Traditional Grounded Theory Methods

This chapter provides an overview of the suite of traditional grounded theory research methods. First, the ideas of research and research methods is introduced. This is followed by presenting the origin of grounded theory from sociology including its overviews and evolution into three versions: Glaserian GT, Strauss-Corbinian GT, and Constructivist GT. Next, the key reasons propelling the use of traditional grounded theory methods in Software Engineering are presented including when it makes most sense to apply traditional GT methods. Next, a set of common challenges of practising traditional GT methods in software engineering contexts are described as patterns. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how to address these common challenges, motivating the need for an updated and contextualised set of guidelines in the form of a new version called socio-technical grounded theory (STGT) for conducting, presenting, and evaluating qualitative research in today’s modern digital world.