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306 CHAPTER 11 Analyzing qualitative data

We briefly introduce the procedures of grounded theory according to Corbin and
Strauss (Corbin and Strauss, 2014).
The grounded theory method generally consists of four stages:
• open coding;
• development of concepts;
• grouping concepts into categories;
• formation of a theory.
In the open coding stage, we analyze the text and identify any interesting phe-
nomena in the data. Normally each unique phenomenon is given a distinctive name
or code. Given a piece of text to analyze, you would read through, trying to identify
the patterns, opinions, behaviors, or other issues that sound interesting. Since you are
not constrained by preestablished theories, frameworks, or concepts, you are open to
all possibilities that reside in the data.
During this process, you need to find terms to describe the interesting instances
that emerge from the data. Sometimes the participants may provide terms that de-
scribes the instances or key elements so vividly or accurately that you can borrow
the term directly. Coding categories generated in this manner are called in vivo code.
In vivo coding can help ensure that the concepts stay as close as possible to the
participants’ own words. These types of codes are largely adopted when using the
grounded theory method. In one survey that the authors conducted on computer us-
age by children with Down syndrome, we borrowed many terms (e.g., curriculum
integration) directly from parents’ response and used them as low-level themes (Feng
et al., 2010).
When the original text does not contain a key term to describe the instance of
interest, the researcher will need to find an appropriate term to describe the instance.
Those terms are called “researcher-denoted concepts.” For example, if you read the
following descriptions in the data, you may use the term “frustration” to describe the
underlying theme of both responses:
My son just sits there and sobs when the computer does not do what he wants.
He becomes irritated and keeps pushing the Enter button when the web page
loads slowly.
In the second stage, collections of codes that describe similar contents are grouped
together to form higher level “concepts,” which can then be grouped to form “catego-
ries” (the third stage). Definitions of the concepts and categories are often constructed
during this phase of the analysis. The identification and definition of relationships
between these concepts—a process often referred to as “axial coding” (Preece et al.,
2015; Corbin and Strauss, 2014) is often a key step in this process. As analysis con-
tinues, we are constantly searching for and refining the conceptual construct that may
explain the relationships between the concepts and categories (Glaser, 1978).
Although this description implies a linear process with well-defined phases, anal-
yses might not be quite so clear-cut. The identification of new codes through open
coding, the grouping of these codes into categories, and the definition of relationships