Issue no.2 , June 2009
The Novice GT Researcher
Barney G. Glaser, Ph.D., Hon. Ph.D. Make no mistake, as I said in my article, “The Future of Grounded Theory” (Qualitative Health Research, Nov, 1999) is in the hands of the beginning PhD researcher. I said “Unformed researchers embrace grounded theory for dissertation or master’s theses when, in their view, the more preconceived methods do not give relevant answers. Unformed researchers who can choose their own methods do so at the discretion of their advisers. The principal GT users today, mostly students who are doing MA and PhD theses or dissertations, are well into...Methodological Learning-by-doing: Challenges, lessons learned and rewa...
Pernilla Pergert, RN, Ph.D. Abstract The experience of minus mentoring in learning classic grounded theory (CGT) is shared by many people over the world. The aim of this article is to share experiences of learning and using CGT. Data for the article included methodological discussions in the author’s thesis and articles, as well as memos. Consequences of learning grounded theory by doing are presented in the form of challenges and lessons learned but also some rewards. Challenges and lessons learned include sampling-confusion, delimiting-disregarding, judging saturation...Learning Classic Grounded Theory: An Account of the Journey and Advice...
Carol Roderick, Ph.D. Abstract Graduate students who employ CGT for their theses or dissertations predominantly learn the methodology on their own. As a distinct methodology, CGT is challenging to employ. This challenge increases further when graduate students encounter poor advice from dissertation supervisors who are unfamiliar with the methodology, or attempt to incorporate elements from the many alternative and modified versions of grounded theory presented in the literature. This article provides an account of one student’s experience learning CGT to complete her...A Grounded Theory Approach in a Branding Context: Challenges and lesso...
Anne Rindell, PhD. Abstract The purpose of this paper is to discuss challenges and lessons learnt when conducting a classic grounded theory study in a marketing context. The paper focuses on two specific challenges that were met during a specific research process. The first challenge related to positioning the study, namely, specifying “what the study is a study of”. The second challenge concerned the choice between formal or substantive theory. Both challenges were accentuated as the emerged core category concerned a phenomenon that has caught less attention in...Selection of Grounded Theory as an Appropriate Research Methodology fo...
James W. Jones, Ed.D. Abstract Doctoral students wanting to use grounded theory as a methodological approach for their dissertation often face multiple challenges gaining acceptance of their approach by their committee. This paper presents the case that the author used to overcome these challenges through the process of eliminating other methodologies, leaving grounded theory as the preferred method for the desired research issue. Through examining the approach used successfully by the author, other doctoral students will be able to frame similar arguments justifying the...