Grounded Theory Is an Approach

Grounded theory is an approach to data analysis and theory construction that develops theory in an inductive manner (Borgatti 2012). Inductive logic requires that the researcher begins with the instance of the phenomenon that they are concerned about and collect data about the phenomenon. The data is then subsequently analyzed in different ways to produce theory. The theory therefore comes from the ground up rather than the opposite way using deductive reasoning which is inherent in many quantitative approaches.

The research question is the major question the study will answer. This study proposes to answer the question; why are businesses slow to integrate new media into their marketing and advertising practices? The question is engages the need to produce an explanation of the phenomenon. Additionally it examines a phenomenon for which a qualitative approach will be useful.

Sample

Qualitative research does not require sample sizes that are as large as quantitative, research since the researcher is not attempting to produce statistical generalizability. The aim of the sampling strategy for this research is to identify data rich cases and from those cases build a useful explanation of the phenomenon. The sample that will be selected for this research will be three businesses. An important aspect of developing grounded theory is the collection of thick description. Thick description is the foundation necessary to utilize the steps necessary to produce good theory. Consequently it would not be possible to examine large numbers of businesses. A small sample allows the researcher to collect the necessary data that will ensure the production of thick description. The advertising or marketing manager of each business would be sampled so that n=3. The sample design will employ theoretical sampling (Berg 2009).What allows an individual to be part of the sample is a desire to bring new media approaches to the company but the unsuccessful integration of the new media. The research question which guides the study suggests that this approach would be useful. Other considerations with the sampling would be issues of data saturation and analytic induction. It is possible while sampling that the researcher would search out disconfirming cases. These are companies that either quickly implemented the necessary changes or companies that may not have had the desire but were forced to do so because of market changes.

Data collection method