G ROUNDED T HEORY M ETHODOLOGY IN I NFORMATION S YSTEMS R ESEARCH

Grounded theory methodology (GTM), with its espoused goal of theory development of novel phenomena, has found broad application in Information Systems (IS) research. To investigate how GTM is applied in IS research and how the research contributions are contingent on those applications, we review 43 GTM-based articles in major IS and related journals. Ten of the articles develop theory. The other 33 articles use GTM to develop models and rich descriptions of new phenomena as their theoretical contribution. We show that each of the three forms is valuable to the IS community. For example, studies that develop theories and models are highly cited in the IS literature. We identify nine GTM procedures that are applied in various combinations to develop the three forms of research contribution. Treating GTM as a portfolio of the nine procedures, we examine the implications for the research contribution of adopting the core GTM procedures compared with a partial portfolio of those procedures.


Analysis
Boxplot analysis.We conducted a boxplot analysis to examine the number of citations of a GTM article in relation to other articles published in the same journal in the same year.We compiled a boxplot for each GTM article with those in the same journal in the same year.For example, the citations for the 2003 Levina and Ross article (646) are compared with the citations for the other articles in Volume 27 of MIS Quarterly.
In each boxplot, the vertical bar represents the median of the citations per article.The box represents the interquartile range, from the 25 th to 75 th percentile.The ends of the whiskers (the lines extending vertically from the boxes) represent the highest value within the 1.5 interquartile range from the upper quartile and the lowest value within the 1.5 interquartile range from the lower quartile.The position of each GTM paper is marked in its respective boxplot.a A one-sided Wilcoxon signed-rank test is reported; because of the direction of the relationship, for example, the number of procedures adopted by studies that develop theory is hypothesized to be higher than the number of procedures adopted by studies that develop models."Between rounds two and three, we completely re-analyzed our data and only then were we able to recognize and describe the complexity of what happened in straightforward terms, especially the insights around CORE CATEGORY.We were fortunate to receive constructive reviews [that] provided guidance and encouragement so we could find the theory in our data."Author Jo

GTM strategy
Purpose of the study "A study of an emerging phenomenon may not require theoretical sampling to produce interesting and useful insights to the academic community.Providing 'some' insight in a timely manner is preferable to gathering enough data over an extended period of time to provide a 'final answer."GTM in complete form is beneficial to novice researchers because it specifies the set of activities which, if followed, promises to result in a contribution.Its rigor provides a defense against criticism often directed toward qualitative research (i.e., that it is not rigorous).In later studies, the authors have adopted basic tenets of GTM depending on the research task.These tenets are just as valuable when taken individually as when taken as a whole.In fact, the procedures existed before GTM was formalized."Author Stacy

Incomplete documentation of GTM procedures
Lacking knowledge "The only indication of us using a Straussian approach was the word 'axial coding,' but this was mostly because at the time, we did not fully understand the difference.… Now, with deeper understanding of GTM, I can say that we used the Glaserian approach.… we applied selective coding and identification of core category.This was not explained in the paper because I (and my co-author) were not versed enough in GTM terminology to properly explain what we did."Author Mary Authors did not report all GTM procedures "We should clarify that during the review process, the manuscript included procedural details, which illustrated/demonstrated the analysis carried out by this study and helped satisfy expectations of rigor of the review team.The material was omitted from the published manuscript since the details were likely to detract attention from the main purpose of the study."Author Jane

Review process influence
Reviewers did not allow GTM adaption "Interestingly, I now discourage students from using the term grounded theory when they publish because I feel that some reviewers are very critical if it isn't applied in a purely Straussian way or whatever way they prefer.… I am currently writing another paper using this data and am not certain if I will refer to GTM." Author Lisa

Fashion trends
"So essentially we had some problems with the reviewers on getting our paper published.In [the early 2000s] Glaser was out.We just kind of left our approach and took out what they said.We didn't take the methods out, we just at first had a strong claim in here that we're doing a Glaserian approach and the reviewers hammered on us for that.… Whatever I sent in the reviewers said why aren't you using PROCEDURE?And I said to my colleague who did all the data analysis-just switch it to PROCEDURE.Because there are subtle differences between them but it doesn't change the basic story."Author Chloe Low number of high-quality GTM reviewers "It has also been our experience that while the increased acceptance of GTM has increased expertise within the discipline, increasing the number of well-informed reviewers, there still remains a considerable variance.We have encountered reviewers who have raised poorly conceived objections to our approach based on an incomplete understanding of GTM.Such reviews may, in our opinion, bias an editor who does not have expertise on the methodology."Author Jane

Table A1 . Classification of GTM Characteristics in the GTM Sample 1 GTM Procedures GTM Context per Year c Total Citations c
The articles analyzed in this dataset are limited to the years 1985 to 2013.A more comprehensive list of classified articles that is continuously updated can be accessed at www.grounded-theory.com.

Table A2 . Analysis of GTM Articles per Journal Journal
1 As reported in the article or by the authors in their responses.

Table A3 . Overview of Boxplot Analysis of GTM Articles (Continued) GTM Article Journal Total citations Quartile position Boxplot of Citations of Articles Published in the Same Journal in the Same Year
a Outliers are not marked in the boxplot.

Sensitivity Analysis Model and Description a Type of Result Mean
The only technique I wouldn't use is theoretical sampling, and that is because I usually study topics that are somewhat sensitive and I need to accept interviews when available rather than when I would like.I would add that there are many shortcomings of traditional GTM that can be overcome by using other techniques drawn from other methods; mentioning these in a paper only opens one up to another onslaught of idiotic criticism."AuthorLisaSo we had this excellent opportunity to collect this data .…Thecase was unique and we [would have] had to wait a long time for the next[occurrence].Of course, you can hardly replicate that, but still, this is interesting for the community.I study emerging technologies as well, different perspective, but again you can easily provide interesting parts."Author Betty MIS Quarterly Vol.41No.3-Appendix/September 2017 We did use Glaser and Strauss.So after talking with GTM EXPERT he said you can mix these.So we did Straussian because that is what the reviewers knew and so if you start with it open and selective coding, but then do axial coding.… So what we tried with this mix is we tried to take the best of both to take some structure from Strauss.But the openness to the data, that comes from Glaser."Author Chloe