Commodifying Self: A Grounded Theory Stu...

Carol Roderick, M.Ed., Ph.D. Abstract Classic grounded theory was used to identify the main concern of students in their senior year of undergraduate study. This concern was conceptualized as responding to the pressure to commodify self. The pressure to commodify self refers to pressure to turn oneself into a valuable product for the knowledge-based economy. There are three responses to this pressure: complying with commodification, resisting commodification, and humanizing commodification. Seven interrelated factors influence the response employed. The theory of...

The Modifiability of Grounded Theory

Alvita K. Nathaniel, Ph.D., RN and Tom Andrews, B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D., RN Abstract Grounded theories are powerful tools that fit empirical situations and provide “relevant predictions, explanations, interpretations, and applications” (Glaser & Strauss, 1967, p.1). Because of their real-world orientation, grounded theories are particularly appropriate for health care research. They can help professionals understand that certain patterns always seem to emerge, that particular people respond in predictable ways, and that actions produce predictable results (Nathaniel &...

Living on Hold in Palliative Cancer Care

Anna Sandgren, RN, M.Sc.N., Ph.D. Student; Hans Thulesius, MD, Ph.D.; Kerstin Petersson, RNT, Ph.D.; and, Bengt Fridlund, RNT, Ph.D. Abstract The aim of this study was to develop a classic grounded theory of palliative cancer patients and their relatives in the context of home care. We analyzed interviews and data related to the behaviour of both patients and relatives. “Living on hold” emerged as the pattern of behaviour through which the patients and relatives deal with their main concern, being put on hold. Living on Hold involves three modes: Fighting, Adjusting and...

The Coding Process and Its Challenges

Much of this paper is extracted from Holton, J. A. (2007). The coding process and its challenges. In A. Bryant, & K. Charmaz (Eds.), The Sage handbook of grounded theory. (pp. 265-289). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Judith A. Holton, Ph.D. Abstract Coding is the core process in classic grounded theory methodology. It is through coding that the conceptual abstraction of data and its reintegration as theory takes place. There are two types of coding in a classic grounded theory study: substantive coding, which includes both open and selective coding procedures, and...

Theoretical Writing1

Barney G. Glaser, Ph.D., Hon. Ph.D. Theoretical sorting has brought the analyst to the point of pent-up pressure to write: to see the months of work actualized in a “piece.” But this is only a personal pressure. The goal of grounded theory methodology, above all is to offer the results to the public, usually through one or more publications. We will focus on writing for publication, which is the most frequent way that the analyst can tell how people are “buying” what really matters in sociology, or in other fields. Both feedback on and use of publications will be the best...