ABSTRACT
Grounded theory is a set of principles and practices that is widely used in qualitative research. Originating with sociologists Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss in the mid-1960s, grounded theory is actually not a theory but a method for making qualitative research more systematic. In the inductive approach, which is characteristic of all qualitative research, there is no hypothesis that begins the research. To put it more simply, quantitative researchers test existing theories, or deduce theories from what is already known and then collect data and analyze it to test the theories with research. Researchers read the words of their participants and identify the concepts that are represented in each passage. The first phase of coding is open coding. In the final stages of the grounded theory approach, qualitative researchers develop a core category, which is the main overarching category under which the other categories and subcategories belong.
