Core principles of grounded theory in a systematic review of environmental education for secondary students

ABSTRACT

As systematic reviews (SRs) of research increase in number, the methods used to conduct the analyses are becoming more diversified. While named in the methodological literature as an analytical approach, grounded theory (GT) is not frequently used as an approach in SRs; when it is, reviewers typically emphasize the use of GT coding and constant comparative methods while ignoring other key components of GT. In this article, we describe an SR of environmental education research that incorporated GT methodology to produce a theoretical model. To contribute to emerging discussions about methodological integrity when combining distinct methods like SRs and GT, we outline how our review methods aligned with core principles of GT and discuss implications of using GT when conducting an SR.

KEYWORDS:

• Grounded theory
• systematic review
• environmental education
• secondary education

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to several colleagues who reviewed drafts of this article, including Tiffany Drape, David Kniola, and Gary Skaggs. Thank you to Martha Monroe, Cherie Edwards, Lisa Becksford, and Nicole Ardoin for their insights into the conceptualization of the review and/or research assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alison W. Bowers

Alison W. Bowers is a Research Assistant in the School of Education at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech, USA) and also works as a consultant providing academic writing and research review assistance. She has previously worked as an environmental educator and special education teacher. The study described in this paper represents her doctoral dissertation, which she completed in educational research and evaluation at Virginia Tech. Her current research interests include systematic reviews of research and collective environmental literacy.

Elizabeth G. Creamer

Elizabeth G. Creamer is Professor Emerita of Educational Research and Evaluation in the School of Education at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (USA), where she served in a wide variety of faculty and administrative roles. Dr. Creamer is a research methodologist who taught graduate level research methods courses for more than twenty years in mixed methods and qualitative approaches to grounded theory. Prior to that she was a faculty member in the Women’s Studies program, teaching courses in feminist research methodology and theory. She is the author of the 2018 SAGE textbook, An Introduction to Fully Integrated Mixed Methods Research, that introduces a framework for mixing across all phases of the research process. Over the course of her 35-year career, Dr. Creamer authored 4 books or monographs, 127 journal articles and book chapters, and 95 conference presentations. She served as the fifth president of the Mixed Methods International Research Association (MMIRA). Current projects involve the use of grounded theory with mixed methods and a new textbook that is underway, Advancing Theory Development with Mixed Methods.