Theories and Methods: Grounded Theory (Paper 4, ODU810, H. Gold)

Rhetoric > Technical Communication > Methodologies and Techniques > Authentic Writing > Grounded Theory

 

Conversation with Dr. Joyce Neff, PhD, Professor Emerita, ODU English Department, 01 Nov 2016.

My discussion with Dr. Joyce Neff, Professor Emerita, took an unexpected turn after 25 minutes of conversation about her publications, work with federal agencies, and expectations of a chapter publication for by Southern States Accreditation Board (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools™) focusing on Quality Enhancement Teaching (an acronym which she laughingly admitted was certainly the creation of a businessperson or a bureaucrat). The shift resulted when she asked me what my dissertation was focusing on. I fumfered a moment, and admitted that I was lost. My original plan, I explained, was to focus on reviewing pedagogy to develop, or at least present an overview of, writing programs designed for STEM students. The reasoning is that scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians are not often clear communicators, but that communication is a skill required for success in academia, the nonprofit sector, and the corporate sector. But by the time I reach my comps in 2020, my concern is that teaching writing to STEM students (now STEAM, so as not ignore the arts), will have, well, lost its steam. What new value will that offer to the academy?

Me, with three of our published students.

Conversation Gone Sideways

Instead, I mentioned my plan to quantify or codify my students’ success with “Authentic Writing” teaching experience. During my past eleven years at Farmingdale State College, my teaching style helped over sixty students see their work published in paper and digital media, from The New York Times to local Anton papers, from non-profit websites to in-office kiosks. These papers have not all earned an “A”, and students’ course grades run the bell curve from “C” to “A”.  My study would try to find the common link (besides me) that urges these students on. Dr. Neff suggested that I consider the sociological methodology of ‘grounded theory.” 

The Theory

Grounded Theory is an approach for developing theory that is "grounded in data systematically

gathered and analyzed" (Strauss & Corbin, qtd by Cohen). Instead of focusing on the question or thesis, grounded theory studies all the players in an arena. In the case where undergraduate students are being published at an unusually high rate for a small major at a small school, Dr. Ness pointed out that the payers in my study could be the instructors, the students (published and unpublished), editors or those accepting student work for publication or distribution, and the audience.

Grounded Theory is also called the Constant Comparative Method, as data is continually collected and analyzed though several iterations (Glaser). It begins with a generative question designed to identify a Theoretical Sampling. The initial data collection leads to a deeper theoretical sampling process, which repeats until all reliable data is collected and analyzed.

In my case of determining the elements necessary to successfully design a standard and reliable pedagogy for teaching authentic writers to target their work for publication, I need to include three types of coding:

1. Open coding, assigning preliminary categories to be examined, such as students who initially wanted to be published and succeeded, students who did plan on publication but were, students who desired publication but did not, and students who did not seek nor achieve publication.
2. Axial coding, after open coding, group like categories to create new ways of examine the data.
3. Selective coding, which finally “integrates the categories…in a way that articulates a coherent understanding or theory of the phenomenon of study” (Cohen).

I first imagined performing this study some time ago, but my small sampling of only three years’ data was insufficient to develop a clear conclusion. Now I have over a decade of data from my classes, and can move on to compare the next three year’s results with a control class run by another faculty member.  Then we may have results that can be quantified, codified, and shared as a pedagogical model foe teaching Authentic Writing to students seeking mainstream publication.

Works Cited

Cohen D, Crabtree B. "Qualitative Research Guidelines Project." July 2006. http://www.qualres.org/HomeGrou-3589.html. Retrieved 01 November 2016.

Glaser, Barney G. (1965) “The Constant Comparative Method of Qualitative Analysis.” Social Problems, Vol. 12, No. 4 (Spring, 1965), pp. 436-445. Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the Society for the Study of Social Problems. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/798843?origin=JSTOR-pdf&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Ness, Joyce (Professor Emerita, ODU English Department) in discussion with the author, October 2016.

Strauss, A. & Corbin, J. (1994). "Grounded Theory Methodology." In NK Denzin & YS Lincoln (Eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 217-285). Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications.