander Linden, Saybrook University, USA Abstract This quest to explore hunger using classic grounded theory was sparked within a dietitian who was hungry for a deeper understanding of her patients.  The high rates of overweight and obesity in the United States are alarming and the mind body link with hunger is a rich area for study. The grand tour question for this classic grounded theory study was “can you tell me about your experience with hunger?”  The resulting theory touches on some of the fastest growing fields of...

Complex Adaptive Systems of Systems: A Grounded Theory Approach

Bonnie Johnson, Naval Postgraduate School, United States Karen Holness, Naval Postgraduate School, United States Wayne Porter, Naval Postgraduate School, United States Alejandro Hernandez, Naval Postgraduate School, United States Abstract This paper details the classic grounded theory approach used in a research project to develop a conceptual theory for an engineering solution to address highly complex problems. Highly complex problem domains exist and are on the rise as we enter an Age of Interactions and Complexity. Our current world has been characterized by the...