Potentializing Wellness to Overcome Gene...

Cynthia D. Stirbys, the University of Windsor Abstract The Indian residential school (IRS) system is part of Canada’s colonial history: Indigenous children who attended IRS suffered immensely at the hands of the school administrators, staff, and students. How Indigenous females cope with the intergenerational transmission of trauma was explored. Indigenous women in this classic grounded theory study aimed to resolve their main concern of kakwatakih-nipowatisiw, a Cree term used to identify learned colonial (sick) behaviours that weaken familial ties. Analysis resulted in...

Resigning: How nurses work within constr...

Claire O’Donnell, University of Limerick Tom Andrews, University College Cork Abstract This study explores and explains how nurses care for patients with stroke in the acute care setting and how they process these challenges to enable delivery of care. Using a classic grounded theory methodology, 32 nurses were interviewed who cared for patients with stroke and twenty hours of observations were undertaken. Nurses’ main concern is how to work within constraints. In dealing with this challenge, nurses engage in a process conceptualised as resigning and do so through...

Transforming Loyalty: A Classic Grounded...

Renee Rolle-Whatley, Rolle Integrative Healing Solutions, LLC, USA Kara Vander Linden, Saybrook University, USA Abstract The experiences of parents who daily participate in the rearing of their children framed this investigation into the maturation of selflessness using Glaser’s classic grounded theory. The theory reveals vulnerabilities, lessons, and rewards gleaned from continuous immersion in parenting. Viewed as a process, transforming loyalty discloses the circuitous route parents travel as parenting experiences shift focus towards a broadened awareness about the...

About the Authors

Dr. Tom Andrews, PhD, MSc; PGDE; BSc (Hons) School of Nursing & Midwifery, Brookfield, College Road, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland, although now semi-retired, has worked in Higher Education since 1991.  He has been trained in Classic Grounded Theory by Dr Barney Glaser, one of its originators.  He has supervised seven PhD students using Classic GT to successful conclusion and examined a total of twenty PhDs and two MSc by research.  He is a Fellow of the Grounded Theory Institute and on the editorial board of “The Grounded Theory Review”. He has been involved...

From the Editor’s Desk

How to Read Classic Grounded Theory Have you wondered how to best read and evaluate grounded theory studies?  Contrary to what some people believe, grounded theories are neither stories, lists of themes, nor descriptions, rather they consist of parsimonious rigorously extracted concepts bound by inductively derived theoretical relationships. The network of concepts and theoretical relationships may be invisible to one who is unfamiliar with the method. The purpose of this editorial is to discuss some of the clues a reader might use to determine the quality of a classic...

Theoretical Writing

Barney G. Glaser Editor’s note: This paper addresses common questions about the particular way in which grounded theorists should write about their classic grounded theory. This important chapter has been excerpted and lightly edited for clarity and context from chapter 8 in Glaser’s Theoretical Sensitivity (1978). 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...

Becoming an Expert: A Classic Grounded T...

Barry Chametzky, American College of Education, City University of Seattle, USA Abstract The theory of Becoming an Expert is about the transformation from a student who consumes knowledge to expert and scholar-researcher who creates knowledge.  However, more conceptually, the theory is equally applicable to anyone who progresses from novice to expert in a specific endeavor or field.  The process may start with an innocuous idea as “I would like to learn more about ABC.”  Through a series of trials and tribulations—referred broadly as juggling in the theory—the person...

Grounded Theory through the Lenses of In...

Maria Mouratidou, University of Cumbria Mark Crowder, Manchester Metropolitan University Helen Scott, Grounded Theory Online, Grounded Theory Institute Abstract This paper explores interpretation and translation issues that arose during a grounded theory study of the Greek health sector.  It highlights problems that were encountered when working in two languages and demonstrates how these were overcome. This is important because Grounded Theory (GT) research, in cross-cultural contexts, is associated with the linguistic challenges of conceptualisation. The authors offer...