Moving forward with grounded theory in sport and exercise psychology

ObjectiveThis paper is a commentary on the use of grounded theory methodology in sport and exercise psychology (see Holt and Tamminen, 2010, Weed, 2009 and Weed, in press). The purpose is to suggest ways in which researchers can plan grounded theory studies in a manner that demonstrates understanding of research philosophies, methodologies, and methods.MethodOne guiding principle for making research decisions is methodological coherence. An ‘armchair walk-through’ of a decision making heuristic for planning methodologically coherent grounded theory studies is provided. Issues addressed concern ontology and epistemology, research questions, selection of grounded theory variant, participants, sample size, planning for the interaction of data collection and analysis, data collection methods, data analysis methods, and the final product.ConclusionWays to move forward with the sophisticated use of grounded theory are suggested, which include issues relating to training, supervision, and the acknowledgement of past mistakes.