A qualitative methodology, where 'grounded' refers to insights being derived directly from data. Rather than traditional methods that involve creating hypotheses and coming up with experiments to test them, grounded theory is an inherently inductive approach that does not force excessive early conjecturing, thereby reducing confirmation bias, ensures that derived theory is inherently grounded in data, and can be useful for new discoveries. --- TODO * read the foundational book * link with epistemology (what are the types of knowledge that it can be useful for generating) * what are the tradeoffs * how does it relate to other methodologies and methods