“Classic” grounded theory: an extraction of Saldana’s coding heuristics

Abstract

One of the major decisions that a grounded theorist has to make has to do with coding and analysis. Yet there seems to be a general consensus in grounded theory literature that grounded theory coding is a complex, intuitive, and ideational process. Current literature provides descriptions of the coding options among the different traditions of grounded theory—Classic, Straussian, and Constructivist. Nevertheless, beginning grounded theorists need simple, specific, and practicable guidelines. We suggest that coding and analysis heuristics will go a long way in addressing that gap. They provide a way of turning tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge. Therefore, this paper provides an extraction of basic heuristics on how to conduct coding and analysis for ‘classic’ grounded theory largely drawn from Saldana (2016). The heuristics for each of the three cycles of grounded theory provide needed guidance for beginning grounded theory researchers.