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Reverse Grounded Theory: A Practice Oriented Methodology

Fred Niederman

Journal of the Association for Information Systems2026article
AJG 4*ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

Many research methods commonly used to build knowledge in the domain of IS revolve around theoretical generalizations. Few methods are directly available to systematically capture useful lessons and heuristics that can be applied in practice. This article proposes a method to surface and present lessons based on expert informant experiences and tentative conclusions. It reverses the idea of grounded theory collecting and distilling ideas shallowly from a wide range of informants to probing deeply through multiple sessions with an experienced informant. Findings from such an investigation are not meant to theorize grand, universal, unchanging truths but rather to suggest important ways to consider and apply pragmatic plans and actions in practice, which can be framed as “detail level” theory if desired.

Cite this paper

@article{fred2026,
  title        = {{Reverse Grounded Theory: A Practice Oriented Methodology}},
  author       = {Fred Niederman},
  journal      = {Journal of the Association for Information Systems},
  year         = {2026},
}

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Reverse Grounded Theory: A Practice Oriented Methodology

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.