From the Editor’s Desk

Classic Grounded Theory: What it Is and What it Is Not Grounded theory is arguably the most frequently published qualitative research method.  Yet it is often misunderstood.  Many years ago, I gave a talk on the general tenets of classic grounded theory at a large regional research conference.  After the presentation, a professor who taught PhD-level qualitative research at a large research university approached me asking: “Grounded theory doesn’t really need to result in a theory, does it?  Can’t it consist of a list of themes?”  In the same way that a pile of threads is...

Getting Started

Barney G. Glaser Editor’s note: This paper addresses common questions asked by novice grounded theorists about how to avoid preconception when thinking about research problems and research questions.  This important chapter has been excerpted and lightly edited for clarity and context from chapter 4 in Glaser’s Basics of Grounded Theory Analysis (1992). It may sometimes be said that one of the most difficult parts of doing research is to get started.  The making of choices and commitments to a research problem seem less secured and structured when doing descriptive...

Exerting Capacity: Mindsets of Bedside RNs in Keeping Patients Safe

J. Michael Leger, University of Texas Medical Branch, School of Nursing Carolyn A. Phillips, University of Texas Medical Branch, School of Nursing and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Abstract This classic grounded theory (CGT) study explored the perspectives of bedside nurses about patient safety in the adult acute care environment. The theory that emerged, Exerting Capacity, explains how bedside nurses balance their own capacity against the demands of a given situation to fulfill their duty to keep their patients safe. Exerting Capacity revealed a typology of two...

Coming Home: A Journey Back to the Authentic Self

Emily Cashwell, Saybrook University Abstract The theory of coming home is a three-stage classic grounded theory that details an individual’s initial exploration of the world in childhood, followed by the subsequent abandoning of their authentic self and then the life-long journey back home to their most authentic being. In the first stage of the process, individuals act and express in authentic ways and receive feedback from the environment about which aspects of themselves are acceptable and which are not. In the second stage of the process, driven by feelings of shame...

Building Up

Elizabeth Kellogg, Saybrook University, USA Kara Vander Linden, Saybrook University, USA Abstract The theory of building up, developed using classic grounded theory (CGT), explains how the fit between an individual and a transformational opportunity impacts the extent to which an individual is empowered by that experience. Classic grounded theory identifies and explains human behavior patterns using an inductive, iterative process of data collection and analysis. Theoretical sampling guided data collection and constant comparative analysis of data, which yielded building...

Potentializing Wellness to Overcome Generational Trauma

Cynthia D. Stirbys, the University of Windsor Abstract The Indian residential school (IRS) system is part of Canada’s colonial history: Indigenous children who attended IRS suffered immensely at the hands of the school administrators, staff, and students. How Indigenous females cope with the intergenerational transmission of trauma was explored. Indigenous women in this classic grounded theory study aimed to resolve their main concern of kakwatakih-nipowatisiw, a Cree term used to identify learned colonial (sick) behaviours that weaken familial ties. Analysis resulted in...