About the authors

Barney G. Glaser is the cofounder of grounded theory (1967). He received his PhD from Columbia University in 1961. He then went to University of California San Francisco, where he joined Anselm Strauss in doing the dying in hospitals study and in teaching PhD and DNS students methods and analysis. He published over 20 articles on this research and the dying research. Since then, Glaser has written 14 more books using and about grounded theory, and countless articles. In 1998 he received an honorary doctorate from Stockholm University. His latest book, which deals with the...

Seeding Event: Creating and Developing Spaces of Entrepreneurial Freed...

Gaëtan Mourmant, IESEG School of Management Abstract This paper addresses the question of initiating, fostering and growing a vibrant economy by developing Spaces of Entrepreneurial Freedom (SoEF). Establishing and developing the SoEF is explained by a seeding event which is the core category of this grounded theory. In short, a seeding event leads to the patching of a potential, structural “hole”, which may prove valuable to an entrepreneurial network. Seeding events are started by an initiator who will recognize a network opportunity and exploit it. After event...

Editorial

Astrid Gynnild To provide new knowledge is a basic aim of academic research. This task seems to be so self-evident that underlying cognitive aspects of knowledge acquisition are often taken for granted. Nevertheless, in order to produce credible, relevant and unbiased research results, the greatest challenge of any researcher is probably that of handling one’s own preconceptions. When grounded theory was generated by Glaser and Strauss 45 years ago, they aimed to provide an inductive methodology that cut across preformed research investigations and the testing of...

Surviving Grounded Theory Research Method in an Academic World: Propos...

Naomi Elliott, Trinity College Dublin Agnes Higgins, Trinity College Dublin Abstract Grounded theory research students are frequently faced with the challenge of writing a research proposal and using a theoretical framework as part of the academic requirements for a degree programme. Drawing from personal experiences of two PhD graduates who used classic grounded theory in two different universities, this paper highlights key lessons learnt which may help future students who are setting out to use grounded theory method. It identifies key discussion points that students...

Working Through Preconception: Moving from Forcing to Emergence

Kim Kwok, AUT University Antoinette McCallin, AUT University Geoff Dickson, AUT University Abstract Much has been written about grounded theory and the processes of theory generation. Less is written about managing the problem of preconception, which has the potential to undermine the openness and emergence that are fundamental to classic grounded theory. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the practical realities of managing preconception, and to draw attention to less well recognised factors that contribute to forcing. The topic interest, tactical innovation in...

No Preconception: The Dictum

Barney Glaser, PhD, Hon. PhD I would like to begin and introduce this book on “no preconceptions” when doing grounded theory (GT) with a short trip of 45 years into the past by quoting the reasoning source of the no preconceptions dictum as first laid out in 1967 in the Discovery of Grounded Theory, by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss. The sources where (1) the zeal for verification of conjectured hypotheses research and (2) to explain the findings with theoretical capitalists demanding and commanding conjecture seldom if ever tapping the reality of what was really going...