Grounded theory qualitative research

http://www.sbl.tkk.fi/teaching/courses/T-128.7900/2007/groundedtheory.ppt

a powerpoint slide presentation of grounded theory in qualitative research

Glaser and Strauss, strategies for qualitative research

http://faculty.babson.edu/krollag/org_site/craft_articles/glaser_strauss.html

"Chapter Three: Theoretical Sampling
Building grounded theory requires an interative process of data collection, coding, analysis, and planning what to study next. The researcher needs to by theoretically sensitive as they are collecting and coding data to sense where the data is taking them and what to do next. Coming into a research program with an existing theoretical framework will merely blind them to the richness of the incoming data.

As this iterative process continues, the researcher may explore the same group more deeply or in different ways, or may seek out new groups. Comparison groups should be selected based on their theoretical relevance to further the development of emerging categories. It's best to pick the groups as you go along than choose them all beforehand -- let the data be your guide. In theory generation non-comparability of groups is irrelevant, but it can have an effect on the level of substantive theory developed and it's thus important to pick the right group for the next part of the comparative research."

I can see a study of data curation practice of New Zealand researchers being the type of study which easily leads to further research and raising deeper issues and questions concerning this. I have found by looking at the most recent studies conducted, that they indeed, raise numerous issues which can then invite further investigation of these other areas...By using a grounded theory approach, theories would be developed through interviews and observations of current data curation practice. However, another possibility is taking a more ethnographical approach in terms of studying researchers as a community. This may be particularly effective if tackling this subject in terms of one specific, or a few related disciplines. My intention for my particular study was to look at a broader cross-section of researchers and their different disciplines at this stage