category-development

name	category-development
description	Use when developing and densifying categories with properties, dimensions, conditions, and consequences.

Category Development and Densification

A category is a higher-order concept that groups related incidents under an abstract label. Dense categories specify properties (characteristics) and dimensions (ranges along which properties vary), plus conditions under which patterns hold and consequences that follow.

From code to category

Move up a level when multiple codes repeatedly co-occur or share a latent pattern. Rename categories using participant-relevant language when possible (in vivo lift), then refine to conceptual clarity.

Properties and dimensions

• Property: what kind of thing this category is (e.g., “visibility” as a property of stigma management).
• Dimension: the range (high/low, public/private, formal/informal).

Example: if “time pressure” is a category, properties might include source (institutional vs interpersonal) and duration (acute vs chronic); dimensions map variation across cases.

Conditions and consequences

Ask:

• When does this category appear? Under what conditions does it intensify or disappear?
• What follows from it—emotionally, interactionally, structurally?

Use conditional matrices (see visual-modeling) when relationships multiply.

Densification through comparison

Compare incidents within the same category to discover new properties. Compare across categories to locate boundaries (what this category is not).

Thin vs thick categories

A thin category is a label without variation spelled out. A thick category has:

• Clear definition.
• Exemplar incidents.
• Property/dimension map.
• Known conditions/consequences.
• documented negative cases.

Relationship to saturation

Saturation is about categories: you stop sampling for a category when fresh data no longer reveals new properties/dimensions relevant to your emerging theory. Some peripheral categories may remain thin if they are not theoretically central—justify that choice.

Category profile template (use in memos)

• Name:
• Definition:
• Exemplars (IDs):
• Properties & dimensions:
• Conditions:
• Consequences:
• Related categories (hypothesized links):
• Negative cases:

Worked example (abbreviated)

Category: “Patching workarounds.”

• Property: visibility (hidden vs visible to management).
• Dimension: risk (low vs high sanction).
• Condition: arises when formal protocols conflict with patient safety pressures.
• Consequence: temporary relief but accumulates moral distress.

Checklist

• Category defined at one conceptual level (not a grab-bag).
• Properties/dimensions extracted via comparison.
• Conditions/consequences hypothesized and tested with new data.
• Negative cases actively sought.
• Links to core category articulated as the theory matures.

References (starting points)

• Glaser, B. G. Theoretical Sensitivity — theoretical coding families and category logic.
• Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. Basics of Qualitative Research — conditional/consequential thinking (read critically alongside Glaserian distinctions).
• Konecki, K. Visualizing Grounded Theory — diagrams for category relations.