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Grounded theory coding or Saldaña's cycles?

When open, axial and selective coding are worth the extra work

Flowchart for choosing grounded theory coding or Saldaña's cycles: four questions, a loop back to open coding, ending in selective coding.
Grounded theory coding is worth the extra work only when you need an explanation and can keep recruiting Source: after Strauss and Corbin (1990) and Saldaña, The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers
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A decision flowchart for researchers choosing how to code interview data. It asks whether you need to explain a process, whether you can recruit in rounds guided by the analysis, and whether a single explanation is the deliverable, then points to Saldaña's first and second cycle coding or to Strauss and Corbin's open, axial and selective coding. Koji's repeatable AI interviews make running research in rounds easier.

Where this appears

What's in this flowchart

Start: You have interview data to code

  1. Do you need to explain a process?
    • Yes: go to 2.
    • No: Use Saldaña's coding cycles. Code for themes that answer your question.
  2. Can you recruit in rounds as you learn?
    • Yes: go to 3.
    • No: Code for themes, not a theory. Grounded theory needs sampling guided by the analysis.
  3. Open coding. Label concepts line by line and write memos.
  4. Axial coding. Relate categories with the coding paradigm.
  5. Do new interviews still change your categories?
    • No: go to 6.
    • Yes: go back to 3.
  6. Is one explanation the deliverable?
    • Yes: go to 7.
    • No: Report the axial categories.
  7. Finish: Selective coding on a core category.

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