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Challenges of the grounded theory approach to a novice researcher
Author(s) -
Backman Kaisa,
Kyngäs Helvi A.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
nursing and health sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.563
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1442-2018
pISSN - 1441-0745
DOI - 10.1046/j.1442-2018.1999.00019.x
Subject(s) - grounded theory , theoretical sampling , process (computing) , computer science , focus (optics) , management science , data science , qualitative research , epistemology , sociology , social science , philosophy , physics , optics , economics , operating system
The grounded theory approach has been used in nursing research since 1970. The latest methodological books describe the research process in detail. However, there are many problems involved in the grounded theory approach, which especially need to be considered by a novice researcher. One of these problems is the question of how deeply and widely the researcher should familiarize her‐ or himself with the research topic before the empirical study. The problems also include the need to focus the research problem and to choose the sampling method. Data analysis is a multistage process, which demands from the researcher both sensitivity and time to work out the findings which emerge from the data. In this paper, the grounded theory approach is described as a process undertaken by the novice researcher. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges of the grounded theory approach and the problems encountered by a researcher using the method for the first time.