Grounded Theory
- LAST REVIEWED: 26 October 2023
- LAST MODIFIED: 26 October 2023
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195389678-0325
- LAST REVIEWED: 26 October 2023
- LAST MODIFIED: 26 October 2023
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195389678-0325
Introduction
Widely used in social work, grounded theory is one of the oldest and best-known qualitative research methods. Even so, it is often misunderstood. Created at a time when positivism reigned supreme, it has survived through several major paradigm shifts in the social sciences. The result is many models of grounded theory reflecting these different understandings of the nature of knowledge and knowing, with lively debates and controversies. This has resulted in conflicting advice that can be confusing for researchers and students new to the field. It is essential for those learning about grounded theory (or “grounded theory method”/GTM) to focus on the central tenants of the method, which are common to all of the grounded theory models. The most important of these is that the goal of grounded theory studies is to develop theories. In this respect, grounded theory differs from other qualitative methods in its goals and its methodology. In fact, all aspects of grounded theory methods, from problem identification to sampling to coding and analysis, are shaped by this goal. To develop these theories, grounded theory uses the following processes: theoretical sensitivity, constant comparison, theoretical sampling, and theoretical saturation. The theory is developed in the process of memo writing throughout the study. These components are used in an iterative process that includes both inductive and deductive logic. Like other qualitative methods, it begins with immersion in data and uses induction to develop concepts. Unlike other methods, grounded theory researchers use these concepts to begin theory development. They return to the real-world environment to a test the emerging theory, and then further develop and refine it. This is a deductive stage of theory development. This process, called “abductive,” continues until the theory has a good fit in the real-world environment. Although there are many different models of grounded theory, all of them have theory development as their primary goal. This bibliography includes sections on the value of grounded theory in social work, beginning-level textbooks in grounded theory, reference works, history of grounded theory, dissemination of grounded theory, classic grounded theory, constructivist grounded theory and situational analysis, and finally, grounded theory examples from social work literature and journals.
Grounded Theory and Social Work
As a scientifically based practice, the social work profession needs theories that are relevant to its practice. Unfortunately, many of the theories taught in social work education are abstract and difficult to apply directly to practice situations. Because grounded theory develops theories directly from practice situations, it has the potential to contribute to theoretically based practice in social work. In addition, grounded theory shares some common roots with social work, which likely explains part of the comfort social work practitioners and researchers feel with the method. Both grounded theory and social work developed in part from the ideas that grew out of the Sociology Department at the University of Chicago. Original thinkers such as John Dewey (pragmatism) and George Herbert Mead (symbolic interactionism) developed ideas that would later form the basis for many fields, including social work. Oktay 2012 notes that in Chicago at the beginning of the famous “Chicago school,” there was no separation between sociology the discipline and the social action work of Jane Addams and the Abbott sisters. Jane Addams taught in the Chicago Sociology Department and wrote for their journal (American Journal of Sociology). Mead and Dewey marched with Addams for workers’ rights, immigrants’ rights, and suffrage for women. According to Deegan 1990, both Mead and Dewey served on the board at Hull House. A primary advocate for the use of grounded theory in social work, Jane Gilgun attended the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration (see Gilgun 1994; in addition, see Gilgun 2015 and Gilgun 2019, cited under Founders of Grounded Theory). Julianne S. Oktay has also advocated for the use of grounded theory in social work. Her interest grew out of the emphasis in the joint doctoral program at the University of Michigan on the importance of middle-range theories to guide social work practice. Also, her interest in the experience of illness led her to Anselm Strauss’s work on chronic illness in Strauss, et al. 1975. Oktay 2012 is a “pocket-guide” grounded theory published by Oxford University Press. Charmaz 2014, Oliver 2012, and Levitt 2021 argue that recent developments in social work, such as the reexamination of the cultural and social roots of research methodologies, the focus on marginalized populations, the adoption of a critical theoretical perspective, and, internationally, the recognition of the impact of colonialism on research have resulted in a rethinking of grounded theory’s origins, and they advocate for a shift to incorporation of critical and social justice lenses in grounded theory research.
Charmaz, K. 2014. Grounded theory in the 21st century: Applications for advancing social justice studies. In Grounded theory and situational analysis. Vol. 2. Edited by A. E. Clarke and K. Charmaz, 157–194. London: SAGE.
In this chapter, Charmaz argues that the application of grounded theory methods has the potential to further social justice research. She points to the rapid growth in research that focuses on inequities in large social structures, focusing attention on issues of fairness, status, hierarchies, and power. She argues that researchers can study issues of race, class, gender, and disabilities using grounded theory methods.
Deegan, M. J. 1990. Jane Addams and the men of the Chicago school, 1892–1918. London: Routledge.
Deegan provides extensive historical research showing how Jane Addams was deeply entwined with the men who built the Chicago school of sociology. This research shows how extensively Addams and her colleagues at Hull House helped to shape the fields of both sociology and social work.
Gilgun, J. F. 1994. Hand into glove: Grounded theory, deductive qualitative analysis and social work research and practice. In Qualitative methods in social work. Edited by Anne E. Fortune, William Reid, and Robert Miller. New York: Columbia Univ. Press.
In this classic of the early qualitative methods literature in social work, Gilgun argues that social work practice and qualitative methods such as grounded theory have much in common, such as starting where the client is, nonhierarchical relationship between respondent and researcher, recording practices, interviewing techniques, etc.
Oktay, J. S. 2012. Introduction to grounded theory and its potential for social work. In Grounded theory. Edited by Julianne S. Oktay, 3–26. New York: Oxford.
DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199753697.003.0001
In this introductory chapter, Oktay argues that grounded theory is especially valuable to social work because it produces theories that can be easily applied in social work practice situations. She also discusses the common roots of both social work and grounded theory in the work of Jane Addams, John Dewey, and George Herbert Mead in Chicago in the early twentieth century. (See also Beginning-Level Textbooks.)
Oliver, C. 2012. Critical realist grounded theory: A new approach for social work research. British Journal of Social Work 42: 371–387.
DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bcr064
This article advocates for the use of a critical realist paradigm in social work research. As critical realism lacks a methodology for research, Oliver makes the case that grounded theory methods can easily be used within this paradigm. This model for grounded theory has potential for social work research.
Strauss, et al. 1975. Chronic illness and the quality of life. St. Louis: Mosby.
This slim volume lays out an early grounded theory analysis for living with chronic illness. The framework provides an excellent introduction to the potential contribution of applying GTM to social work by focusing on the “work” patients and families engage in to live meaningful lives. At its time, it was revolutionary in its focus on the experience of the patients themselves and on the social and psychological components of the illness. Second edition published 1984.
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Article
- Abolitionist Perspectives in Social Work
- Abortion
- Adolescent Depression
- Adolescent Pregnancy
- Adolescents
- Adoption
- Adoption Home Study Assessments
- Adult Protective Services in the United States
- African Americans
- Aging
- Aging out of foster care
- Aging, Physical Health and
- Alcohol and Drug Abuse Problems
- Alcohol and Drug Problems, Prevention of Adolescent and Yo...
- Alcohol Problems: Practice Interventions
- Alcohol Use Disorder
- Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias
- Anti-Oppressive Practice
- Asian Americans
- Asian-American Youth
- Assessment
- Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Baccalaureate Social Workers
- Behavioral Health
- Behavioral Social Work Practice
- Bereavement Practice
- Bisexuality
- Brief Therapies in Social Work: Task-Centered Model and So...
- Bullying and Social Work Intervention
- Canadian Social Welfare, History of
- Case Management in Mental Health in the United States
- Central American Migration to the United States
- Child Maltreatment Prevention
- Child Neglect and Emotional Maltreatment
- Child Poverty
- Child Sexual Abuse
- Child Welfare
- Child Welfare and Child Protection in Europe, History of
- Child Welfare and Parents with Intellectual and/or Develop...
- Child Welfare Effectiveness
- Child Welfare, Immigration and
- Child Welfare Practice with LGBTQ Youth and Families
- Children
- Children of Incarcerated Parents
- Christianity and Social Work
- Chronic Illness
- Clinical Social Work Practice with Adult Lesbians
- Clinical Social Work Practice with Males
- Cognitive Behavior Therapies with Diverse and Stressed Pop...
- Cognitive Processing Therapy
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
- Community
- Community Development
- Community Policing
- Community-Based Participatory Research
- Community-Needs Assessment
- Comparative Social Work
- Computational Social Welfare: Applying Data Science in Soc...
- Conflict Resolution
- Council on Social Work Education
- Counseling Female Offenders
- Criminal Justice
- Crisis Interventions
- Cultural Competence and Ethnic Sensitive Practice
- Culture, Ethnicity, Substance Use, and Substance Use Disor...
- Dementia Care
- Dementia Care, Ethical Aspects of
- Depression and Cancer
- Development and Infancy (Birth to Age Three)
- Differential Response in Child Welfare
- Digital Storytelling for Social Work Interventions
- Direct Practice in Social Work
- Disabilities
- Disability and Disability Culture
- Disasters
- Divorce
- Domestic Violence Among Immigrants
- Early Pregnancy and Parenthood Among Child Welfare–Involve...
- Eating Disorders
- Ecological Framework
- Economic Evaluation
- Elder Mistreatment
- End-of-Life Decisions
- Epigenetics for Social Workers
- Ethical Issues in Social Work and Technology
- Ethics and Values in Social Work
- Ethnicity
- European Institutions and Social Work
- European Union, Justice and Home Affairs in the
- Evidence-based Social Work Practice
- Evidence-based Social Work Practice: Finding Evidence
- Evidence-based Social Work Practice: Issues, Controversies...
- Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs
- Families
- Families with Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Parents
- Family Caregiving
- Family Group Conferencing
- Family Policy
- Family Services
- Family Therapy
- Family Violence
- Fathering Among Families Served By Child Welfare
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
- Field Education
- Financial Literacy and Social Work
- Financing Health-Care Delivery in the United States
- Forensic Social Work
- Foster Care
- Foster care and siblings
- Gay Men
- Gender, Violence, and Trauma in Immigration Detention in t...
- Generalist Practice and Advanced Generalist Practice
- Grounded Theory
- Group Work
- Group Work across Populations, Challenges, and Settings
- Group Work, Research, Best Practices, and Evidence-based
- Harm Reduction
- Health Care Reform
- Health Disparities
- Health Social Work
- History of Social Work and Social Welfare, 1900–1950
- History of Social Work and Social Welfare, 1950-1980
- History of Social Work and Social Welfare, pre-1900
- History of Social Work from 1980-2014
- History of Social Work in China
- History of Social Work in Northern Ireland
- History of Social Work in the Republic of Ireland
- History of Social Work in the United Kingdom
- HIV/AIDS
- HIV/AIDS and Children
- HIV/AIDS Prevention with Adolescents
- Homelessness
- Homelessness: Ending Homelessness as a Grand Challenge
- Homelessness Outside the United States
- Housing
- Human Needs
- Human Trafficking, Victims of
- Immigrant Integration in the United States
- Immigrant Policy in the United States
- Immigrants and Refugees
- Immigrants and Refugees: Evidence-based Social Work Practi...
- Immigration and Health Disparities
- Immigration and Intimate Partner Violence
- Immigration and Poverty
- Immigration and Spirituality
- Immigration and Substance Use
- Immigration and Trauma
- Impact of Emerging Technology in Social Work Practice
- Impaired Professionals
- Implementation Science and Practice
- Indigenous Peoples
- Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Supported Employmen...
- In-home Child Welfare Services
- Intergenerational Transmission of Maltreatment
- International Human Trafficking
- International Social Welfare
- International Social Work
- International Social Work and Education
- International Social Work and Social Welfare in Southern A...
- Internet and Video Game Addiction
- Interpersonal Psychotherapy
- Intervention with Traumatized Populations
- Interviewing
- Intimate-Partner Violence
- Juvenile Justice
- Kinship Care
- Korean Americans
- Latinos and Latinas
- Law, Social Work and the
- LGBTQ Populations and Social Work
- Life Span
- Mainland European Social Work, History of
- Major Depressive Disorder
- Management and Administration in Social Work
- Maternal Mental Health
- Measurement, Scales, and Indices
- Medical Illness
- Men: Health and Mental Health Care
- Mental Health
- Mental Health Diagnosis and the Addictive Substance Disord...
- Mental Health Needs of Older People, Assessing the
- Mental Health Services from 1990 to 2023
- Mental Illness: Children
- Mental Illness: Elders
- Meta-analysis
- Microskills
- Middle East and North Africa, International Social Work an...
- Military Social Work
- Mixed Methods Research
- Moral distress and injury in social work
- Motivational Interviewing
- Multiculturalism
- Native Americans
- Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders
- Neighborhood Social Cohesion
- Neuroscience and Social Work
- Nicotine Dependence
- Occupational Social Work
- Organizational Development and Change
- Pain Management
- Palliative Care
- Palliative Care: Evolution and Scope of Practice
- Pandemics and Social Work
- Parent Training
- Participatory Community Based Research
- Personalization
- Person-in-Environment
- Philosophy of Science and Social Work
- Physical Disabilities
- Podcasts and Social Work
- Police Social Work
- Political Social Work in the United States
- Positive Youth Development
- Postmodernism and Social Work
- Postsecondary Education Experiences and Attainment Among Y...
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Poverty
- Practice Interventions and Aging
- Practice Interventions with Adolescents
- Practice Research
- Primary Prevention in the 21st Century
- Productive Engagement of Older Adults
- Profession, Social Work
- Program Development and Grant Writing
- Promoting Smart Decarceration as a Grand Challenge
- Psychiatric Rehabilitation
- Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Theory
- Psychoeducation
- Psychometrics
- Psychopathology and Social Work Practice
- Psychopharmacology and Social Work Practice
- Psychosocial Framework
- Psychosocial Intervention with Women
- Psychotherapy and Social Work
- Qualitative Research
- Race and Racism
- Randomized Controlled Trials in Social Work
- Readmission Policies in Europe
- Redefining Police Interactions with People Experiencing Me...
- Refugee Children, Unaccompanied Immigrant and
- Rehabilitation
- Religiously Affiliated Agencies
- Reproductive Health
- Research
- Research Ethics
- Restorative Justice
- Risk Assessment in Child Protection Services
- Risk Management in Social Work
- Rural Social Work in China
- Rural Social Work Practice
- School Social Work
- School Violence
- School-Based Delinquency Prevention
- Services and Programs for Pregnant and Parenting Youth
- Severe and Persistent Mental Illness: Adults
- Sexual and Gender Minority Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylu...
- Sexual Assault
- Single-System Research Designs
- Social and Economic Impact of US Immigration Policies on U...
- Social Development
- Social Insurance and Social Justice
- Social Intervention Research
- Social Justice and Social Work
- Social Movements
- Social Planning
- Social Policy
- Social Policy in Denmark
- Social Security in the United States (OASDHI)
- Social Work and Islam
- Social Work and Social Welfare in East, West, and Central ...
- Social Work and Social Welfare in Europe
- Social Work Education and Research
- Social Work Leadership
- Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries Contributing to the Cla...
- Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries contributing to the fou...
- Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries Who Contributed to Soci...
- Social Work Practice, Rare and Orphan Diseases and
- Social Work Regulation
- Social Work Research Methods
- Social Work Theory
- Social Work with Interpreters
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Strategic Planning
- Strengths Perspective
- Strengths-Based Models in Social Work
- Suicide
- Supplemental Security Income
- Survey Research
- Sustainability: Creating Social Responses to a Changing En...
- Syrian Refugees in Turkey
- Systematic Review Methods
- Task-Centered Practice
- Technology Adoption in Social Work Education
- Technology for Social Work Interventions
- Technology, Human Relationships, and Human Interaction
- Technology in Social Work
- Terminal Illness
- Terrorism
- The Impact of Systemic Racism on Latinxs’ Experiences with...
- Transdisciplinary Science
- Translational Science and Social Work
- Transnational Perspectives in Social Work
- Transtheoretical Model of Change
- Trauma
- Trauma-Informed Care
- Triangulation
- Tribal child welfare practice in the United States
- Unions
- United States, History of Social Welfare in the
- Universal Basic Income
- Veteran Services
- Vicarious Trauma and Resilience in Social Work Practice wi...
- Vicarious Trauma Redefining PTSD
- Victim Services
- Violence
- Virtual Reality and Social Work
- Welfare State Reform in France
- Welfare State Theory
- Women and Macro Social Work Practice
- Women's Health Care
- Work and Family in the German Welfare State
- Workfare
- Workforce Development of Social Workers Pre- and Post-Empl...
- Working with Non-Voluntary and Mandated Clients
- Young and Adolescent Lesbians
- Youth at Risk
- Youth Services