Process
Open, axial and selective coding in three phases
How grounded theory moves from raw text to an explanatory theory
Open, axial and selective coding are the three sequential phases of qualitative analysis in grounded theory. Open coding labels the data, axial coding finds the relationships between codes, and selective coding picks one core category to explain the rest. Use this as a quick map of where a study stands and when it can stop.
Where this appears
What's in this process
- Open coding: Break the data into concepts. Label each meaningful unit and write memos.
- Axial coding: Find how the codes relate. Group them into categories with causes and consequences.
- Selective coding: Choose one core category and tie every other category to it.
Use this image
Free to use in your docs, decks and posts under CC BY 4.0, as long as you credit Koji with a link to this page. To embed it, paste this into your page:
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<a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/open-axial-selective-coding-three-phases"><img src="https://www.koji.so/visuals/open-axial-selective-coding-three-phases/open-axial-selective-coding-three-phases.png" alt="Process showing the three phases of grounded theory coding, open, axial and selective, with what each phase does to the data." width="1200" height="630" /></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/open-axial-selective-coding-three-phases">Open, axial and selective coding in three phases</a>, Koji</p>
