Methodology and Data Collection

Traditional Scientific Research

• Starts with a "pre-existing" theory which turns into a hypothesis

• Hypothesis tested through data collection

• Statistical analysis is used to "make" or "break" the hypothesis

ex) Like walking into a forest looking only for red-tailed squirrels and counting them

Grounded Theory (as described by Kathy Charmaz)

• Starts with a research question that moves to qualitative data

• Data analyzed for patterns that develops into a theory

  • Data tends to be interviews, and analyzation tends to be an iterative coding process of finding common themes

ex) Like walking into a forest to see what’s there and listing all species observed