The DOI matches its Crossref record; 23 of the 26 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Selecting a Grounded Theory Approach for Nursing Research
Open accessAbstract
Grounded theory is a commonly used research methodology. There are three primary approaches to grounded theory in nursing research: those espoused by Glaser, Strauss and Corbin, and Charmaz. All three approaches use similar procedures, yet there are important differences among them, which implies that researchers need to make careful choices when using grounded theory. Researchers new to grounded theory need to find the most appropriate approach that fits their research field, topic, and researcher position. In this article, we compare the three grounded theory approaches. Choices of a grounded theory approach will depend on the researcher’s understanding of the philosophical underpinnings of all three approaches. Practical aspects of grounded theory approaches should match the information processing styles and analytical abilities of the researcher and the intended use of the theory. We illustrate key aspects of decision making about which method to select by drawing upon the first author’s experiences in his doctoral research.
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“This impact affects both the quality criteria applied to research projects (Bøttcher Berthelsen, 2018) and the outcomes of the resulting grounded theory (Singh and Estefan, 2018).”
From Application and challenges of using a Constructivist Grounded Theory methodology to address an undertheorized clinical challenge: A discussion paper (2024) · cites this paper as Singh and Estefan, 2018
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Cites
The Discovery of Grounded Theory; Strategies for Qualitative Research
Glaser, B. G., Strauss, A. L., & Strutzel, E. (1968) · Nursing Research · doi:10.1097/00006199-196807000-00014 · Cited by 39,449
(1998) · Sage eBooks · Cited by 38,631
Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques
Long, D. R., Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. M. (1993) · Modern Language Journal · doi:10.2307/328955 · Cited by 17,625
(2014) · Cited by 15,747
Constructing Grounded Theory. A Practical Guide Through Qualitative Analysis
Boyle, C., & Barker, A. (2006) · QMiP Bulletin · doi:10.53841/bpsqmip.2006.1.2.36 · Cited by 11,844 · cited 2×
“Charmaz introduced a constructivist perspective to grounded theory methodology (Charmaz, 2006, 2014).”
BackgroundMethod(1998) · Cited by 9,332
(1978) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 6,077
The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research
(2009) · Qualitative Market Research An International Journal · doi:10.1108/13522750910948815 · Cited by 2,359
Thornberg, R. (2012) · Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research · doi:10.1080/00313831.2011.581686 · Cited by 668 · cited 1×
“Glaser’s rejection of the researcher taking a philosophical position has been criticized as naïve because Glaser’s advocacy for and use of pure induction—letting data speak for themselves—is grounded in positivism (Thornberg, 2012).”
BackgroundUsing Grounded Theory in Nursing
Barnsteiner, J. (2002) · Journal of Advanced Nursing · doi:10.1046/j.1365-2648.2002.24041.x · Cited by 291
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Virtual Care: A Concept Analysis (Preprint)Preprint
Kurniawan, M. H., Rustina, Y., Nuraini, T., Handiyani, H., Hariyati, R. T. S., & Sutrisno, S. (2023) · doi:10.2196/preprints.46633
Editorial for special section: Grounded theory in qualitative research
Fleet, D., Reeves, A., Taylor, P., et al. (2023) · Counselling and Psychotherapy Research · doi:10.1002/capr.12677
Virtual Care: A Concept Analysis
Kurniawan, M. H., Rustina, Y., Nuraini, T., & Handiyani, H. (2023) · Dunia keperawatan Jurnal keperawatan dan kesehatan · doi:10.20527/jdk.v11i1.162
The Meaning of Being a ‘Good Nurse’ in the ICU During the COVID‐19 Pandemic
Haddad, A. A., Arber, A., Cox, A., & Gallagher, A. M. (2024) · Nursing Inquiry · doi:10.1111/nin.12694
Palmieri, J., Emmelin, M., Svensson, P., et al. (2025) · International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being · doi:10.1080/17482631.2025.2471667
“…was to generate an explanation of behaviours and perspectives when viewed through an organizational lens and to generalize (theoretically) to a broader context (Singh & Estefan, 2018), grounded theory as described by Corbin and Strauss (Corbin & Strauss, 2015) was the specific approach selected.”
Philosophical Unerprinnings of Qualitative Research
Chakabwata, W. (2025) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/979-8-3373-4432-4.ch001
Chen, Q., Zeng, F.-C., & Sun, B.-Z. (2025) · Global Medical Education · doi:10.1515/gme-2025-0016
“Wealsoacknowledgethatknowl-edge is intimately linked to its context [17, 18].”
Motivations of Informal Caregivers and Palliative Patients to Care at Home: Grounded Theory
Batista, S. R. F., Sapeta, P., de Oliveira, C. S., et al. (2025) · Lecture notes in bioengineering · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-77282-5_37
Namukose, S., Kiwanuka, S., Maina, G., & Makumbi, F. (2025) · Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition · doi:10.1186/s41043-025-01123-7
“The key principles of grounded theory include: openness, simultaneous data collection and analysis, coding and comparative analysis, memo writing, theoretical sampling and coding, theoretical saturation, and generation of substantive theory [15–17].”
Nilsson, E., Johanson, S., Behm, L., & Bejerholm, U. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26591780
Bobbink, P., Larkin, P., & Probst, S. (2026) · Global Qualitative Nursing Research · doi:10.1177/23333936251413205
“As an example, Grounded Theory, evolved into three main approaches depending on epistemological and ontological differences (Bryant, 2017; Rieger, 2019; Singh & Estefan, 2018).”
Ota, M., Gilbert, J., Lam, L., et al. (2026) · Journal of Nursing Management · doi:10.1155/jonm/6944867
“New questions were developed as the interviews progressed, and participants were asked to recommend new participants, thereby refecting the process of theoretical sampling [24].”
(Re)defining Success in Academic Medicine: From Metrics to Meaning
Collins, R. T., Shanafelt, T. D., Purkey, N. J., Singh, M., & Sanford, R. (2026) · American Journal of Qualitative Research · doi:10.29333/ajqr/18166
Taylor, P., O’Donnell, S., Scott-Storey, K. A., Malcom, J., & Vincent, C. D. (2026) · Global Qualitative Nursing Research · doi:10.1177/23333936261442946
“The following are three main versions of grounded theory consistently documented in the literature: (1) classical or Glaserian, (2) Straussian, and (3) constructivist (Rieger, 2019; Singh & Estefan, 2018).”
Kassam, S., & Marcellus, L. (2026) · Global Qualitative Nursing Research · doi:10.1177/23333936261444343
“A consequence of this contextual origin is how GT has remained a popular research methodology among nurse researchers (Schreiber, 2001; Singh & Estefan, 2018; Stern, 2009).”
Harrad-Hyde, F., Faull, C., & Birt, L. (2026) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0347638
“Constructionist approaches to data collection encourage researchers to draw on their own experiences to make sense of data [46].”
Ago, J. L., Kilgour, A., & Smith, C. L. (2026) · International Journal of Qualitative Methods · doi:10.1177/16094069261462095
Metadata
- Authors
- Singh, S., & Estefan, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Calgary (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Singh, Shaminder
- Venue
- Global Qualitative Nursing Research
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2018-01
- Volume
- 5
- Pages
- 2333393618799571-2333393618799571
- ISSN
- 2333-3936 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6174650
- OpenAlex
- W2895681440
- Semantic Scholar
- 0abeb749241c853e9ed8c953201a9129c4b82195
- Cited by
- 118
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 4
- FWCI
- 23.56
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Global Qualitative Nursing Research (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Libraries and Cultural Resources (University of Calgary) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Libraries and Cultural Resources (University of Calgary) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary (Graduate Student Knowledge Translation Assistantsh)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Qualitative Research Methods and Applications
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Research and Theory › Methodologies in Health Research and Practice
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
- Keywords
- grounded theory, nursing research methodology, Glaser and Strauss, qualitative research approaches, methodological choices, researcher positionality, theory development
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