Seeking to Do What’s Best for Baby: A Gr...

Karen Jagiello, James Madison University Abstract The purpose of this classic grounded theory study was to develop a theory of how rural breastfeeding women respond to their main concern associated with exclusive breastfeeding. Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for infants through the first six months of life. Mothers living in rural U.S. communities exclusively breastfeed less frequently than their urban counterparts. The theory Seeking to Do What’s Best for Baby emerged from the data and describes the process that mothers work through to do what is best for their...

Value-Based Mavericking

Maureen P. Molinari, Saybrook University, USA Kara Vander Linden, Saybrook University, USA Abstract This classic ground theory (CGT) study presents a theory to explain a four-stage process for resolving moral distress encountered in professional environments. Value-based mavericking explains that misalignment between personal and professional values may lead to moral distress and burnout and, that while coping strategies may ease symptoms, the underlying problem still exists. Value-based mavericking presents a process that includes evaluating professional alignment and...

Manipulative Dominant Discoursing: Alarm...

Debbie Garratt, Notre Dame University Joanna Patching, Notre Dame University Abstract This paper is a grounded theory explaining the main concern of practitioners in Australia when interacting with women on the issue of abortion.  Based on a broad data set including practitioner interviews, professional notes, and discourse data, collection and analysis were undertaken using Classic Grounded Theory research design. The analysis led to the development of the grounded theory, Manipulative Dominant Discoursing: Alarmist Recruitment and Perspective Gatekeeping. Keywords:...

About the Authors

Andrew P. Carlin, Ph.D., is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Macau, SAR China. His central concern is the social organization of scholarly communication. This has provided him with specific research interests including disciplinarity, disciplinary contexts for teaching, the problem of what constitute data for sociology, the history of sociology, information, methods and methodology. He teaches qualitative research at Manchester Metropolitan University, and Library & Information Management at Ulster University. His current projects are on teaching and learning in...

From the Editor’s Desk

I am humbled by the opportunity to work with the classic grounded theory community and to follow in the footsteps of the previous two editors, Judith Holton and Astrid Gynnild. I am excited to work closely with Barney Glaser, the editorial board, and peer reviewers. One of the most exciting aspects of the Review is the engagement of a global community of classic grounded theorists. Internationally diverse researchers from many disciplines collectively engage in this important research method. As editor, I pledge to continue international multi-disciplinary collaboration...

Getting Started

Editor’s Note: In my career as an educator, I found that PhD students stumbled on the most basic questions about how to get started with a grounded theory study, what to study, and how to craft the research question. Students find it most difficult to be open to emergence—to trust that the core category will emerge if study participants are allowed to divulge their main concern as they perceive it. The following is advice from Barney Glaser on how to overcome these fears. Excerpted from chapter 4 of Basics of Grounded Theory Analysis (1992), and edited for clarity, Barney...

Navigating Infant Death from Life-Limiti...

Susan Bush Welch, PhD, RN Abstract The purpose of this classic grounded theory study was to explore how parents experience the expected death of an infant from a life-limiting congenital anomaly. These anomalies are the leading cause of death of infants in the United States. Death typically occurs in intensive care units with limited access to adequate palliative/end-of-life care.  An extensive knowledge gap about the experience of these parents exists. The grounded theory Navigating Infant Death from Life-Limiting Congenital Anomaly contains three stages and two cutting...

Negotiating Emotional Order: A Grounded ...

Jennifer A. Klimek Yingling, Utica College Abstract In this article, classic grounded theory captures the processes of 12 women who had completed initial treatment for breast cancer. The qualitative data analysis reveals the basic social process of negotiating emotional order that describe how breast cancer survivors perceive their illness and decide to take action. From the data, five stages of the process of negotiating emotional order emerge: 1) Losing Life Order, 2) Assisted Life Order, 3) Transforming 4) Accepting, and 5) Creating Emotional Order. This study may help...