UNIVERSITY OF DURBAN-WESTVILLE

2.1.1. Analytic induction
To uncover constructs which explain the regularities in the social world, analytic
induction uses an iterative procedure - a succession of question and answer cycles.
Cressey (quoted in Plummer 1983) used this mode of analysis in the 1950's, and he
indicates the procedures for analytic induction as follows:
1. A rough definition ofthe phenomenon to be explained is formulated.
11. A hypothetical explanation of that phenomenon is formulated.
111. One case is studied in the light of the hypothesis with the object of determining
whether the hypothesis fits the facts in that case.
IV. If the hypothesis does not fit the facts, either the hypothesis is reformulated or the
phenomenon to be explained is redefined. The new definition must be more
precise than the first one.
v. Practical certainty may be obtained after a small number of cases have been
examined, but the discovery of a single negative case disproves the explanation
and requires a reformulation.
VI. This procedure of examining cases, re-defining the phenomena and reformulating
the hypothesis is continued until a universal relationship is established, each
negative case calling for a re-definition or a reformulation.
vu. For purposes of proof, cases outside the area circumscribed by the definition are
examined to determine whether or not the final hypothesis applies to them. This
step is in keeping with the observation that scientific generalisations consist of
descriptions of conditions, which are always present, when the phenomenon is
present but which are never present when the phenomenon is absent.
2.1.2. Grounded theory approach
The goal in a grounded theory approach is to produce theories from data rather
than from some apriori conceptualisation. Bryman and Burgess (1995) describe the
steps proposed by Glaser and Strauss for grounded theory analyses. After some data
collection and reflection on the general area of concern, the researcher generates
'categories' which fit the data. The researcher then moves from one particular sampling
source to another according to theoretically relevant criteria that have evolved from the
previous case. The researcher then attempts to formulate more abstract expressions of
these categories. Hypotheses about links between categories need to be formulated and
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