Critical Approach to Reflexivity in Grounded Theory

Authors

Stephen J. Gentles, McMaster UniversityFollow
Susan M. Jack, McMaster University
David B. Nicholas, University of Calgary
K. Ann McKibbon, McMaster University

Abstract

A problem with the popular desire to legitimate one’s research through the inclusion of reflexivity is its increasingly uncritical adoption and practice, with most researchers failing to define their understandings, specific positions, and approaches. Considering the relative recentness with which reflexivity has been explicitly described in the context of grounded theory, guidance for incorporating it within this research approach is currently in the early stages. In this article, we illustrate a three-stage approach used in a grounded theory study of how parents of children with autism navigate intervention. Within this approach, different understandings of reflexivity are first explored and mapped, a methodologically consistent position that includes the aspects of reflexivity one will address is specified, and reflexivity-related observations are generated and ultimately reported. According to the position specified, we reflexively account for multiple researcher influences, including on methodological decisions, participant interactions and data collection, analysis, writing, and influence of the research on the researcher. We hope this illustrated approach may serve both as a potential model for how researchers can critically design and implement their own context-specific approach to reflexivity, and as a stimulus for further methodological discussion of how to incorporate reflexivity into grounded theory research.

Keywords

Reflexivity, Grounded Theory, Methodological Congruence, Theoretical Sensitivity, Participant Disclosure, Autism, Service Navigation, Parenting

Acknowledgements

Stephen J. Gentles gratefully acknowledges support from the Autism Research Training Program and a Knowledge Translation Canada Fellowship, both Strategic Training Initiatives in Health Research funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research; and a stimulus grant from Autism Ontario.

Publication Date

11-3-2014

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2014.1109

Recommended APA Citation

Gentles, S. J., Jack, S. M., Nicholas, D. B., & McKibbon, K. A. (2014). Critical Approach to Reflexivity in Grounded Theory. The Qualitative Report, 19(44), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2014.1109