- A coding process that explores what the data might be telling researchers through the coding data line by line/paragraph by paragraph 

Open Coding 

- Grouping open codes into key categories that could potentially shape a theory 

Selective Coding 

- Connecting categories to understand their relationships to build theories 

Theoretical Coding in Grounded Theory Method

There are many different stages of coding, the following three are the general steps: 
1) Open Coding 
2) Selective Coding 
3) Theoretical Coding 


Claremont Graduate University

- When researchers code data, we assign concepts to the data. With the concepts, we make connections to understand a phenomenon
- GTM is a systematic analysis that identifies categories and connects them. Data is constantly compared with new data until theory saturation
- Connecting different categories are as valuable as naming the categories because both processes build construct and relationship for a theory 
- Constant comparison between data in understanding the same category is important because it allows researchers to reevaluate their coding 


Data Analysis with Grounded Theory Method

Urquhart, C. (2013). Grounded theory for qualitative research. SAGE Publications, Ltd https://www.doi.org/10.4135/9781526402196

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