Framework
The Strauss and Corbin coding paradigm
Six questions to ask of every category in axial coding
The coding paradigm is the model Anselm Strauss and Juliet Corbin proposed for axial coding in grounded theory. Each element is a question to ask of a category: what is being explained, what causes it, where it happens, what shapes it, how people respond and what follows. Researchers use it to turn a pile of open codes into categories with a visible causal logic. Treat it as a scaffold, not a checklist.
Where this appears
What's in this framework
- Phenomenon: The central concept being explained.
- Causal conditions: What gives rise to the phenomenon.
- Context: The setting in which it occurs.
- Intervening conditions: Broader structural factors that shape it.
- Action and interaction strategies: How people respond.
- Consequences: What happens as a result.
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<a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/strauss-corbin-coding-paradigm-axial-coding"><img src="https://www.koji.so/visuals/strauss-corbin-coding-paradigm-axial-coding/strauss-corbin-coding-paradigm-axial-coding.png" alt="Framework of the six elements in the Strauss and Corbin coding paradigm for axial coding, from phenomenon to consequences." width="1200" height="703" /></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/strauss-corbin-coding-paradigm-axial-coding">The Strauss and Corbin coding paradigm</a>, Koji</p>
