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

Draft hypothesis

Name your Topic of Interest

My topic of interest will be what New Zealand researchers current data curation practice is what what their needs for the future are likely to be, with emphasis on how libraries will facilitate this process

State your Indirect Question

Draft question formulation: Given the considerable amount of data now being created in the course of research, what are New Zealand researchers current data curation practices, and what services are they likely to require in the future. What are some likely services libraries will be able to employ to further enable access to data?

State how Your Answer will help the reader understand something more important

This project will help us understand where New Zealand fits within current initiatives for cyberstructure in terms of what researchers are doing, as well as the main issues they will be confronted by as well as how libraries will be able to assist this process.

State the Significance

The key component will be an exploration of this topic from a New Zealand perspective, having investigated what has been written about overseas as well as looking at some case studies. Exploration of this will be significant as it ties in to strategic direction and government policy pertaining to digital information and storage. New Zealand digital strategy and initiatives such as the KAREN network will be main driving factors for this in the near to distant future.

Identify and state your Sub-problems/Sub-questions and/or Hypotheses

Other sub-problems will be New Zealand's isolation, storage of data, the costs and responsibility of doing so, what researchers feelings are as to the ownership and distribution of data, one hypothesis I have in mind is my hunch that researchers will want the data to be as freely available as possible, however this may be proven wrong depending on some of the information being found...