Author Archives: Ellissa Corwin

Summary of Activity on this Site


Number of Posts: 4
Number of Comments: 2

About Ellissa Corwin

5.08119E+15

Grounded Theory

To aim of a grounded theory study is to create or discover a theory for a process or action that is grounded in the data. Creswell notes the defining features of grounded theory, the first of which is the aforementioned process or action. This is what the researcher is trying to explain, and it must have unique steps that occur over time, such as “developing a general education program.” The theory is developed to explain this process. In order to do this, data is collected, and the researcher practices memoing, where s/he writes ideas around the data. There is finally data analysis to land on a theory. (Creswell, 2013)

Grounded theory was developed by sociologists Barney G. Glaser and Anselm L. Strauss  in 1967. They wrote several books that serve as guides for the grounded theory process. Grounded theory researchers must begin with codifying their data quite early through memo writing. The memos explain what is happening in the data, make comparisons and identify analytic gaps. As the researcher writes more memos, they build their theory.

The participants are selected through theoretical sampling, where the sample is not representative of a population, but rather chosen to fill key categories. Researchers must also seek data that fills these categories, a technique called theoretical saturation. (Charmaz & Bryant, 2008) A category is a unit of information, and may consist of events, happenings and instances. (Creswell, 2013)

The process of gathering data and coding data is described as a zigzag, where one goes to the field gather data, goes to the office to analyze, and then back and forth. One way to compile all this information is with a conditional matrix which informs the researcher of the connections between the conditions influencing the phenomenon. (Creswell, 2013)

If I were to attempt a grounded theory study based on my current research, I would try to create a theory around a phenomenon on Reddit, perhaps their process of identifying as a Redditor. I would need to identify the steps in this process, the influences and conditions on it, the strategies employed during this process, and the consequences. This would involve coding responses to questions, and then going back to my Reddit participants to saturate the categories about how they self identify and what steps in the online experience led to a new identity. In the end, I may have a theory about how individuals begin to identify as Reddit users.

Charmaz, K., & Bryant, A. (2008). Grounded Theory. In Lisa M. Given (Ed.), The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods. (pp. 375-378). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781412963909.n189

Creswell, J.W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry & research design: choosing among the five approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Framing of Citizens United on Reddit

In my undergraduate studies, I was fortunate enough to take a First Amendment law class taught by Lee Bollinger, a noted FA scholar. While Bollinger never imparted his personal POV onto the class, I got the impression through my studies that more speech was better – essentially, when Congress makes a law abridging speech, that’s bad. The less restrictions on speech there are, the happier we’ll all be, right?

The decision for Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission is ostensibly a victory for more speech. It removes a restriction on corporations and unions to spend money running independent campaign commercials. (The idea that money equals speech has long been established by the courts.) Sure, there are corporations that will now be able to spend unlimited amounts of money to share messages I disagree with, but corporations and associations closer to my point of view (and this ruling includes unions and organizations like the NAACP) could spend just as money as well. The end result is more ideas in the public marketplace.

Not everyone shares this viewpoint, and for many, the Citizens United decision was mistake and a setback for democracy. While there has been a lot of talk about the uproar against the decision, there has been very little discussion as to why there is opposition.

I’m using content analysis to determine how Reddit users on a specific reaction thread frame the Citizens United decision in an effort to understand, for at least this small population, why this decision may (or may not) inspire antipathy. I’m searching the text to find relevant themes and patterns to make these assessment. I have begun to analyze the comments, and already some interesting themes have begun to emerge.

My challenge now is to ensure that the codes I’m seeing are actually valid.

I have found that framing theory has, at least somewhat, rooted my research in an area of study. Framing theory holds that people construct meaning and opinions about something based on how the issue is framed – by their own values and perspectives (frames in thought), as well as how the idea is portrayed (frames in communication).

I am loathe to rely too much on the theory however, as I don’t know how the Supreme Court case was framed to the commenters (e.g. what news site they first read) or their own personal views on the matter (e.g. their perspective on the First Amendment, campaign finance, etc.). As such, I do still have questions on how much theory I should include, and how to determine validity for my results. I have already found one study that discusses framing theory and campaign finance,* but the search continues for more!

 

*Grant, J., & Rudolph, T. J. (2003). Value Conflict, Group Affect, and the Issue of Campaign Finance. American Journal Of Political Science, 47(3), 453.

Chapter 8

Chapter 8 discusses the various ways in which a qualitative researcher can analyze and represent data. Creswell notes that data analysis is much more than looking at text and images, but “organizing the data, conducting a preliminary read-through of the database, coding and organizing themes, representing the data and forming an interpretation of them.” (179) He then goes on to explain each of these steps in depth.

There are three prevailing analysis strategies that are outlined in a table on page 181. While they all take a slightly different approach, they all contain the “core elements of qualitative data analysis,” namely, coding the data, creating themes and making comparisons in tables or charts. (180)

Crewswell likens the data analysis process (despite which strategy is used) to a spiral. A visual representation of the spiral is on page 183. The spiral begins with organizing the data, reading and memo-ing it, and then moves to classifying the data in to codes, interpreting it, and creating visual representations.

Creswell discusses the spiral in depth through pages 182 – 188. He calls particular attention to the forming of codes or categories, which he calls the “heart of qualitative data analysis.” A researcher creates codes by aggregating text or visual data into small categories. This process is described as  “winnowing.” where not all data is used, but only that which is relevant, as beginners tend to create long lists of codes, when only “lean coding” is needed. (184) Throughout coding, researchers are encouraged to look for themes, broad units of code that share a common idea. (186)

Only once themes are created can a researcher begin to interpret data. (187) Once the data is interpreted, it must be represented in a table or figure. Different ways to visualize data are discussed on 187 & 188.

Creswell describes how the data spiral can be used within the five approaches to inquiry. A table summarizing each approach can be found on pg. 190 & 191. Phenomenological, grounded theory and ethnographic analysis use structured methods established by qualitative researchers in the field. The narrative and case study approach allow for more flexibility in data analysis, while still following the basic structure of the spiral.

Creswell provides an overview of the use of computer programs to perform qualitative research, including the advantages and disadvantages of using this technology (pg 201-202). Specifically, four commercial programs are discussed in this chapter. The software programs mentioned are MAXDA, ATLAS.ti, QSR NVivo and HyperRESEARCH. Additionally there are flowchart templates to demonstrate the application of computer coding related to the five approaches (pg207-209). There is also some guidance provided on how to choose the right program for your research on page 209.

Overall qualitative computer programs assist the researcher in analyzing text and image data, through the use of coding and categorizing. It is similar to a cataloging process. It is important to note that the software does not give meaningful testing results or provide summary info, but rather is an easier way to store and search through data, providing a visual picture of the themes created through the use of coding.

Hello, my name is Ellissa.

As a corporate communications graduate student, it would be easy to guess that I love corporations. Working for them, buying from them, and most importantly, communicating for them. But I want to spend my time researching the people who don’t like corporations. Anti-corporatism seems to be on the rise these days (Occupy Wall Street, anyone?) and I’d like to investigate why.

Also I’m from New York and love coffee!



Comments:

"I feel strongly pulled to the phenomenological framework, even though it's definition is causing me the most confusion! I Anti-corporate sentiment is a human experience, and I think it would be interesting to find a small group of anarchists or anti-capitalists or just young people who participated in the Occupy movement and understand their concept of this phenomena. I will need to determine whether a phenomenological study allows for methods interpretation outside interviews or focus groups. I feel that much of what I am studying is a phenomenon perpetuated by the media, and I would like to incorporate content analysis and document research into my analysis."
posted on Jun 12, 2013, on the post CHAPTER 4: Five Qualitative Approaches to Inquiry

"This chapter has given me a lot to think about when I begin to embark on understanding anti-corporatism. As a corp comm student, I am approaching this phenomena with a certain set of assumptions. At times I am uncertain if I could every truly understand what drives one to protest corporation or our capitalist structure, since I don't have that same impulse in myself. I can see myself operating within any one of these frameworks - corporations and their political effects certainly have wide ranging implications that work within social justice, transformative theories and postmodernism. My first thought is to consider things from a social constructivist framework, but I will need to examine further. A question for the blog authors - would you be able to further explain the distinction between social justice interpretative frameworks and other frameworks? Does social justice only apply to those last few frameworks - feminist, CRT, queer and disability theory?"
posted on Jun 11, 2013, on the post Chapter 2