Lessons Learned from an Extended Participant Observation Grounded Theory Study

Context: Conducting a Grounded Theory study is rigorous, demanding, and challenging. Misperceptions exist within the software engineering community [1]. Objective: The purpose of this paper is to describe one extended participant observation Grounded Theory study for aiding new empirical researchers wanting to run similar research studies. Method: Following Constructivist Grounded Theory, we conducted a two-year five-month participant-observation of eight software development projects at Pivotal, a software development organization; interviewed 33 software engineers, interaction designers, and product managers; and analyzed one year of retrospection topics. We iterated between analysis and theoretical sampling until achieving theoretical saturation, publishing papers on team code ownership [2], sustainable software development through overlapping code ownership [3], and software development waste [4]. Results: This paper describes the missteps, challenges, and unique insights that occurred while conducting a Grounded Theory study. Limitations: While the results are highly relevant to the researcher, the outcomes might not apply to other researchers. Conclusion: Conducting my own Grounded Theory research study, attending Glaser's Seminar, and reading and rereading Charmaz's and Glaser's books helped the researcher overcome misperceptions about Grounded Theory research.