What is Grounded Theory?
Grounded theory is a research methodology introduced and developed by Barney Glaser and Anslem Strauss. It allows researchers to be guided by the data from the research field, entering it with an open mind which allows the researcher to be unbiased. The researcher can then identify patterns, special directions, explanations, and important branches within the data corpus. Theoretical sensitivity is the skill required to identify these patterns and can be obtained through experience and extensive reading. Once the data has been gathered, the researcher moves on to a new sample when nothing new can be gained from the current sample, a stage called theoretical saturation. The researcher then creates codes for the data, which fall into three main categories: open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. New theories are then formulated within this framework.
What is Ethnography?
Ethnography is the study of various cultures and people, attempting to comprehend the different cultures of the world from the perspective of the people who belong to it. It seeks to analyze the subjective meaning that people provide to culture. Ethnography is intertwined with many other social sciences, such as anthropology, sociology, and even history. In ethnography, attention is paid to the various cultural elements of groups, such as beliefs, behavior, values, and certain practices. The researcher attempts to unravel the symbolic meanings that are hidden behind these elements. Ethnography is a field of study in which qualitative data is produced and is composed of various subfields, such as feminist ethnography, realist ethnography, life history, and critical ethnography.
Key Takeaways
- Grounded theory is a research methodology that allows the researcher to be guided by the data from the research field, while ethnography is the study of various cultures and people, attempting to comprehend the different cultures of the world from the perspective of the people who belong to it.
- Grounded theory aims to generate theory, while ethnography focuses on understanding a particular community more than generating theories.
- In grounded theory, theoretical sampling is used, while in ethnography, purposive sampling is used because it allows the researcher to gain more information.
