"...the researcher should not predetemine a priori about what he or she will find, and what and how social phenomena should be viewed. Therefore, the value of Grounded Theory is that it avoids making assumptions and instead adopts a more neutral view of human action in a social context. (Simmons, DE (2006). Some professional and personal notes on research methods, systems theory and grounded action. World Futures: Journal of Global Education 62, 7, 481-490.)
"Grounded theory provides a methodology to develop an understanding of social phenomena that is not pre-formed or pre-theoretically developed with existing theories and paradigms." (Engward, H (2013) Nursing standard, 28, 7, 37-41)
As an exploratory method, grounded theory is particularly well suited for investigating social processes that have attracted little prior research attention, where the previous research is lacking in breadth and/or depth, or where a new point of view on familiar topics appears promising. (Milliken, P. (2010). Grounded theory. In N. Salkind (Ed.), Encyclopedia of research design. (pp. 549-554). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.)
Other Comments gathered from the literature:
Grounded theory fails to recognize the embeddedness of the researcher and thus obscures the researcher's considerable agency in data construction and interpretation. (Bryant and Charmaz (eds.) (2007)
Other comments gathered from the literature:
Milliken, P. (2010). Grounded Theory. In Neil J. Salkind (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Research Design. (pp. 549-554). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412961288.n169
Feminist Qualitative Research and Grounded Theory: Complexities, Criticisms, and Opportunities. (2007). In A. Bryant, & K. Charmaz (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Grounded Theory. (pp. 417-436). London, England: SAGE Publications Ltd. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781848607941.n19