Qualitative Research Grounded Theorising Analytic Induction or What

Qualitative Research: Grounded Theorising, Analytic Induction, or What? Martyn Hammersley Kurt Andersen The Open University 11/5/2020 NCRM Research Methods Festival 2008

What is the Goal and Logic of Qualitative Research? • Description versus explanation/theorybuilding. • Rigour versus creativity?

Grounded Theorising • There are different interpretations of GT: Glaser, Strauss, Schatzman, Charmaz, Clarke, and others. • The Discovery of Grounded Theory as a reaction against armchair theorising and hypothesis-testing research. • But also against descriptive qualitative studies using implicit and unsystematic comparisons.

The Guiding Orientation • Task of sociological research = producing empirically applicable theories. • This can only be achieved by systematically developing theoretical ideas from empirical data. • At the start, theoretical preconceptions should be minimised.

An iterative relationship between data collection and analysis. • Initially, open-ended data collection and open coding of the data, generating as many theoretical ideas as possible. • Emergent theory should guide subsequent data collection through theoretical sampling • Analytic coding of data should progressively become more selective, focusing on the development of a dense, integrated theory.

Theoretical Sampling and Theory Development • A classic example from Glaser and Strauss: awareness contexts and death in the hospital.

• • Sampling Across Awareness Contexts Situation where there was little patient awareness: premature baby ward and neurosurgical ward where patients were frequently comatose. Situation where staff’s and often patients’ expectations of death were high and dying was quick: an intensive care unit Situation where dying was slow and staff expectations about patients’ dying were high, but patients’ own expectations might not be: cancer service. Situation where death was unexpected and rapid: emergency service.

Typology of Awareness Contexts

Criticisms • Inductivist neglect of the guiding role of theory? Later distortion of the true spirit of Grounded Theorising? • What about theory testing? • A false realism and underdeveloped constructionism? • Are grounded theories really theories? • Theoretical saturation as an arbitrary stopping point. • Lack of interpretative depth?

Analytic Induction • Different interpretations of AI. • A history: Aristotle, Bacon and Mill. • The reaction against quantitative method within US sociology, during the first half of the 20 th century: Znaniecki and Lindesmith.

The Process of Analytic Induction START Yes Need to Redefine Phenomenon? Define/Redefine Phenomenon Study cases of phenomenon No Formulate/Reformulate Hypotheses Study more cases No Do all the cases fit the hypothesis? Yes STOP

A Classic Example: Cressey on Embezzlement • From embezzlement to financial trust violation (FTV). • The final theory: FTV occurs when people in positions of financial trust have a financial problem that is nonshareable, believe that this can be resolved by secret FTV, and can rationalise this, eg as ‘borrowing’.

Features of Analytic Induction • Aimed at producing explanatory theory. • Concerned with how component variables relate to one another, not with relative contributions of variables. • Recognises that it may be necessary to redefine what is being explained. • Identifies causal relations within semiclosed systems.

Criticisms of Analytic Induction • Neglects the importance of theoretical implication. • Fails to investigate situations where identified conditions hold. • Focuses on deterministic relations, but are causal relations in the social world probabilistic? • Requires large number of cases to be investigated in detail.

Or What?