For marketers the dilemma is just the same. It involves a delicate balancing act
between drawing on prior knowledge while keeping a fresh and open mind to new
concepts as they emerge from the data. This means using the literature differently as
the process evolves, getting closer to direct sources as the conceptual categories take
shape and gain explanatory power.
In addition to the use of literature grounded theory differs in a number of respects
from other qualitative methodologies, particularly with regard to sampling. According
to Coyle (1997), most sampling is purposive and defined before data collection
commences. In the case of grounded theory, sampling begins as a “commonsense”
process of talking to those informants who are most likely to provide early information.
This information is then analysed through the application of open coding techniques,
or line-by-line analysis (looking for words and sentences in the text that have meaning),
which should help to identify provisional explanatory concepts and direct the
researcher to further “theoretically” identified samples, locations, and forms of data.
According to the original rules of grounded theory, the researcher should not leave the field and stop sampling until saturation is reached, or when no additional information
is found in the data. On this subject, one of the appeals of grounded theory is that it
allows for a wide range of data, the most common of which are in-depth interviews,
observations, and memos which describe situations, record events, note feelings and
keep track of ideas. However, these are not exhaustive, as noted by Glaser (1978, p. 6):