Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques

A general inductive approach for analysis of qualitative evaluation data is described. The purposes for using an inductive approach are to (a) condense raw textual data into a brief, summary format; (b) establish clear links between the evaluation or research objectives and the summary findings derived from the raw data; and (c) develop a framework of the underlying structure of expe- riences or processes that are evident in the raw data. The general inductive approach provides an easily used and systematic set of procedures for analyzing qualitative data that can produce reliable and valid findings. Although the general inductive approach is not as strong as some other analytic strategies for theory or model development, it does provide a simple, straightforward approach for deriving findings in the context of focused evaluation questions. Many evaluators are likely to find using a general inductive approach less complicated than using other approaches to qualitative data analysis.

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A General Inductive Approach for Analyzing Qualitative Evaluation Data

The growth in qualitative research is a well-noted and welcomed fact within the social sciences; however, there is a regrettable lack of tools available for the analysis of qualitative material. There is a need for greater disclosure in qualitative analysis, and for more sophisticated tools to facilitate such analyses. This article details a technique for conducting thematic analysis of qualitative material, presenting a step-by-step guide of the analytic process, with the aid of an empirical example. The analytic method presented employs established, well-known techniques; the article proposes that thematic analyses can be usefully aided by and presented as thematic networks. Thematic networks are web-like illustrations that summarize the main themes constituting a piece of text. The thematic networks technique is a robust and highly sensitive tool for the systematization and presentation of qualitative analyses.

Thematic networks: an analytic tool for qualitative research

Qualitative research methods are enjoying unprecedented popularity. Although checklists have undoubtedly contributed to the wider acceptance of such methods, these can be counterproductive if used prescriptively. The uncritical adoption of a range of “technical fixes” (such as purposive sampling, grounded theory, multiple coding, triangulation, and respondent validation) does not, in itself, confer rigour.

In this article I discuss the limitations of these procedures and argue that there is no substitute for systematic and thorough application of the principles of qualitative research. Technical fixes will achieve little unless they are embedded in a broader understanding of the rationale and assumptions behind qualitative research.

#### Summary points

Checklists can be useful improving qualitative research methods, but overzealous and uncritical use can be counterproductive

Reducing qualitative research to a list of technical procedures (such as purposive sampling, grounded theory, multiple coding, triangulation, and respondent validation) is overly prescriptive and results in “the tail wagging the dog”

None of these “technical fixes” in itself confers rigour; they can strengthen the rigour of qualitative research only if embedded in a broader understanding of qualitative research design and data analysis

Otherwise we risk compromising the unique contribution that systematic qualitative research can make to health services research

In medical research the question is no longer whether qualitative methods are valuable but how rigour can be ensured or enhanced. Checklists have played an important role in conferring respectability on qualitative research and in convincing potential sceptics of its thoroughness.1–3 They have equipped those unfamiliar with this approach to evaluate or review qualitative work (by providing guidance on crucial questions that need to be asked) and in reminding qualitative researchers of the need for a systematic approach (by providing an aide-memoire of the various stages involved in research design and data analysis4).

Qualitative researchers stress the …

Checklists for improving rigour in qualitative research: a case of the tail wagging the dog?

Introduction PART ONE: PHILOSPHY, PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES The Qualitative Turn in Management Research Grounded Theory Evolutionary Developments and Fundamental Processes Getting Started Data Collection and Sampling Analyses, Interpretation and the Writing Process PART TWO: GROUNDED THEORY: AN ILUSTRATION OF THE PROCESS Researching the Consumer Experience An Illustration of the Grounded Theory Method The Identification and Explanation of Concepts and Categories PART THREE: SOME CONCLUDING REMARKS A Critical Review of the Methodology

Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide for Management, Business and Market Researchers

This major inter-disciplinary collection, edited by two of the best respected figures in the field, provides a superb general introduction to this subject. Chapters include discussions of fieldwork methodology, analyzing discourse, the advantages and pitfalls of team approaches, the uses of computers, and the applications of qualitative data analysis for social policy. Shrewd and insightful, the collection will be required reading for students of the latest thinking on research methods.

Analyzing Qualitative Data

In many discussions of qualitative research there is a reluctance of many (if
not most) authors to lay bare the procedures associated with the analysis of
data. In this respect the chapters that have been included in this book represent
a major advance in that contributors do reflect explicitly on the process of
analysis. They provide many ideas about qualitative data analysis that can rarely
be discerned through other publications. We feel that much will also have been
achieved if this collection stimulates a greater self-consciousness about analysis
among qualitative researchers when designing and reporting studies.

Reflections on qualitative data analysis

This approach to ‘methods’ was the subject of considerable revision in the
1980s, which witnessed the publication of a range of volumes focusing upon
qualitative research. These included general texts (Burgess 1984a, Hammersley
and Atkinson 1983) as well as more specialist volumes that took up aspects of
qualitative research such as policy (Finch 1986), writing (Atkinson 1990), ethics
(Burgess 1989), and reading and evaluating texts (Hammersley 1991). While
many of these books focused upon major elements of research, there was little
emphasis given to data analysis and only Miles and Huberman (1984) devoted
a whole volume to this topic; in it principles of data analysis were discussed,
although not in relation to research studies that had been conducted recently.
However, one important aspect of research that was revealed in these texts
was a shift from ‘methods’ and ‘stages’ of social research to a discussion of
methodology in terms of a research process.

Robert G. Burgess

Papers

Analyzing Qualitative Data

Reflections on qualitative data analysis

Developments in qualitative data analysis: an introduction