Basic Characteristics of M-GTA and its Analytical Process：

Renewing Possibilities of Qualitative Research

Abstract

　This paper discusses renewed possibilities of qualitative research, which is now being widely accepted as a research approach. Qualitative research is said to have emerged as an independent field in the early 1990s, transcending various human service disciplines. There were two contrasting streams of thought on research behind its emergence: the search for effective research methods to understand people with complex experiences, and a self-reflective attitude on hitherto unequal research relationships. The paper further discusses the tension-ridden interaction between the emerging qualitative research and the Grounded Theory Approach as proposed in the 1960s and goes on to examine basic characteristics of M（odified）-GTA and its analytical process. M-GTA has been substantially restructured from the original GTA in order to revitalize the possibilities of the original version while integrating possibilities and tasks of both Glaser’s and Strauss’s contributions.