Moving forward with grounded theory in sport and exercise psychology

Objective: This paper is a commentary on the use of grounded theory methodology in sport and exercise psychology (see Holt & Tamminen, 2010: Weed, 2009, 2010). The purpose is to suggest ways in which researchers can plan grounded theory studies in a manner that demonstrates understanding of research philosophies, methodologies, and methods. Method: One guiding principle for making research decisions is methodological coherence. An 'armchair walk-through' of a decision making heuristic for planning methodologically coherent grounded theory studies is provided. Issues addressed concern ontology and epistemology, research questions, selection of grounded theory variant, participants, sample size, planning for the interaction of data collection and analysis, data collection methods, data analysis methods, and the final product. Conclusion: Ways to move forward with the sophisticated use of grounded theory are suggested, which include issues relating to training, supervision, and the acknowledgement of past mistakes. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.