Grounded theory Data Analysis - Ranked in the UK 2-Grounded... · Grounded Theory Method of...
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Cuban & Spiliopoulos 2/10 The Grounded Theory Method of Analysis in the Home/Work Study Introduction to the Use of Grounded Theory Grounded Theory was one of the main analytic methods used to understand the phenomenon of deskilling amongst migrant women carers and their strategies for managing. It fit well with the aims of the study, which were to analyse the processes and outcomes of migrating for care and its effects on participants. Due to the complexity and range of issues amongst a group of participants who had similar problems, as well as the fact that this topic is an under‐researched field of study—deskilling amongst migrant women‐‐‐Grounded Theory was thought to be the most salient form of analysis. The process consisted of creating codes and categories, gleaning themes and then creating hypotheses about the participants’ experiences, along with the integration of experts’ opinions on the issues and a literature review. The hypotheses are available in the research brief and summary of findings at: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/homework/findings.htm . Specifically, the hypotheses were directly related to the title of the project: The Roles of Education, Literacy, and Learning in the Networks and Mobility Patterns of Migrant Carers. Through an ongoing process of comparing and contrasting the data, connections were made between these sets of relations. Grounded Theory and Data Collection Grounded Theory also fit well with the chosen data collecting methods, which are outlined in the document, “Summary of Data Collection Methods.” The analysis took place during the data collection period, and was thoroughly integrated in to all aspects of it, including an analysis of every interview and observation directly after they were given. In this way, each step of the data collection could feed in to the analysis. It consisted of three strands that utilised mixed methods, mainly qualitative, and these were triangulated for the sake of rigor; observations balanced out the things people said during interviews and either confirmed or contradicted their spoken viewpoints. Strand one consisted of an environmental scan of experts on specific issues surrounding the migrant carers, including a literature review. Strand two consisted of ethnographic methods (observations and indepth interviews) and a panel study to assess the range of responses migrant carers had towards migrating, caring, and working in Cumbria, particularly their networks and mobility patterns.
Transcript of Grounded theory Data Analysis - Ranked in the UK 2-Grounded... · Grounded Theory Method of...
Cuban&Spiliopoulos2/10
TheGroundedTheoryMethodofAnalysisintheHome/WorkStudy
IntroductiontotheUseofGroundedTheory
GroundedTheorywasoneofthemainanalyticmethodsusedtounderstandthe
phenomenonofdeskillingamongstmigrantwomencarersandtheirstrategiesfor
managing.Itfitwellwiththeaimsofthestudy,whichweretoanalysetheprocessesand
outcomesofmigratingforcareanditseffectsonparticipants.Duetothecomplexityand
rangeofissuesamongstagroupofparticipantswhohadsimilarproblems,aswellasthe
factthatthistopicisanunder‐researchedfieldofstudy—deskillingamongstmigrant
women‐‐‐GroundedTheorywasthoughttobethemostsalientformofanalysis.Theprocess
consistedofcreatingcodesandcategories,gleaningthemesandthencreatinghypotheses
abouttheparticipants’experiences,alongwiththeintegrationofexperts’opinionsonthe
issuesandaliteraturereview.Thehypothesesareavailableintheresearchbriefand
summaryoffindingsat:http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/homework/findings.htm.
Specifically,thehypothesesweredirectlyrelatedtothetitleoftheproject:TheRolesof
Education,Literacy,andLearningintheNetworksandMobilityPatternsofMigrantCarers.
Throughanongoingprocessofcomparingandcontrastingthedata,connectionsweremade
betweenthesesetsofrelations.
GroundedTheoryandDataCollection
GroundedTheoryalsofitwellwiththechosendatacollectingmethods,whichareoutlined
inthedocument,“SummaryofDataCollectionMethods.”Theanalysistookplaceduring
thedatacollectionperiod,andwasthoroughlyintegratedintoallaspectsofit,includingan
analysisofeveryinterviewandobservationdirectlyaftertheyweregiven.Inthisway,each
stepofthedatacollectioncouldfeedintotheanalysis.Itconsistedofthreestrandsthat
utilisedmixedmethods,mainlyqualitative,andtheseweretriangulatedforthesakeof
rigor;observationsbalancedoutthethingspeoplesaidduringinterviewsandeither
confirmedorcontradictedtheirspokenviewpoints.Strandoneconsistedofan
environmentalscanofexpertsonspecificissuessurroundingthemigrantcarers,includinga
literaturereview.Strandtwoconsistedofethnographicmethods(observationsandindepth
interviews)andapanelstudytoassesstherangeofresponsesmigrantcarershadtowards
migrating,caring,andworkinginCumbria,particularlytheirnetworksandmobilitypatterns.
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Theobservationstookplaceover13monthperiodattheirworkplaces(carehomesand
duringvisitstoelderlypersons’homes)andinotherplacessuchastheirownhomes
(birthdayparty)andlibraries,andanethnicfoodstore.Interviewstookplaceduringthe
sameperiod,withthreeinterviewsperparticipant(totalof93interviews),whichhada
differentfocusateachstage.Lastly,strand3soughttotestamodel(oneofthehypotheses
developed)onworkplaceeducationandthekindsandlevelsofsupportsneededbymigrant
carerstopersistinlearningandeducationtoadvance.Thisincludedtestingiton
practitionersforfeedback,creatingacurriculumandworkshop,evaluatingtheworkshop,
givingparticipantsassessments(preandpost)andconductingacohortanalysiswitha
controlgrouptoseethelargereffectsoftheintervention.Allofthesestrands,but
especially1and2,werecriticaltotheGroundedTheoryanalysis.
AboutGroundedTheory
GroundedTheoryisgoodforanalysingdatainexploratorystudies,andinthiscase,migrant
women’sconditionsofdeskillingintheUK.Groundedtheory(StraussandCorbin1998)was
usedtoprovideinsightintothefactorsinfluencinglearning,useofliteracies,mobilityand
networking.Groundedtheoryreliesontheproductionoftheoreticalperspectivesderiving
fromdata(ibid).Inthisrespect,theresearcherfocusesonthe‘ground’–thedata‐and
inductivelygeneratesmoreabstractconcepts.Toaccomplishthis,theresearcher(s)needs
tobe‘flexible’and‘opentohelpfulcriticism’(StraussandCorbin1998:5),whilstportraying
‘appropriateness,authenticity,credibility,intuitiveness,receptivity,reciprocity,and
sensitivity’(p.6).Thisstyleofresearchcallsforcreativity,closenesstotherespondentsand
theirclaims,immersioninthefieldandanabilitytointerpretsituationsandstatements
(StraussandCorbin1998).Throughethnographicresearchandinterviews,theparticipants
discussedissuessurroundingphysicalandsocialmobility,workrelations,learningandusing
literaciesandtheirownperceptionsofthesituationsformigrantcarersintheUKandtheir
difficultiesineachsituationaswellastheirrelationslocallyandabroad.Theuseof
groundedtheoryallowedfortheestablishingofthemesacrosstheparticipants’data,thus
underliningthecrucialissues,suchaslittleopportunityforupwardmobilityandskillsbeing
underused.However,dataanalysisandtheoryconstructionthroughgroundedtheoryisan
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‘evolvingprocess’(Charmaz2000).Thus,AnselmStraussandJulietCorbin(1998)describea
procedurebeginningwiththeuseofanalyticaltools–suchasfindingkeyphrasesorwords
indocumentsandexperimentingwithmeanings‐,opencoding–‘processthroughwhich
conceptsareidentifiedandtheirpropertiesanddimensionsarediscoveredindata’(p.101)‐
,axialcoding–creatingsubcategoriesandassociatingthesewith‘propertiesand
dimensions’(p.123)‐andselectivecoding–‘integratingandrefiningthetheory’(p.143)by
usingcategoriesandtheirassociationswithsubcategoriestocreateatypeofcasestudyofa
particularsub‐phenomenon.Throughouttheprocesstheoreticalsamplingisvitalforthe
saturationofcategories(StraussandCorbin1998).Inordertoachievesaturation,grounded
theoryanalysisrequiresre‐evaluationofconcepts/themes/categoriesatvaryingstages.
Thesethemesandcategoriesformeventuallyintohypotheses,throughanapproachcalled,
selectivecoding,whichattemptstointegratethecontextsoftheparticipantsandcreatea
caseoftheirparticularissue.Inthiscase,themigrantworkerswerestrugglingincontexts
suchasruralareas,thelabourmarketandmigrationpoliciesthatwereoftenlimitingto
them.
LimitationsofGroundedTheoryandResolutions
GroundedTheorycanbereductiveinthesearchforgeneralpatternsacrossagroupof
people,andeventheselectivecodingprocessdoesnotfullyengagethecontextualissues
outlinedabove:rurality,labour,andmigrationpolicies.Thereforeportraiture,asanother
methodwasaddedtotheselectivecodingprocess(enrichingit)inordertoprovidearicher
contextforthestrugglesandstrategiesofthemigrantcarers,andthewaysthesedeviated
individuallyandaccordingtodifferentissues.Forexample,theportraiturescouldprovidean
indepthpictureintoonewoman’sexperiences,ofbeinganon‐Europeancarerstuckinthe
middleofmigrationpoliciesinawaythattheEuropeancarerswerenot.Additionally,each
codewascheckedbytheotherteammemberandaninformant.Finally,wedidan
evaluationoftheentireprocessofGroundedTheorytodetectgapsandareasfor
improvement.
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Coding‐Categories‐Themes‐Hypotheses
Theproceduredescribedabovewasappliedtothisresearchprojectandthedatagathered.
Initially,byusingaliteraturereview,interviewsofexpertsinthefieldsofageing,migration,
care,ESOL,andothers,historyoftheareas,statisticalinformationandpreliminaryfindings
throughethnographicobservationsandinterviews,wecreatedcodesandthencategories
andsubcategories,namely36codes(opencoding)and4broader,encompassingareas
(networks,mobility,educationandlearning,literacies)andthenwelookedthrough10
interviewtranscriptstoseewhichcodeswereappearingintheparticipants’interviewsfor
thefirstroundofinterviewing.Thepurposebehind‘theoreticalsampling’(Straussand
Corbin1998)–aprocessofsearchingforconceptsrelatingto‘incidents,eventsor
happenings’(p.202)whichappearfrequentlyandwhichinfluenceoutcomes–overaperiod
oftimewhilstbuildingcodes,istostartwithcreatingmanycodesandthenrefiningthese
ultimatelytocontributetowardstheorybuilding,orhypotheses.Finally,toensurethecodes
fittedthedata,theinformantforthestudygaveinputastothevalidityofthecodesand
commentedonthem.
Afterusingacategorizationchartforthese10transcriptsinordertoevaluatethefrequency,
intensityanddurationofthesecodes,thenumberofcodesdroppedto30,thusreflecting
moreaccuratelytheconditionsandeventsaffectingtheparticipantsintheirsocialmobility
andlearning.Thisphaseofcoding,axialcoding,assistedintherelatingofconditionsand
formationofanunderstandingofthesituationsaffectingmigrantcarerswhilesearchingfor
explanationsbehindthephenomenastudied.Wealsodetectedwhichcodesweremost
popularamongstasetof24participantsandhighlightedwhichcodeswererarelyusedand
why.Toassistwithaxialcoding,30transcriptswerecodedbyusing‘AtlasTi’softwareto
helpinlocatingthecodesinthetranscriptsandmemoing.Thus,fromaninitial
understandingthattheparticipantswere‘stuckinthesteppingstones’,wediscoveredthat
thiswasarepeatedthemeamongstparticipantsthatconnectedtocausesandexplanations
astowhytheyfelt,“stuck.”Thisprocessoflocatingthemesthatconnectedcauseand
effect,ledtotheselectivecodingprocess.Inthephaseofselectivecodingthecategories
wererefinedintothemestoassistwiththeorybuilding.Alongsidetheexplorationofissues
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emergingfromtheinterviews,patternswithingridswerecreatedacrosstopicstoestablish
linkages–forexamplehowsocialmobilityisconnectedtoliteracies–andthenthe
environmentwasalsoexamined,namelythecarehomes(maps)andthecommunitiesthe
migrantcarersresidein(throughmoregrids)aswellasamodelofforcesthatimpingedon
theparticipants’livelihood.Byfocusinginitiallyonknowledgegainedbyreviewing
literature,thenfocusingontheinterviews,andfollowingthisexaminingtheenvironments
whereourparticipantsliveandwork,theseconditionsfedintohypothesesondeskillingin
ruralareasinconjunctiontocareandmigration.Furthermore,demographicgridsofthe
participantswereusedtosupplementthepatterngridsonthemes.Workingconceptmaps
(diagrams)werealsocreatedtofurtheranalyse,thegrids,maps,andcodeddata.
Atlastti
Oneofthetoolsusedingroundedtheoryarecomputer‐basedprogrammes.Inthiscase,
textualanalysisfortheprocessofgroundingdatatookplacebyusing‘AtlasTi’software.
Throughinputtinginterviewtranscriptsandlookingforthemesinthefirstfewinterviews–
byusingethnographicandinterviewdataandtheory–andthenrefiningthecodes,AtlasTi
allowsthecodingprocesstotakeplaceandatalaterstagemakeconnectionsbetween
codesthroughthecreationof‘families’.Thissoftwarealsoallowsaformofquantitative
methodologytoemergethroughthelistingofquotes(andthusnumbering)under
categories,closetothe‘interplaybetweenqualitativeandquantitative’discussedbyStrauss
andCorbin(1998)aswellasmemoing.Thirtyinterviewtranscriptswereinputtedinto
‘AtlasTi’fortheestablishingofcodesappearingmostfrequentlyintheinterviews;these
interviewsweretakenfromallthreephasesofinterviewing.
UsingAtlasTimadetheresearchteammoreawareofthesaliencyofthecodesbutlittle
else.Ifanythingitwastheprocess,ratherthantheproductwhichcountedmost.Criticisms
onusingcomputer‐assistedanalysisarepresentedbyKathyCharmaz(2000).Sheargues
thatcomputeranalysisprogrammesallow‘multipleresearch’and‘mappingrelationships
visuallyonscreen’(Charmaz2000:520)andthatsomeofthedangersofplacingtoomuch
emphasison‘objectivistgroundedtheory’(ibid)aresuperficialityandfragmentationwhich
isolatedatafrom‘ourconstructionsandinterpretations’(ibid:521).Forthisreason,AtlasTi
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wasviewedasamechanicaltoolthatmadeuseofgroundedtheoryprocesses,relatingdata
withtheoryandsuppositions.
Conclusion
TheprocessofgoingthroughGroundedTheorysystematicallywasusefulforraisingconsciousnessamongsttheresearchteamaboutsimilarissuesthatskilledmigrantprofessionalsfacedascarersattemptingtoadvance.Theconstantreflexivecomparisons/contrastsbetweenthecasesalsoallowedforintricatefactorstoemerge,whichexplainedsomeofthisphenomenon.ThroughGroundedTheory,theresearchersgleanedhypothesesaboutthesetsofrelationsbetweeneducation,learning,literacy,mobilityandnetworks.However,becauseGroundedTheorywasunabletofullyincorporatetherichcontextsoftheparticipants(howtheyactedundercertainsituations),aportraitureanalysiswasalsousedtogainadeeperunderstandingoftheirstrategiesandexperiences,aswellasapictureoftheirindividualdifferences.
References
CharmazK.(2000)‘GroundedTheory:ObjectivistandConstructivistMethods’,inDenzinN.K.andY.S.Lincoln(eds)HandbookofQualitativeResearch,secondedition,London,SagePublications.
StraussA.andJ.Corbin(1998)BasicsofQualitativeResearch–TechniquesandProceduresforDevelopingGroundedTheory,secondedition,London,SagePublications.
