Thank you, Meaninginlife.
I appreciate your help

Thank you, Meaninginlife.

I will make it specific.

Please is the following combination of words fine, just the second part of the title (after the colon)?

2. (four words summarizing the topic): A Grounded Theory Netnographic Study of an Online Community

Thank you, MeaninginLife.

Your replies were very informative.

I have one final question if you don't mind.

I'm confused about what to focus on in my thesis title: netnography, grounded theory or both.

Personally, I want to include both of them as well as the term 'online community', but I don't want to make it verbose.

Could you please tell me which sounds good to you?

1. (four words summarizing the topic): A Netnographic Study of an Online Community
2. (four words summarizing the topic): A Grounded Theory Netnographic Study of an Online Community
3. (four words summarizing the topic): A Grounded Theory Netnography


Thank you

I really appreciate your encouragement, MeaninginLife.

I agree. That is what I noticed and it encouraged to stick to grounded theory method.



Yes, I agree. I have already stopped seeking new ideas because I have to submit the thesis soon.
I didn't get what you meant by the last sentence. If you meant I have to detail how I used grounded theory in the thesis, I am planning to do it, following some PhD theses.


Thank you, MeaninginLife. You helped me a lot.

Thank you, kelpie. I got it.


I want to ask you and MeaninginLife about core category.

I found that constructivist grounded theorists don't agree on having a single core category.

Could you please explain why?

Thank you

Thank you, kelpie.
Your reply was very helpful.

Theoretical coding, as presented by Charmaz (2006), was for me the most cumbersome aspects of grounded theory.
The way you presented it makes it seem rather simple. However, I don't think Charmaz presents it as such in her book Constructing Grounded Theory.
She is rather talking about establishing relationships between categories by applying some coding families suggested by Glaser such his Six Cs.

I would be happy to know what sources you drew on to justify that this what theoretical coding is about.

I hope to see your comment.
Thank you

I appreciate your help.
Thank you

Thank you, MeaninginLife. I really appreciate your help.

In Constructing Grounded Theory, Charmaz lists four types of coding: initial, focused, axial and theoretical coding.
I have seen many PhD dissertations using Charmaz's constructivist grounded theory without using axial and theoretical coding at all. They used just initial and focused coding.

Such as the following:
1. Reframing a sense of self: a constructivist grounded theory study of children’s admission to hospital for surgery
2. An Analysis of the Relationship Between Individuals' Perceptions of Privacy and Mobile Phone Location Data: A Grounded Theory Study
3. Integrative Learning as a Development Process: A Grounded Theory of College Students'’ Experiences In Integrative Studies


Does this mean axial and theoretical coding are not important?

Thank you

Thanks for your replies.

MeaninginLife, I appreciate your help.

I thought specifying links between categories is done through axial coding.

Since theoretical coding is somewhat cumbersome and requires learning theoretical families for which I cannot afford time, I wonder if can use Strauss and Corbin's selective coding to identify a core category (by the way, I am using Charmaz's grounded theory that does not use selective coding).

Hi,

I have embarked on an adventure and need your help.
I am an undergraduate student trying to write a B.A. thesis. I haphazardly found my self in the world of grounded theory and now find it difficult to get out and choose another path. I have learnt so much about it in the last three months, but now I cannot move further.

I'm majoring in cultural studies with English being a second language.

Concerning my thesis, I'm combining netnography with grounded theory.

I discussed this with my supervisor. He said you are not required to do this, but you can do it if you want. He also said he cannot help.

I have settled nearly all aspects of my thesis the issues that pushed me to ask you for help.
Research questions, literature review, and data collection methods are all settled.

Concerning grounded theory, I decided to follow Charmaz's approach. I read her Constructing Grounded Theory (2006) many times.
I've almost grasped it, but the following has confused me.

Does theoretical coding mean using a theoretical framework or an external theory?
Or is it just another, but more conceptual, code?
Is theoretical coding obligatory. In other words, can I use just initial and focused coding? and use memos to develop conceptual categories (of course with theoretical sampling and sorting)?

I hope my post is not too long.

I appreciate your help.

Thank you