Scribble Pad
From Technolotics
045 897 012 Dr McKenna
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grounded_theory_%28Glaser%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grounded_theory_%28Strauss%29
Applied research - done to solve specific practical questions - descriptive or exploratory
Our research questions could broadly be stated as - What factors influence teenage sexual behaviour / attitudes in Ireland?
Exploratory research - structures and identifies a given problem
Source - wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research
Grounded Theory - originally 'constant comparative method' 2 kinds, Barry Glasers grounded theory and Anselm Strauss's model
Glaser's Grounded Theory
- goal - to formulate verifyable hypothesis
- continuasly compare fit of conceptualized 'incident' data on different levels of abstraction
- relevance judged by evokativeness and expression of real concearns of patients
- theory is never right or wrong - more or less fit, relevance, workability and modifiability
- data can be anything - not just interviews or observation, but lectures, seminars, expert group meetings, newspaper articles,
television shows, self interview
- every piece of written data is conceptualised line by line - can be done in margins of field notes *all concepts compared and merged / renamed and modified
- when core variables are found - key explanations of participants in resolving their main concearn - *data is coded with this in mind - new data is selectively theoretically sampled to fit core codes
- theoretical codes emerge from comparing data in field notes and memo - theoretical models applied to the data
- memos - anything written or drawn - develop ideas aout concepts name and relationships - *accumulates written ideas in bank of concepts and relationships
- sorting - memos are put into stacks representing categorical concepts => may be done using one of *many theoretical frameworks
- writing up - sorted memos are are related to each other and core variables - mixed with tables, *decriptions etc - rewriting - is then done, where relevent literature is interwoven
Rules
- No pre-research literature review - leads to preconceptions, although literature can be integrated into sorting stage to feed development or bracketed - explored then set asside
- No taping of interviews - hides patterns in detail, taping wastes time, as goal is to generate concepts not describe
- No talking about theory prior to write up - leads to less creativity
Practical Advice
http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arp/grounded.html
Keyword during interviews, to be later converted into codes/themes - tape record in case we dont use grounded theory after all codes emerge from the researchers interpretation of the underlying theme in a sentence write down theoretical ideas as they occur to you - these will be your memos cateogories emerge which make sence of interview data - in the light of other interviews and other research data a core category is one which arises with high frequency, and is connected to many other categories when core category is found, stop coding any sentences which do not contain it or connected categories saturation occurs when interviews add no more information to categories or their relationship to core category sample should ideally vary to fit into theory memos should structure category relationships physically sort memos on basis of category - then gather in a sequence allowing the structure to be described write up based on sort structure - integrate cards into a coherent argument
the literature which will be relevent doesn't emerge until later literature should be treated as data
