Application Of Constructivist Grounded Theory

‘Employing a qualitative methodology, underpinned by a constructivist world view, has provided the means to generate rich, deep and contextualised understandings of the research issue, and an appreciation of the socially constructed and experienced realities of the participants.’ (Highfield 2012)

Authors Boris Blumberg, Donald Cooper, Pamela Schindler say, Interpretivist argue that simple fundamental laws are insufficient to understand the whole complexity of social phenomena. More important, however they claim that an objective observation of the social world is impossible, as the social world has a meaning for human beings and is constructed by intentional behaviour and actions. Intentional interpretivism approaches meaning as intentional states of individual minds, to be understood by locating them within the broader network of an individual’s other intentional states and in a concrete context of social practices and interactions with others.

Qualitative research is concerned with meanings of experiences and interactions. Qualitative research is very common in the social sciences, although it is often used in market research as well (Alasuutari, 2010; Nieswiadomy, 2011). There has been quite a rise in qualitative research in the last 30 years. It first started to emerge in journals in the 1960’s, and an increase in the number of qualitative research can be seen in research journals in the 1980’s (Alasuutari, 2010). Instead of looking at the statistical numbers within research, the researcher in interested in getting within the research, and understanding the phenomenon (Leedy, 2011; LoBionod-Wood & Haber, 2013).

A qualitative methodological approach was the obvious choice in that it allows for the collection and interpretation of stories, narratives, interviews and other forms of non-quantifiable data. A qualitative approach also does not demand or strive for detached objectivity of the researcher but instead encourages the disclosure of researcher bias and the engagement of the researcher with the research and subjects, often in the role of participant-observer (Dade, Tartakov, Hargrave, & Leigh,

Positivism and interpretivism are two approaches of interpreting social reality, that each employ different methods of research and data collection to better help understand the study of human lived experiences. The positivist-interpretivist debate revolves around the ways in which human behavior should be conceptualized and studied (Pruss 1996: 4). Positivism is the most widely practiced research approach in social science, which regards the nature of social reality of independent of consciousness. Positivists believe social reality can be studied independently from the researcher and that social life can be represented using numbers that according to positivists reveal features of social reality. On the other hand, interpretivists favor partipcant observation, interviews and social interaction where the researcher immerses into the informant’s reality to gain knowledge of their everyday human lived experiences.

Conducted a qualitative methodology approach research with a grounded theory design. This study implements the GCU core case study research design.

The grounded theory method is a method which allows counselors to understand the basis of the research in its full context; it can later be tested, and is usually used when there is little information is known about the subject in relation to counseling (Sheperis, C. J., Young, J. S., & Daniels, M. H. 2010). The grounded theory model was founded in the 1960’s by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss. Glaser came from a positivist background where quantitative research was dominant and Strauss came from a strong background of qualitative research. Together, the formed the grounded theory method which focused on allowing data to lead to the development of a theory (Sheperis et al., 2010).

According to Munhall (2012), the aim of the grounded theory approach is to generate a

PIAGET-Social Constructivist Approach: this is primarily used to understand how children think in different ways according to their age/stage of development. Strengths: His theories changed how people view and study children.

In the interpretivist paradigm, observation is regarded as an invaluable method of data collection because it is a great source of primary data (Yin, 2011). According to DeWalt and DeWalt (2002) participant observation allows the researcher to learn about the activities of the participants being studied in the natural setting through observing and participating in those activities. Moreover, direct observation of activities assists the researcher to learn about aspects that the participants are either unaware of or are unwilling to discuss in interviews (Stake, 2010). DeWalt and DeWalt (2002) also noted that a good observer should have an open and nonjudgmental attitude and be able to observe and listen carefully.

When utilizing a qualitative approach, the task becomes one of determining the qualitative method to be used. Additionally, Stake (2010) used purpose, research design, and methodical data techniques as a way of classifying types of qualitative research. Similarly, Cresswell & Cresswell (2007) spoke of five practices of qualitative research. These five practices consist of biography, phenomenological study, grounded theory study, ethnography, and case study. This researcher chose a phenomenological study for this research project.

The qualitative research design is associated with the social constructivist paradigm and will be used because it is subjective and it strives to understand the dynamic nature of activities being conducted by the organization and focuses on

Social constructivism’s origins are largely attributed to Lev Vygotsky (1978). Vygotsky believed that social constructivism is the idea that learning occurs when people are socially active; in other words, learning is created through our interaction with others. In a constructivist style classroom, the focus shifts from the teacher teaching the students to the students teaching each other and having more control over what they learn by asking questions and coming up with their own conclusion on things (2016). This style of teaching can be very successful when the teacher provides enough scaffolding. In a typical classroom, you have a teacher standing in the front of the room lecturing to students while they sit and take notes on the information being given so they can spit it back up for a test they will have at the end of the unit. In the constructivist style classroom, the students are pushed to be more active and engaged in their learning process (Education Theory). The teacher creates an environment where students are urged to speak up and share what they think and have the class run more on a student run process. The teacher’s role in this style is not to sit and lecture information but rather engage students actively to find this information on their own and discover it so that it creates more meaning and provides a better understanding. The main goal in this type of learning environment is problem solving. This style of teaching promotes self-guidance and can even

I will continue by discussing the problem which this study deals with, then I will formulate the main problems areas. At the end of the chapter I will give you the objectives of this thesis. In the ten years or so, the importance of Small Business development and entrepreneurship has begun to be recognized not only by specialists in this field, but also by a huge number of researchers, even nowadays everybody is talking about it, we are the witnesses of a New Gold Rush. In this research field, many new scientific papers have been published. The universities started offering new courses in entrepreneurship, and later introduced separate programs in entrepreneurship as

We have all been guilty of doing it, making assumptions about someone based on what we have seen or been through. We see a person or an object and classify it as tall, wealthy, ugly, pretty, etc. Categorizing what we see can be helpful but sometimes it can lead to stereotyping. But why do we make assumptions? The theory of Constructivism can help us understand why we categorize things we see into constructs and how these constructs can be harmful and how they can benefit or hurt us when we communicate with others.