An Insight Into the Promise and Problems of Combining Life History and Grounded Theory Research

This paper describes the research carried out in partial fulfilment of the Degree of Doctor of Education. The study was qualitative in nature with a phenomenological interpretive paradigm dominating the philosophical approach. The research methods adopted combined Life Story and Grounded Theory. As far as I have been able to determine there are very few, if any studies which have applied this approach specifically to my area of research. My study investigated the influence life history has on attitude to lifelong learning. Twenty five respondents were interviewed in face-to-face informal interviews. The main aim was to elicit the respondent's subjective interpretation of the interaction between school, family, work and learning within their lives. I, (the researcher) was then able to identify when they occurred and what or who made them particularly meaningful. Within this paper I describe how initial decisions were made regarding the substantive area to research. My sampling technique and method for collecting the data is discussed and a worked example is given of how the data was analysed. It is intended that this paper will give an insight into the challenge of combining these much debated methods of research. The empirical data lead to some interesting findings which educators and policy makers will find helpful in order to strengthen the school, college and workplace interface.