ABSTRACT

We are far more humble when it comes to generating formal theory. We remain convinced that it should be grounded, but are not sure yet, as with grounded substantive theory, of the resolutions to many specific problems of generation. For example: in choosing a core variable for a formal theory, what are the grounds for its relevancy, how does one integrate the theory, where next to theoretically sample, how dense should formal theory be? Indeed why generate formal theory at all? Once the analyst is cut loose from the grounding of a specific substantive area, answers to these questions are not readily apparent. At times it seems that formal theory can ‘go’ just about any way that an analyst desires.