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[log in to unmask] writes: >Generalizable theory can grow from specific cases, but the process is >an emergent process based on multiple cases. Sorry if I wasn't clear in my previous posting. In saying that "The principle of grounded heory allows for generalizable theory to grow from situation-specific theory" I was taking for granted that this was through the accumulation of many specific cases" Also, as Ken points out, going back to basics, as in investigating the properties of clay in the firing process, is a risky business but that is the nature of research. However, in the individual case I mentioned, the researcher who pulled back from basic research was not making a choice in isolation. Like all of us he has to consider questions of funding and his own career. Also, by choosing to concentrate on codifying the tacit knowledge of craftsmen and designers he was taking an alternative route to the discovery of what these materials do - he was creating useful tools for today and a basis for refining understanding in the future and this was where I saw the parallel with grounded theory. best wishes from Sheffield Chris Rust ******************************************* Chris Rust Reader in Design Art and Design Research Centre Sheffield Hallam University UK [log in to unmask] tel +44 114 225 2706 fax +44 114 225 2603 Psalter Lane, Sheffield S11 8UZ, UK