Elsevier

The Leadership Quarterly

Volume 22, Issue 1, February 2011, Pages 106-120
The Leadership Quarterly

Grounded theory and leadership research: A critical realist perspective

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2010.12.010Get rights and content

Abstract

The methodology of grounded theory has great potential to contribute to our understanding of leadership within particular substantive contexts. However, our notions of good science might constrain these contributions. We argue that for grounded theorists a tension might exist between a desire to create a contextualised theory of leadership and a desire for scientifically justified issues of validity and generalizable theory. We also explore how the outcome of grounded theory research can create a dissonance between theories that resonate with the reality they are designed to explore, and the theories that resonate with a particular yet dominant ‘scientific’ approach in the field of leadership studies – the philosophy of science commonly known as positivism. We examine the opportunities provided by an alternative philosophy of science, that of critical realism. We explore how conducting grounded theory research informed by critical realism might strengthen researchers’ confidence to place emphasis on an understanding and explanation of contextualised leadership as a scientific goal, rather than the scientific goal of generalization through empirical replication. Two published accounts of grounded theory are critiqued candidly to help emphasise our arguments. We conclude by suggesting how critical realism can help shape and enhance grounded theory research into the phenomenon of leadership.

Section snippets

Introduction—new opportunities for leadership research

Leadership research has begun to embrace the necessity of incorporating context and process into an understanding of the manifestation of the leadership phenomenon. The emphasis on the context and process of leadership is reflected most strongly in the methodology of grounded theory. As Parry (1998) claimed, this methodology is a fruitful direction for researchers of leadership to take. Until recently, the dominant methodologies shaping the field of leadership research have largely been

Qualitative leadership research and grounded theory

The phenomenon of leadership is argued to have global presence, but appears to have a variety of attributes and is elusive in definitional clarity (House et al., 2004). In this paper we argue that such variation is contextually derived. There is an emerging consensus that, at a very high level of abstraction, leadership is argued to be a ‘social and relational influence process that occurs within a social system’ (Parry, 1998:87; consolidating discussion from range of commentators, notably

Grounded theory and leadership: The need for an epistemological foundation

The need to explain the underlying presuppositions of scientific research is often taken for granted. Critical realism, like positivism is a philosophy of science. Positivism is predominant in our ‘doing’ of science, but other approaches which are less prominent or popular may make us reflect upon what constitutes ‘good science’. This reflection is partly what we are attempting to achieve with this article.

Grounded theory adopts a contextual examination of social processes in organizations and

Critical realism: Also ‘good science’

It should be noted at this point that critical realism differs from many versions of critical studies. The latter has drawn from critical theory and post-structuralism notably through the edited writings of Willmott and Alvesson (1992). It examines underlying issues within organizational life often associated with power asymmetries and the privileging of particular discourses. Critical realists draw upon the notion of underlying power structures that might not be conscious to people yet have

Case 1: Identifying paradox (Kan & Parry, 2004)

Case 1 researched the processes of nursing leadership in a major hospital. Data came mainly from interviews, observation, participant observation and survey questionnaire data using the psychometrically rigorous Multi-factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ; Bass & Avolio, 1990). The implementation of data triangulation was a strength of this method. As Egri and Herman (2000) remind us, this data triangulation contributes to the internal validity of grounded theory research. Analysis was the full

Case 2: Leadership learning as lived experience (Kempster, 2006)

Case 2 examined how senior managers in a single organization believed they had learnt how to lead. Within Kempster's research he explores the problematic issue associated with tacit leadership learning and argues that it is important to make conscious the nuances associated with the learning of meanings and practices of leadership, and also the timing of that learning. His review of the extant research in this field identified a broad category of ‘learning through doing’ or experiential

Conclusion—doing grounded theory even better

We have identified calls for greater use of qualitative methods for leadership research in organizational settings. These calls have been answered, with increasing enthusiasm since about the time of Conger's (1998) argument that qualitative approaches are perhaps the methodology of choice for contextually rich topics, such as leadership. Moreover, we have argued that leadership is a social process of influence. Also, grounded theory is a very suitable methodology for exploring and seeking to

Acknowledgements

We thank Steve Fleetwood for his help in brining this article to fruition.

References (81)

  • J.R. Meindl

    The romance of leadership as a follower-centric theory: A social constructionist approach

    The leadership quarterly

    (1995)
  • K.W. Parry

    Grounded theory and social process: A new direction for leadership research

    The Leadership Quarterly

    (1998)
  • P. Rowland et al.

    Consensual commitment: A grounded theory of the meso-level influence of organizational design on leadership and decision-making

    The Leadership Quarterly

    (2009)
  • S.J. Zaccaro et al.

    Team leadership

    The Leadership Quarterly

    (2001)
  • S. Ackroyd

    Methodology for management and organisation studies: Some implications of critical realism`

  • S. Ackroyd

    Methodology for management and organisation studies: Some implications of critical realism

  • S. Ackroyd et al.

    Realist perspectives on organization and management

    (2000)
  • M. Archer

    Realist social theory: The morphogenetic approach

    (1995)
  • M. Archer

    Being human: The problem of agency

    (2000)
  • R.A. Barker

    The nature of leadership

    Human Relations

    (2001)
  • B.M. Bass et al.

    Manual for the multifactor leadership questionnaire

    (1990)
  • R. Bhaskar

    A realist theory of science

    (1978)
  • R. Bhaskar

    Reclaiming reality: A critical introduction to contemporary philosophy

    (1989)
  • A. Bryman et al.

    Qualitative research and the study of leadership

    Human Relations

    (1988)
  • J.G. Burgoyne et al.

    Natural learning and managerial action: A phenomenological study in the field setting

    Journal of Management Studies

    (1983)
  • K. Charmaz

    Grounded theory and methodology: Objectivist and constructivist methods

  • K. Charmaz

    Measuring pursuits, marking self: Meaning construction in chronic illness

    International Journal of Qualitative Health and Well-Being

    (2006)
  • J.A. Conger et al.

    A story of missed opportunities

  • J. Corbin et al.

    Basics of Qualitative Research

    (2008)
  • H.P. Dachler et al.

    The primacy of relations in socially constructing organizational realities

  • K. Dean et al.

    Realism, philosophy and social science

    (2006)
  • P.J. Dobson

    Critical realism and information systems research: Why bother with philosophy?

    Information Research

    (2002)
  • M. Easterby Smith et al.

    Management research: An introduction

    (2002)
  • C.P. Egri et al.

    Leadership in the North American environmental sector: Values, leadership styles and contexts of environmental leaders and their organizations

    Academy of Management Journal

    (2000)
  • C. Ellis et al.

    Their story/my story/our story: Including the researcher's experience in interview research

  • R.E. Fassinger

    Paradigms, praxis problems and promise: Grounded theory in counseling psychology research

    Journal of Counseling Psychology

    (2005)
  • S. Fleetwood

    The ontology of organisation and management studies

  • S. Fleetwood et al.

    Prediction in social science: The case of research on the human resource management-organisational performance link

    Journal of Critical Realism

    (2006)
  • B.G. Glaser

    Theoretical sensitivity: Advances in the methodology of grounded theory

    (1978)
  • Cited by (112)

    • Exploring the antecedents of shared leadership in event organisations

      2022, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management
    • Uncovering Mechanisms of Leadership as Influence Process

      2024, Leadership During a Crisis: A Focus on Leadership Development
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text