Definitions for "Grounded theory"
a term coined by Glaser and Strauss to describe the type of theory produced by their methods of ethnographic data collection and analysis. The approach emphasizes the systematic discovery of theory from data, by using methods of constant comparison and theoretical sampling, so that theories remain grounded in observations of the social world, rather than being generated in the abstract. This they propose as an inductive alternative to hypothetico-deductive approaches.
Grounded in data that have been systematically obtained by social research.
An approach to qualitative research where the researchers try to approach a problem with no preconceptions, and to build their theories solely from the data gathered.