Communication · Executive Insight Brief · 149
A list of themes is not a theory
Generate a defensible account of how a process works by letting emerging categories direct further evidence collection
Premise
Many organizational studies finish with a list of themes when leaders need an explanation of process. Grounded Theory is a qualitative methodology for generating concepts and theoretical relationships through recursive data collection, coding, constant comparison, memoing, and theoretical sampling. Its intended product is not a topic inventory but an account of how action unfolds under specified conditions.
For executives, the distinction matters when existing models do not adequately explain why employees voice concerns, teams escalate risks, trust is rebuilt, or clients interpret advice differently. The method can develop a mid-range explanation grounded in the sampled setting, provided that the research design follows the emerging analysis rather than merely organizing quotations.
What the model is: Grounded Theory in Knowledge →
Continue in the series
- The essential model
- Why this matters
- Risks and limits
- Executive takeaway
- Key questions
- Selected sources
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- FamilyModel
- CategoryResearch & Analysis Methods
- DomainEvidence & Evaluation
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Family
Model
In this series, Model names the editorial family primarily used to understand and explain communication: theories, frameworks, effects, traditions, principles and other conceptual resources. It is an umbrella for a route into the field, not a claim that every included object is a predictive model.
Editorial orientation · Category
Research & Analysis Methods
Establishes procedures for collecting, coding, comparing or interpreting information for inquiry or analysis. Its contribution is a defensible route from observations or materials to an account, finding or interpretation.
- KnowledgeGrounded Theory
- Related briefDiscourse Analysis: Specify How Language Is Doing the Work