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The purpose of this article is to present a plausible framework to initiate discussion regarding the concept of emergence in grounded theory. Using ontological and epistemological positions to develop three research paradigms, and applying these paradigms to various uptakes of grounded theory demonstrates differences in the definition of emergence. Discovery emergence is presented as a unidirectional relationship between the constituent parts (data) and the emergent property (theory) observed by an external postpositivist grounded theorist. Mechanistic emergence is presented as having a bidirectional relationship between the constituent part (data) and the emergent property (theory) observed by an external constructionist grounded theorist. Finally, reflective emergence is presented as having a bidirectional relationship between the constituent parts (data) and the emergent property (theory) interpreted by an interpretivist grounded theorist.
Merry-Jo D. Levers (Tue,) studied this question.