Teaching outdoor and adventure activities: an investigation of a primary school physical education professional development p

Grounded Theory.
Grounded theory tends to be used by those ‘on a voyage of 
discovery’ as it meets the needs of researchers exploring new areas in terms of the 
investigation being undertaken. It also seems to be appropriate for use where 
researchers wish to investigate human interaction and generate new theory.
Grounded theory tells us what is going on, tells us how to account for the 
participants’ main concerns, and reveals access variables that allow for 
incremental change. Grounded theory is what is, not what should, could or 
ought to be (Glaser, 1999, p. 840).
The researcher cannot identify exactly prior to the study what will occur as 
he/she has to be open to new angles as a result of the study. In this study, the researcher 

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is embarking on a process to changes teachers’ practices in teaching Outdoor and 
Adventure Activities through implementing a professional development programme and 
although certain outcomes are planned for new angles may emerge. According to 
Locke (2001, p. 59), ‘a test of a good theory is whether or not it works on the ground’.
Grounded theory moves from a description of what is happening, to an understanding of 
the process by which it is happening (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The purpose of this 
method is to create a coherent grounded theory, by developing abstract concepts and 
specifying the relationships between them (Bryant and Charmaz, 2007). The aim of this 
study was not to create an ‘abstract schema of a process’ (Creswell, 2007). Grounded 
theory did not allow for the flexibility, which might otherwise by necessary in a primary 
school context, to explain the process. The researcher also needs to be able to set aside 
any theoretical ideas or preconceived notions when developing grounded theory, which 
was not possible in this instance as many of these ideas informed the research process 
and the professional development design, therefore this methodology was deemed 
unsuitable. 
While examining the literature on grounded theory the method of analysis of 
qualitative data espoused by Charmaz (2006) in constructing grounded theory was 
considered for the study as a robust and rigorous method of analysis. It has flexible 
guidelines and depends on the researcher’s view in learning about the experience being 
researched. The researcher makes decisions about the categories in the data, questions 
the data and includes personal feelings and experience and priorities in analysis.
Therefore, it has potential for understanding the teachers’ experience of the professional 
development they were undertaking, their thoughts and feelings on the process and the 
extent to which the professional development had effect on their teaching. This method 
of data analysis was adapted and adopted for the study and is explained in detail in 
chapter three.