What technique is central to grounded theory that involves comparing data across cases?

What technique is central to grounded theory that involves comparing data across cases?

• A. Double-blind testing.
• B. Constant comparison.
• C. Cross-sectional sampling.
• D. Thematic summarization.

Answer: (B)

Constant comparison is the technique at the heart of grounded theory. It means you continually compare new data with existing data, codes, and emerging categories as you collect and analyze information. By comparing incidents across different cases, you test whether a property or category holds in diverse contexts, refine how its features are defined, and identify differences that lead to new insights. This ongoing, cross-case comparison drives the development of theory that is truly grounded in the data, rather than shaped by preconceptions, and it helps you move toward theoretical saturation where additional data no longer add new properties. Other options don’t fit this central process. Double-blind testing is an experimental method not used in grounded theory. Cross-sectional sampling describes a sampling approach rather than a data-analysis technique that builds theory across cases. Thematic summarization focuses on listing themes rather than rigorously testing and refining categories through continuous comparison across data sources.

Constant comparison is the technique at the heart of grounded theory. It means you continually compare new data with existing data, codes, and emerging categories as you collect and analyze information. By comparing incidents across different cases, you test whether a property or category holds in diverse contexts, refine how its features are defined, and identify differences that lead to new insights. This ongoing, cross-case comparison drives the development of theory that is truly grounded in the data, rather than shaped by preconceptions, and it helps you move toward theoretical saturation where additional data no longer add new properties.

Other options don’t fit this central process. Double-blind testing is an experimental method not used in grounded theory. Cross-sectional sampling describes a sampling approach rather than a data-analysis technique that builds theory across cases. Thematic summarization focuses on listing themes rather than rigorously testing and refining categories through continuous comparison across data sources.