Reading with Methodological Perspective Bias: A journey into Classic Grounded Theory

The following is a na ve narrative of my journey into classic grounded theory (CGT) and the consideration of the possible existence of methodological perspective bias when reviewing literature. Whilst research bias has been viewed from a number of differing perspectives, such as sample bias, interviewer bias, publication bias etc (Sica, 2006), there appears a dearth of discussion within the literature on methodological perspective bias, as well as, a reluctance to publicly acknowledge the existence of such bias. For the purpose of this paper the concept of bias is defined as “a source of systematic error … deriving from a conscious or unconscious tendency on the part of a researcher to produce data, and/or to interpret them, in a way that leans towards erroneous conclusions which are in line with his or her commitments” (Hammersley and Gomm, 1997, p.1).