Grounded Theory Methods and Qualitative Family Research.

Among the different qualitative approaches that may be relied upon in family theorizing, grounded theory methods (GTM), developed by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss, are the most popular. Despite their centrality to family studies and to other fields, however, GTM can be opaque and confusing. Believing that simplifying GTM would allow them to be used to greater effect, I rely on 5 principles to interpret 3 major phases in GTM coding: open, axial, and selective. The history of GTM establishes a foundation for the interpretation, whereas recognition of the dialectic between induction and deduction underscores the importance of incorporating constructivism in GTM thinking. My goal is to propose a methodologically condensed but still comprehensive interpretation of GTM, an interpretation that researchers hopefully will find easy to understand and employ. Key Words: content analysis, grounded theoretical analysis, qualitative methods, theory construction. There is an irony-perhaps a paradox-here: that a methodology that is based on "interpretation" should itself prove so hard to interpret. (Dey, 1999, p. 23) Beginning in the early 1970s with the creation of the National Council on Family Relations' Theory Construction and Research Methodology Workshop, and continuing through a series of volumes on family theories and methods (Bengtson, Acock, Allen, Dilworth-Anderson, & Klein, 2005a; Boss, Doherty, LaRossa, Schumm, & Steinmetz, 1993; Burr, Hill, Nye, & Reiss, 1979a, 1979b), family studies has become a field where methodologically based theorizing matters. Cognizant of this fact, family scholars place a premium on research techniques that facilitate the development of new ideas. In quantitative studies, multivariate statistical techniques are essential to the theorizing process. In qualitative studies, any number of approaches may be used to generate theory, but family scholars tend to rely on a multivariate nonstatistical (or quasistatistical) set of procedures, known as grounded theory methods (GTM). GTM were originally devised to facilitate theory construction, and their proponents routinely assert that a GTM approach promotes theorizing in ways that alternative methods do not (see Glaser, 1978, 1992; Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss, 1987; Strauss & Corbin, 1990a, 1998). Besides being drawn to GTM's theory-generating potential, family scholars may be attracted to GTM's compatibility with quantitative research. Unlike some other qualitative approaches, which are expressly descriptive in their intent (e.g., phenomenological analysis), GTM are purposefully explanatory (Baker, Wuest, & Stern, 1992). With government granting agencies viewing quantitative and qualitative methods as "mutually supportive" (National Institutes of Health, 2001; see also Ragin, Nagel, & White, 2004), investigators may feel that referring to GTM procedures in their proposals will increase their chances of getting funded. Yet another reason that family scholars may be disposed to use GTM is that a number of qualitative software programs (e.g., ATLAS, ETHNOGRAPH, and NUD*IST) were designed-or are at least believed to have been designed or reconfigured-with GTM in mind (Scale, 2005). Given the many books and articles devoted to outlining the procedures, one might presume that a basic grasp of GTM is within easy reach. Such is not the case, however. Apart from the fact that GTM guidelines can be opaque and confusing, there is also a war of sorts being fought among different GTM interpreters. Debates abound over whose version of GTM is genuine, and the verbal sparring occasionally has gotten nasty. Studying GTM can be exhilarating, but it also can be extremely challenging, with an inordinate amount of time devoted to trying to figure out what different GTM procedures mean. Some of my students have confessed that they found doing grounded theory more tiring than inspiring, and a few have abandoned the approach altogether, after deciding that the procedures were needlessly cumbersome. …