Phenomenology and Grounded Theory

This paper attempts to draw the distinction between the phenomenological approach and the grounded theory approach. It discriminates between the two by analyzing two research studies in which the two approaches were applied exclusively. Phenomenological approach; S. M. Norton: A Phenomenological Investigation into the Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Teachers Who Have Persisted in the Teaching Profession According to research, most teachers do not persist in the profession as they often to opt out of the profession after a short while (Norton, 2013). The most basic requirement of the phenomenological study is that the researcher should seek to discover a phenomenon that has a mutual meaning for a number of individuals (Creswell, 2013). Similarly, Finlay (2009) opines that the phenomenon under study should be concretely lived.

In this research, Norton (2013) has followed this principle to the letter. Her research is based on a concept that is common and relevant to the teaching profession. Moreover, as Norton argues, self-efficacy is a strong determinant of whether a teacher will persist in the profession or not. Despite the fact that the researcher was an educator, she completely excludes herself from the research. Moreover, it is a requirement of the phenomenological approach that the researcher employs interviews as a data collection method (Creswell, 2013). In the research, Norton interviewed all the 12 teachers. Moreover, another requirement is that the researcher should follow the narrow-broad approach. In the study, Norton first collected the individual perspectives of the teachers before finally widening the scope to universality.

Moreover, the researcher adheres to all the rules of the phenomenological approach. The study approach was effective, save for the limitations identified above. Norton (2013) used several data collection methods which led to a variety of data for analysis, and they were subjective. From where I stand, the only recommendation is that the geographical area is increased so that most standpoints are taken into consideration. The Grounded Theory; B. According to Creswell (2013), the researcher is expected to form a kind of memoir in which ideas are developed as questions are answered. This requirement was met by Yalof (2014) as she made an account of the ideas. Creswell (2013) gives another principle as the requirement that the main method of data collection is through interviews.

Yalof (2014) used interviews as her main source of data collection. According to Khan (2014), the researcher is expected to develop the theory based on the feedback from the subjects. The researcher selected three categories of participants; they who were contented with online courses, those who were frustrated and those who dropped out (Yalof, 2014). While the last category is objective, the first two are subjective; there was no strict criterion of what contentment or frustration was. This was a limitation because the authenticity of the research depends on these categories hence the subjective nature may have undermined the authenticity. I think the grounded research method worked well for the researcher as it effectively responded to. Moreover, the fact that the researcher got views from all perspectives; the learners, the administrators and the councilors (Yalof, 2014) implies that the research method was effective.