Constant Comparative Method

The constant comparative method is the core analytic procedure of grounded theory. As coding proceeds, each new segment of data is compared with segments already coded, codes are compared with codes, and emerging categories are compared with fresh data. Through this continual comparison the researcher sharpens category definitions, notices variations, and develops the properties of each category until additional data yield no new insights.

For a thesis, the method links data collection and analysis into one iterative cycle, which often means analyzing early interviews before conducting later ones. Documenting your comparisons in memos gives you concrete material for the methodology chapter and shows examiners how categories were tested against the data rather than imposed on it. It also underpins any claim that your analysis reached saturation.