Using a grounded theory approach to study online collaboration behaviors

Abstract

This paper discusses how an interpretive theory of action was explored and developed through iterative cycles of grounded theory generation. We establish our motivation for employing the grounded theory method in an area that is overflowing with theories of learning, then move on to the practicalities of generating an interpretive grounded theory by following the ‘vapor trails’ left by online learners. We describe how we incorporated the use of mixed methods into an interpretive grounded theory process, with a theoretical sampling strategy that used ‘complementary comparison’ to feed back into a new cycle of constant comparison. We discuss how constant comparison may be enhanced by researcher debate around emerging themes and categories, co-coding of data samples, coding of researcher theoretical memos, and reflection-in-action during explicit explanations of coding schemes to research assistants and the review of research process memos. Finally, we discuss how and why the substantive theory of action that was generated by this process provides an original contribution to theories of collaborative online learning by accounting for both visible and invisible learning strategies that explain the role of thought-leaders in a community of inquiry and account for vicarious learning.

Keywords:

• grounded theory
• collaboration
• online learning
• vapour trails

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 235317.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 235317.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Susan Gasson

About the authors

Dr. Susan Gasson is Associate Professor in IS in the iSchool at Drexel University, U.S.A. Following a career in systems analysis, computer consultancy, and IS management, she obtained her Ph.D. from Warwick Business School in the U.K., specializing in grounded theory studies of wicked problem-solving and design processes in groups that span domain boundaries. Dr. Gasson was the recipient of a prestigious Early Career Award from the U.S. National Science Foundation in 2004. Her work has appeared in journals such as Information, Technology & People, the European Journal of Information Systems (EJIS), the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (JCMC), the Journal of Information Technology Theory and Application (JITTA), and the Journal of End User Computing. She has won outstanding paper awards from Information, Technology & People, the International Conference on Information Systems and the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management.

Jim Waters

Dr. Jim Waters is Assistant Professor at Cabrini College in the U.S.A. Following a career in systems analysis he was appointed as evaluation specialist for an innovative online learning platform and then as the evaluation officer for a nationwide computer-based learning project in the U.K. He obtained his Ph.D., which focused on the analysis of student behavior in asynchronous online learning environments, from the iSchool at Drexel University. He is the joint author of several studies in HCI, published in the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, Human-Computer Interaction International (HCII), and the Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS). His doctoral research in socially situated online learning has been published in proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) and the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS).