Transcending Inequality: A Classic Grounded Theory of Filipino Factory Workers in Taiwan...

Peter C. Sun, University of Washington Abstract The purpose of this research is to develop a classic grounded theory of the main concern of Filipino factory workers in Taiwan and the latent pattern of behavior that accounts for its continual resolution. Nine participants were interviewed and the data were analyzed using the constant comparative method of analysis. The theory that emerged from this study was transcending inequality, which explains how individuals resolve inequality via three overlapping patterns of behavior: coping, bonding, and serving. These behaviors represent a constellation of individual, cultural, social, and spiritual resources. The findings have implications for three areas of practice and policy: (a) local and transnational community life, (b) religious and spiritual practices, and (c) the strength-based approach. Keywords: Migrant worker, inequality, classic grounded theory Introduction Taiwan’s population of migrant workers has risen dramatically since the establishment of a formal guest worker program in 1991 (Lu, 2000). By the end of 2012, Taiwan had 445,579 migrant workers, predominantly from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. More than half the migrant workers were employed in manufacturing industries, with the rest being primarily domestic workers (Council of Labor Affairs, 2012). Rapid economic growth, industrialization, and rising labor costs (Tierney, 2007), as well as social changes such as growth in women’s employment, declining fertility rates, and changing job attitudes, especially the aversion to so-called 3D (dirty, dangerous, and demanding) occupations, have increased the demand for foreign labor (Lan, 2000a). Numerous studies have established migrant workers as a vulnerable and oppressed population. In 2011, as many as 42.4% of migrant workers in Taiwan had not had a single day off (Hsiao, 2013). Many work long hours in isolated or hazardous environments without legal and social support (Wu, 2006). Exorbitant placement and brokerage fees result in debts that can take as long as a year and a half to pay off (Sheu, 2007). Studies have also investigated exploitative broker and employment practices (Loveband, 2004); unequal wages and benefits (Hsiao, 2013); cultural shock and homesickness (Chen et al., 2011); occupational hazards (Liao, 2011); limited citizenship rights and social participation (Sassen, 2002); discrimination and racism (Lan, 2003); emotional, physical, and sexual abuse (Pan & Yang, 2012); and lack of social service provisions (Lai, 2012). Partly because of these problems, many migrants become undocumented, runaway workers (Lan, 2006). Even though research has studied migrant workers’ psychosocial experiences and analyzed the systemic aspects of migration, less articulated are the resources and strategies used by migrants to mitigate or overcome their environmental stressors (Wong & Song, 2008). Some studies have considered the coping strategies of migrant workers, yet the samples comprised domestic workers. The purpose of this study is to explore the main concern of Filipino factory workers and how they resolve that concern. Gaining knowledge about the resources used by migrant factory workers has direct implications for policy and practice that would contribute to their well-being. Specifically, this study uses the classic grounded theory approach to address the following research questions (Glaser, 1978): What main concern emerges from Filipino factory workers’ migration experiences? How do Filipino factory workers continually resolve this main concern? Methodology Classic Grounded Theory Approach Classic grounded theory was used to generate a theory about Filipino factory workers’ main concern and its resolution. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews that, consistent with the aims of grounded theory, permitted entry into the perspectives of the interviewees in their own terms. The aim of grounded theory is to discover the main concern...

Theory of Flowing: Going with the Flow of the Ups-and-Downs of Recovering from an Ordeal...

Alan Kim-Lok Oh, MCounsPsy, KB, PA Abstract This article outlines the theory of flowing. Flowing is an intervention strategy that ordinary people implement in order to go with the flow of the ups-and-downs of recovering from an ordeal. It ensures that they continue to progress in recovering from their ordeal. Ordinary people experience ups-and-downs when they are recovering from their ordeal in the following domains: functioning, symptoms, energy, support, connection and progress in recovery. These ups-and-downs lead the person to perpetually struggle with uncertainty and feel increasingly insecure and distressed.  Recovering from an ordeal is a process of getting better where the distressing ups-and-downs are gradually stabilized where the person intervenes the downward trends of regression, rises up and maintains their upward trends of recovery; and the ordeal is progressively resolved. Flowing consists of the following intervention strategies: recognizing the ordeal and associated symptoms; alleviating symptoms; activating and nourishing; self-caring; staying open and aware of progress; seeking caring support and connections; becoming a caring support and connection; and staying grateful. This mid-range theory of flowing was discovered by conceptualizing data that were sourced from people who are experiencing the ups-and-downs of recovering from ordeals that are triggered by COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease). Thus, this data represents a slice of data from a broader population of ordinary people who are experiencing the ups-and-downs of recovering from their ordeal. This study has implications in how data could be used to discover theories, coaching of people to overcome their ordeals in life and how to manage life and health as we approach COVID-19 endemicity. Keywords: flowing, intervention strategy, recovery, grounded theory, overcoming ordeals Introduction Ups and downs in recovering from an ordeal in life are common among ordinary people. For example, COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease) that no one can escape from had triggered many ordeals in people’s lives. No one in this world had not been affected by COVID-19 and its effects. As a result, many people in the world are recovering from their ordeal due to COVID-19 and its effects. The ordeal has deeply changed who they are in their respective lives.  The fluctuation that a person experiences when recovering from their ordeal shows that they go through a stream of events which come in a wave of gains and losses that affects their day-to-day responsibilities and functions at work, home etc. This makes recovering from the ordeal hard to bear because the person needs to undergo transiency in their life because impermanency is a phenomenon that many people could not tolerate as they could not bear losing what they have had previously, and having regained them, they lose them again. The ordeal that a person experiences is marked by this impermanency. The purpose of this study is to examine the ups-and-downs of ordinary people when they recover from their ordeal in life by using data from personal stories of people who are recovering from ordeals triggered by COVID-19. As no one in this world had not experienced recovery from their ordeal caused by COVID-19 and its effects before, this data represents a slice of data from a broader population of ordinary people who are recovering from their ordeal. This data were used to discover a mid-range theory of flowing. This mid-range theory hypothesizes the ups-and-downs of ordinary people who are recovering from an ordeal and how they are resolved. Methodology The classic grounded theory methodology is used to discover a theory from data of personal stories of recovering COVID-19 patients collected from...

Getting On-The-Same-Page

Ali J. M. Sumner, Cert Grad Mngt, MBL, PhD Abstract Work teams are intrinsic to how 21st century organizations operate. For several decades, business research has therefore focused on work team performance. De Bono thinking tools have also been used extensively by work teams, for several decades. However, there is a paucity of research on the correct use of de Bono thinking tools in business organizations. The getting on-the-same-page classic grounded theory is therefore a new theory explaining what happens when work teams utilize these tools. The research problem was the main concern of people using de Bono thinking tools in this substantive area. The study revealed their concern is resolved with a three-stage process of change in personal cognitive capability. This process is fragile and can cease at any time. When it continues however, there are three stages of emergent change: tooling-up, tensing and enabling. Discovery of this process contributes to work team theory and praxis, particularly in the area of work team processes and effectiveness. Keywords: classic grounded theory, de Bono thinking tools, work teams, business organizations, cognitive capability. Introduction With an estimated 25 million meetings each day in the USA alone, work team meetings have become ubiquitous in 21st century business organizations (Allen et al., 2015; Beneshick & Lazzarra, 2019). Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with online video services, workplace meetings have also become more pervasive (Carroll & Conboy, 2020; Soni, 2020). By April 2020, over 300 million people worldwide were holding regular work-related meetings via the Zoom on-line meeting platform (Wiederhold, 2020). Work team research identifies meetings, discussions and conversations as “work team occasions.” These occasions have become a major feature of business operations, therefore interest in work teams has significantly increased, with research paying particular attention to improving work team performance (Kozlowski, 2018; Tannenbaum & Salas, 2020). Every year since the mid-1990s thousands of adults, worldwide, have been trained in the correct use of de Bono thinking tools in a work team context (D’Angelo Fisher, 2006; Dudgeon, 2001; Walter, 2017). While there is a significant number of anecdotal claims about the positive impact de Bono thinking tools have on work team performance, in contrast to extensive research in the area of work teams per se, there is a paucity of rigorous research focusing on work teams using these particular thinking tools (Burgh, 2014; D’Angelo Fisher, 2006; Hartnett, 2016; Merrotsy, 2017; Puccio & Cabra, 2010). Getting on-the-same-page is therefore a new theory helping to address a significant gap in knowledge regarding, work team performance. De Bono Thinking Tools With a background in physiology and medicine, Dr. Edward de Bono was researching and teaching at Oxford, Cambridge, London, and Harvard Universities in the early-1960s, when he started focusing on the need for new thinking, to counteract what he considered to be inefficiencies in how the human brain processes information (D’Angelo Fisher, 2006; Dudgeon, 2001). After the publication of The Use of Lateral Thinking in 1967 and an ongoing invention of a raft of new thinking tools, Dr. de Bono is now widely acknowledged as the inventor of the term and tools of lateral thinking, designer of the CoRT program for the teaching of thinking in schools and inventor of the Six Thinking Hats, a methodology that has proliferated though educational systems and business organizations across the world since the mid-1980s (D’Angelo Fisher, 2006; Dingli, 2009; Merrotsy, 2017; Puccio et al., 2010; Walter, 2017). Correct Utilization of de Bono Thinking Tools The term...

The Behavioural Motivations of Police Officers Engaged in Domestic Abuse Incident Work...

Daniel P. Ash, University of Gloucestershire Abstract This paper explores domestic abuse police work by considering the behavioural motivations of officers. It is underpinned by a study using classic grounded theory to examine how officers behave when carrying out police incident work in England. This study identifies that the motivating driver of officers engaged in domestic abuse incident work viz. their main concern, is the continual management of threats to their social identity. Officers seek to understand whether a particular incident’s circumstances provide them with an opportunity to behave like an archetypal British police officer. Upholding archetypal identity is their main concern, and officers resolve their main concern by balancing value and effort (the core-category in this study). The main concern and core category, as a theoretical framework, provide a grounded theory through which officer interactions can be understood as a continuum of behaviours, conceptualised as identity retreat and identity deconstruction. Officers alternate between these behaviour types when seeking to uphold their archetypal identity as they manage incident outcomes. This study has implications for police practitioners and policymakers seeking to understand the motivation of officers when engaged in domestic abuse work and its impact on incident outcomes and officer behaviours. Keywords: classic grounded theory, police officers, domestic abuse, archetypal identity Introduction Domestic abuse is increasingly being recognised by policymakers as a serious, pervasive, and significant issue that “ruins lives, breaks up families and has a lasting impact [on communities]” (Starmer, 2011). In England and Wales, the UK Government defines domestic abuse as “any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members. . .” (Home Office, 2018). The police have primacy when intervening in domestic abuse incidents. Hence, their ability to effectively tackle domestic abuse has come to the fore in the past decade with policymakers reporting that “[t]he overall police response to victims of domestic abuse is not good enough” (HMIC, 2014, p. 6). In more recent years, this landmark assessment by HMIC has created an “impetus for dramatic changes in the policy structures and recommended practices of police officers” (Robinson et al., 2018, p. 189). Yet, despite changes to police practice, the way that individual police officers carry out incident work continues to be problematic for many police forces, victims and families because officers can sometimes conduct incident work outside of policy requirements or in ways that are not, ostensibly, victim-focussed (HMIC, 2015, 2017; Myhill, 2019), and there is a lack of theoretically developed work that can satisfactorily explain this problem. Officer behaviour can affect incident outcomes (Huff, 2021) and social context has a significant impact on officer behaviour and interactions (Shjarback et al., 2018). Therefore, uncovering mechanisms that link social context to behaviours is an important part of understanding incident work. During interactions, officers have significant discretion in the ways that they interact with members of the public. They can often behave in ways that fall outside of policy, legal and organisational expectations (Reiner, 2010), and their decision making can be affected by biases (Nowacki, 2011). The concept of “police culture” has been offered as one theoretical explanation for these often-biased discretionary practices of police officers (Cockcroft, 2012). However, there is little agreement among scholars as to which conceptual practice, or behavioural or social context factors should be incorporated within any model of police culture (Paoline, 2003). One of the problems with police culture models...

Experiencing Grounded Theory: A Review

Kari Allen-Hammer, Institute for Research and Theory Methodologies Lisa Goldberg, Institute for Research and Theory Methodologies, Saybrook University Elizabeth Kellogg, Institute for Research and Theory Methodologies, Quincy College, Lesley University Kelisa Underwood, Institute for Research and Theory Methodologies, Middle Georgia State University Kara L. Vander Linden, Institute for Research and Theory Methodologies, Saybrook University Abstract Experiencing Grounded Theory takes the reader on an enjoyable, easy-to-read journey through Simmons’s 55 years of learning, doing, mentoring, teaching, and applying grounded theory. It is an engaging book written for beginner to experienced grounded theorists. It is laid out in a well-organized fashion, beginning with Simmons’s introduction to grounded theory and progressing through his years of teaching the methodology. This article provides a quick overview of each chapter. While there are many books written on grounded theory, few explain the method as clearly as this one. It is a recommended read for both novice and practicing grounded theorists. Keywords: classic grounded theory, grounded action, grounded therapy Experiencing Grounded Theory is a book 55 years in the making. It presents Dr. Odis Simmons’s journey of learning, doing, mentoring, teaching, and applying grounded theory from his first introduction to the methodology in 1967 to his experiences learning the methodology directly from Drs. Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss to his experience teaching grounded theory for over 50 years. The book also details Simmons’s own application of grounded theory in grounded action and grounded therapy. The following review will summarize each chapter and how readers may benefit from the book. This book begins with an unorthodox approach. Simmons placed a glossary of terms preceding the first chapter rather than at the end of the book. Grounded theory has its own unique terminology, and Simmons expressed that familiarity with the terminology would aid the reader in understanding the book and methodology. In chapter one, “My Discovery of Grounded Theory,” Simmons beckoned readers into Experiencing Grounded Theory with his first-hand account of discovering grounded theory as an undergraduate student. Simmons wrote as a close confidant, guiding the reader through his historical journey of finding and becoming an early pupil of Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss in the beginning days of grounded theory’s development. Simmons began the second chapter, “Is Grounded Theory the Methodology for You?” by situating grounded theory within the context of existing research methodologies. He presented grounded theory as a bridge for the gap between research and theory generation. Next, Simmons explored various research designs, breaking them down based on characteristics, such as inductive versus deductive properties and descriptive versus theoretical purposes. Simmons also explained the differences between classic grounded theory and constructivist grounded theory, arguing that the constructivist approach falls prey to preconception. Finally, Simmons offered an in-depth analysis of how classic grounded theory can be positioned within the theoretical schools of constructivism and objectivism. He determined that, while classic grounded theory incorporates necessary components from both and is an unparalleled methodology for theory generation, it is conceptual and may be used by researchers of any philosophical position. This chapter is informative but not instructive; it serves mainly to present classic grounded theory as an excellent choice for theory generation and clear up common misconceptions about the methodology. In chapter three, “Dealing with Committees: Special Considerations for Classic Grounded Theory Students,” Simmons identified common challenges facing students as they select and work with their dissertation or thesis committees. Simmons began this chapter by providing guidance about how to select committee members. This guidance applies to any students...

About the Authors

Barry Chametzky earned his Ph.D. in Education from Northcentral University with specializations in educational technology, e-learning, and classic grounded theory. He holds graduate degrees in Music (Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College, City University of New York), French (Middlebury College), and Foreign Language education (University of Pittsburgh). Dr. Chametzky is an active researcher in the fields of andragogy, e-learning, anxiety and online foreign language acquisition, and classic grounded theory with numerous peer-reviewed publications and book chapters to his credit. He is also one of the reviewers and the copyeditor for the Grounded Theory Review, an international peer-reviewed journal dedicated to classic grounded theory. He is a Grounded Theory Institute Fellow who facilitates online learning with master’s and doctoral students in various fields of education, and serves as a dissertation chairperson to a number of candidates. Alan Kim-Lok Oh, MCounsPsy, MBA, KB, PA is a consultant psychologist, and clinician at a private hospital. He has a practice that provides consultation, behavioral health screening and assessment, counseling and psychotherapy services to adults, elders, adolescents and children in the following formats – individual, group, family, couple or a combination of these formats based on patient and client needs. Alan is also a registered counsellor in Malaysia. Together with his wife and daughter, Alan lives in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Alros (Ali) Joan Miriam Sumner, PhD, is a Senior Consultant with BRAINPOWA, a boutique consultancy that works with Australian government agencies, for-profit and not-profit organisations and social enterprises, to help grow their thinking power to create better futures for themselves, their organisations and communities. My academic interests and on-going praxis within Australian organisations, focus on the cognitive ability of organisational leaders and work teams to handle the challenges of the 21st century, within the context of organisations being complex adaptive systems. My working life commenced with teaching, followed by work in children’s services, community development and public services. After gaining a Master’ Degree in Leadership and Management at Curtin University, in 2021 I gained a PhD, also at Curtin. In addition to my PhD research I have conducted classic grounded theory research exploring what happens when business entrepreneurs utilise lateral thinking tools and processes. Peter Sun, MSW, is a doctoral candidate at the Brown School in Washington University in St. Louis. His research focuses on the productive engagement of older adults in rural contexts. Dr. Kara Vander Linden is an interdisciplinary researcher, educator, mentor, and lifelong learner. She is the founder and president of the Institute for Research and Theory Methodologies and the Director of the Glaser Center for Grounded Theory. Dr. Kara Vander Linden also teaches research and supervises classic grounded theory dissertations at Saybrook University. She is a peer reviewer for the Grounded Theory Review, BMC Nursing, and Nursing Open.  Dr. Vander Linden earned a doctorate in education from Fielding Graduate University (Santa Barbara, CA) with specializations in grounded theory, grounded action, and higher education leadership. She earned a master’s in special education from the University of North Carolina (Charlotte, NC) and a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from Queens University (Charlotte, NC). She has specialized training in working with learners with dyslexia.  Email: kvanderlinden@mentoringresearchers.org Daniel P. Ash CertHum, DipHe, BSc (Hons), DCrim, AMIMA, FHEA; the School of Natural and Social Sciences, The University of Gloucestershire. Daniel Ash is a British criminologist, senior lecturer and research excellence framework lead for sociology at the University of Gloucestershire. Daniel is also an associate professor of practice at the University of East London.  He specializes in the development and application...