nd the informant. Purposeful sampling of individuals with particular knowledge of an event is used (Vishnevsky ands Beanlands 2004, p.236). Grounded theory methodology is concerned with developing new theories grounded in data (Vishnevsky and Beanlands 2004, p. 237). It is a mode of inductive analysis of qualitative research in moving from specific observations to general theory (Byrne 2001, pp. 1155-1156). As data is collected and analyzed, the researcher searches for a core variable which will serve as the foundation for the theory. Grounded theory provides nurses with strategies to build theories from qualitative research data. The researcher must link methodology, philosophy, and research method.
Because of its highly subjective nature, qualitative research may have idiosyncratic findings which may be difficult to apply to settings outside the research (Vishnevsky and Beanlands 2004, p.237). The reader must always evaluate the scientific merit, strengths and weaknesses and the generalizability of a qualitative study to his/her practice setting. The reader needs to address how closely the researcher adhered to the qualitative research methods, how well participants were selected, how data was collected and analyzed, and the truthfulness and validity of the study findings. Truthfulness in qualitative research is evaluated by credibility and comprehensiveness which reflect the accuracy and completeness with which the researcher recorded participant's experiences.
Trustworthiness was established in three ways in a study at the University of Toronto by Singer, Martin, Giacomini and Purdy (2000, pp.1316-1319). They did a qualitative study using case studies and grounded theory to describe priority setting for new technologies in medicine. They ensured trustworthiness by first having two investigators in addition to the primary investigator coding the raw data from one meeting to ensure the authenticity of the c...