Reflections on the use of grounded theory to uncover patterns of exclusion in an online discussion forum at an instutution of higher education
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Date
2013Author
Postma, Louise
Blignaut, A. Seugnet
Swan, Karen
Sutinen, Erkki A.
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This article reports on an example of grounded theory methodology used in a case study to
describe power inequalities among participants in an online forum at a higher education
institution in South Africa. Critical poststructuralist theory informs the study as it
investigates how hegemony influences the strategic interaction of participants. An
interpretive analysis through coding procedures uncovered elements of intensified exclusion,
inequality, and oppression. This took place within a virtual space which is theoretically
idealized as an equalizer and promoter of freedom of speech. The process involved in the
eliciting of voices and in the analysing and interpreting of subjective accounts is described to
give an account of disillusioned experiences with a potentially liberating form of technology.
The article contributes to qualitative methodology in applying the generic paradigmatic
conditions within grounded theory and illustrates both the interrelatedness and the cyclic
nature of the conditions within the specific paradigms of participants.
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