Page 209 - Mike Ratner CC - WISR Complete Dissertation - v6

Attributes of grounded theory espoused by scholars of this research method include:

• An inductive approach, grounded theory allows the researcher to develop a theoretical

account of the general features of a topic while simultaneously grounding the account in

empirical observations or data (Glaser & Strauss, 1967).

• A method for generating new knowledge (Glogowski, 2012)

• “A method stressing discovery and theory development” (Strauss & Corbin, 1997, p. 152).

• “An excellent tool for understanding invisible things” (Star, 2008, p. 79).

• “A powerful tool for discovering theory in inductive qualitative studies” (Hood, 2010, p.

164).

• “Lends systematic, yet flexible guidelines for collecting + analyzing qualitative data”

(Charmaz, 2008, p. 2)

• “A constructivist approach that reaffirms studying people in their natural settings and

redirects qualitative research away from positivism” (Charmaz, 2003, p. 251).

Star (2008) linked action and grounded theory in an interesting way, and in many respects

made the argument that the action of grounded theory is in fact a unit of analysis that originates

“not from individuals, but as a result of relations; a ‘between-ness’ of the world” (p. 90). In Star’s

conclusion, she beautifully revealed the philosophy of pragmatism as espoused by Mead,

“Grounded theory permeates my way of seeing the world, in connection with pragmatism” (p. 90).

Methods for grounding theory allow for the embedding of ordinary actions through a process of

inquiry which can be usefully observed and tested in a Community Conversation enclosed setting.

Most importantly, Bryant and Charmaz (2010) effectively argued for grounded theory as a

useful and important method that “builds on the fluid interactive and emergent research process of

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