Glaserian grounded theory in nursing research - Springer Publishing

Chapter 1 An Overview of Glaserian Grounded Theory 5
subjects requires multiple interviews. The result of conducting too few
interviews was exemplifi ed in a study I reviewed, wherein the researcher
claimed to have achieved saturation of her categories after three interviews,
and then did two more interviews to confi rm this. After carefully
reading her work, I determined that she was only saturating her own
preconceived categories.
The basic method of grounded theory, constant comparative analysis,
is based on theoretical sampling: the concurrent collection, coding, and
analysis of data, which is used to direct further data collection appropriate
for developing the emerging theory. Grounded theory is developed
by constant comparison of incident with incident. The comparisons are
recorded in theoretical memos, which are the “theorizing write up of
ideas about codes and their relationships as they strike the analyst while
coding” (Glaser, 1978, p. 83). By recording the comparisons in memos
using theoretical codes, the researcher develops categories and hypothesizes
relationships among categories. These relationships are then tested
through theoretical sampling until categories are saturated and a core
category emerges that describes the behavior used by the subjects to
resolve their main concern. The goal of grounded theory is to discover
the core category. This goal is aided by theoretical sorting of the memos,
which makes possible the integration of connections among the categories
and leads to a rich, multivariate theory.
Grounded theory can be done using different modes. What the modes
have in common is that they all use the constant comparative approach
to identify the main concern of the subjects and how the subjects resolve
the concern. The research can be initiated in the discovery mode or in
the emergent fi t mode. The discovery mode is used when the researcher
enters the fi eld with no preconceptions about what will be found and
allows the variables to emerge. When a basic social process or a core category
has been discovered by the researcher in a prior study or by some
other researcher and is used as the starting point for the new research,
the emergent fi t mode is used. In this way, a program of research can be
initiated such that each study builds on the prior study (Wuest, 2000).
(For an example of this approach, see chapter 12, “Partnering With God
and the Patient.”)
In the past, a grounded theory study could be started with variables
identifi ed in a literature review that were thought to be relevant to the area
of study. Identifying these variables was required by the research committee.
An example of this type of emergent fi t study (chapter 11, “Nurturing Hope
in Patients With Cancer”) shows how, by using the constant comparative