Showing papers on "Grounded theory published in 1986"

Grounded Theory and Organizational Research

Abstract: Grounded theory is an inductive, theory discovery methodology that 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). This article explicates the utility of a grounded theory approach to research on work organizations. Following a general introduction to the grounded theory method, the authors'review of the organizational literature using grounded theory illustrates the variety of issues and topics studied through this approach. The authors describe and explain specific strategies for conducting grounded theory research in and on organizations, including note taking and note writing, concept discovery, and concept definition and preliminary elaboration of theory. Throughout the article emphasis is placed on grounded theory's ability to facilitate understanding and to identify desirable improvements in work contexts.

Library Anxiety: A Grounded Theory and Its Development

Abstract: This qualitative study explored the feelings of students about using the library for research. Personal writing, collected in beginning composition courses over a two-year period, was analyzed for recurrent themes. It was found that 75 to 85 percent of the students in these courses described their initial response to library research in terms of fear. Three concepts emerged from these descriptions: (1) students generally feel that their own library-use skills are inadequate while the skills of other students are adequate, (2) the inadequacy is shameful and should be hidden, and (3) the inadequacy would be revealed by asking questions. A grounded theory of library anxiety was constructed from these data.

Childhood predictors of adolescent substance abuse: Toward an empirically grounded theory.

Abstract: This article reviews the etiology of chemical use and abuse among children and adolescents as well as states the etiological pathways of youth drug behavior between initial, occasional and regular use. The authors also discuss determinants of the onset of chemical use such as the family; peers; early antisocial behavior; school; attitudes, beliefs and personality traits; and early initiation of use. They develop a theoretical premise based on the most current etiological research and offer a social development model that serves as a basis for prevention intervention.

The doctor‐nurse relationship: an historical perspective

Abstract: The purpose of this historical research was to explore the evolution of the doctor-nurse relationship. Specifically, older nurses were interviewed regarding their nursing interactions with physicians approximately 50 years ago. A grounded theory approach was employed to analyse the data. Inherent to the difficulties nurses experienced was the dominant power position assumed by doctors in the health profession. The data give added insights into the development of this relationship. It was found that because nurses were educated primarily by doctors and because they were hired by doctors if they were considered to be 'good' nurses, a sex role stereotype of the nurse emerged. Historically these roles have influenced and continued to influence the nursing profession.

A combined qualitative methodology for nursing research.

Abstract: Aspects of grounded theory, ethnography, and phenomenology were combined to provide a nursing research methodology to be used in describing the human experience of miscarriage and the caring needs of women who miscarry. Rather than focus on findings, this article details the step-by-step process the researcher used to move from initial curiosity to the sharing of discovered categories. The combined qualitative strategy is offered as a methodology that is congruent with the conceptualization of nursing as a human science concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of human responses to actual and potential health problems.

Caring for the frail elderly at home: toward a theoretical explanation of the dynamics of poor quality family caregiving.

Abstract: Using the grounded theory approach, 39 family caregivers were theoretically sampled using newspaper advertising to explore their perceptions of providing home care for frail elders and to generate a theoretical model that describes the dynamics of good quality and poor quality family caregiving; explains the relationships among certain contextual and perceptual variables and the behaviors exchanged by elders and caregivers; and identifies points where interventions by nurses could be effective. The model consists of five constructs that were identified from the data and were staged within the framework provided by symbolic interactionism and social exchange theory. The five constructs and two related driving forces provide a partial explanation for the quality of family caregiving and a beginning explanation for the phenomenon of elder abuse.

Non-traditional Learners Within Traditional Higher Education Institutions: discovery and disappointment

Abstract: This paper reports on the first stage of research on the influence of lifelong learning on the interpretative frameworks used by adults to make sense of their experiences of higher education. Using grounded theory procedures, the paper is based on evidence gathered largely through depth interviews with 25 undergraduate non-traditional learners in four departments representing three faculties in an urban polytechnic. Part of a larger study which will investigate the perspectives of adult learners in other learning contexts, the first stage of data analysis suggests that disjunctions between these learners' expectations and experiences of higher education may be influenced by discoveries about learning and themselves outside the education system. 'Learner identity' is suggested as an organising construct and is looked at in relation to 'barriers to learning' encountered in higher education, particularly by learners who are non-traditional on more than one dimension within traditional higher education. The p...

Learning Activities and Teachers’ Decisionmaking: Some Grounded Hypotheses

Abstract: Stimulated-recall data were gathered in interviews with 12 elementary school teachers describing the decisions they made during lessons conducted shortly before. Ideational units were identified in the protocols, and a grounded theory analysis was conducted. Categories and terminology were generated and, using the constant comparative technique, hypotheses grounded in the data were developed. The first hypothesis embeds these teachers’ interactive decisionmaking (IDM) in the structure of the lessons they were conducting, and subordinates IDM to teachers’ cognitive representations of the activity at hand. The second hypothesis identifies the central intention of IDM: to move a learning activity to completion according to the cognitive representation; and the third hypothesis specifies the role of decision rules and routines.

Effects of Infant Colic on the Famil Y: Implica Tions for Practice

Abstract: Infant colic is a little understood phenomenon which has dramatic clinical effects upon the family. This article reports the findings from a Grounded Theory qualitative study that investigated the question of what processes are associated with infant colic in the family. The sample consisted of 50 parents, nurses, and physicians. A Parenting Banking Theory was developed from the data as a metaphor for the social situation that occurs when infant colic behaviors present, A summary concludes with projected areas of need for nursing research, practice, and education for nursing care of families whose infants experience colic.The family nurse and physician are the primary contacts for parents of infants with colic symptoms. This paper presents a theory, based on open-ended interview data, that describes and predicts the family dynamics resulting from the colic experience and hypothesizes interventions. Testing of the theory, especially in the area of intervention and outcomes, is needed. Such testing would se...

Contractors and computers, why systems succeed or fail: a grounded theory study of the development of microcomputer-based information systems in ten small companies in the construction industry

Abstract: A longitudinal study in ten small companies operating in the U.K. construction industry was undertaken using a grounded theory approach over the period 1980-85. The research project involved detailed discussions with management and staff throughout the period of selection, implementation and live operation of a microcomputer-based information system (MIS). The objective was to identify the nature of problems experienced by small companies when introducing microcomputer-based MIS and thereby determine the variables relating to the degree of success achieved. Whilst four companies successfully reached the stage of live operation and use of the information system, five were judged unsuccessful having abandoned the project during the research period. The remaining company continued to experience organisational difficulties relating to the system development. The characteristics of the successful and unsuccessful companies are used to build a grounded model of MIS development in small companies. Research findings raised many contextual, processual and methodological issues concerning the selection, implementation and live operation of microcomputer-based management information systems in this type of environment. A strategy for the successful implementation of microcomputer-based MIS, embracing the factors determining success/failure in the small organisation environment, is presented. The thesis concludes by offering some advice to the systems developers and the information systems design community concerning MIS development in small organisations.

The Quest: Research and Inquiry in Arts Education

Abstract: This book presents practical examples of modern research in the arts and education, and details how to prepare a thesis. A strong theoretic base is provided with chapters on arts therapies and culture studies. Contents: THE QUEST: What is Research? What is Arts Education? THEORY: The History of Inquiry; Contemporary Forms of Inquiry; Contemporary Knowledge and Reason; PRACTICE: Research Frameworks in Arts Education; Grounded Theory and the CEQRM; The Thesis; The Evaluation of Arts Programs; Examples of Program Evaluation; Research Projects; Arts and Culture Studies; Research in Creative Arts Therapies; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Readings in Humanist Sociology: Social Criticism and Social Change

Abstract: Chapter 1 Introduction: Sociology, Humanist and Scientific Chapter 2 Sociology and Choice Chapter 3 The Social Construction of Life-Cycle Crises Chapter 4 Overcoming Cultural Impediments to Human Survival Chapter 5 A Humanistic Perspective on Science and Society Chapter 6 Toward a Grounded Theory of Humanist Organization Chapter 7 Community and Social Justice: Pedagogical Reflections on Justice as Fairness Chapter 8 Inequality Chapter 9 Humanist Issues in Participant Observation Research Chapter 10 The Myth of the Normal Curve: A Theoretical Critique and Examination of its Role in Teaching and Research