Grounded theory

Grounded theory (GT) is a systematic methodology in the social sciences involving the construction of theory through the analysis of data. Grounded theory is a research methodology which operates almost in a reverse fashion from social science research in the positivist tradition. Unlike positivist research, a study using grounded theory is likely to begin with a question, or even just with the collection of qualitative data. As researchers review the data collected, repeated ideas, concepts or elements become apparent, and are tagged with codes, which have been extracted from the data. As more data are collected, and as data are re-reviewed, codes can be grouped into concepts, and then into categories. These categories may become the basis for new theory. Thus, grounded theory is quite different from the traditional model of research, where the researcher chooses an existing theoretical framework, and only then collects data to show how the theory does or does not apply to the phenomenon under study.

Grounded theory is a general methodology, a way of thinking about and conceptualizing data. It focuses on the studies of diverse populations from areas like remarriage after divorce (Cauhape, 1983) and Professional Socialization (Broadhed, 1983). The Grounded Theory method was developed by two sociologists, Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss. Their collaboration in research on dying hospital patients led them to write Awareness of Dying in 1965. In this research they developed the constant comparative method, later known as Grounded Theory Method. There were three main purposes behind the publication of The Discovery of Grounded Theory:

This theory mainly came into existence when there was a wave of criticism towards the fundamentalist and structuralist theories that were deductive and speculative in nature.

After two decades, sociologists and psychologists showed some appreciation for the Grounded theory because of its explicit and systematic conceptualization of the theory. The Discovery of Grounded Theory (1967) was published simultaneously in the United States and the United Kingdom, because of which the theory became well known among qualitative researchers and graduate students of those countries.

The turning point for this theory came after the publishing of two main monographs/works which dealt with "dying in hospitals". This helped the theory to gain some significance in the fields of medical sociology, psychology and psychiatry. From its beginnings in health, the grounded theory method has come to prominence in fields as diverse as drama, management, manufacturing and education.

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