Grounded Theory Coding Studio

📖 What is Open Coding? In grounded theory, open coding is the first stage of analysis. You listen/watch with fresh eyes and label everything you notice — sounds, words, images, feelings — without forcing a framework. These raw labels are your initial codes. The goal is to break the text open and identify as many distinct concepts as possible before grouping them.

Song / Video Metadata

Song title Used as the document heading in your .qmd

Artist / group

Release year

Genre(s)

YouTube / Spotify link

Structured Listening (2 passes)

Listening protocol:

Pass 1 — Sound only: mute lyrics and notice tempo, key, instrumentation, production style.
Pass 2 — Content: focus on lyrics, narrative, imagery in the video.

Pass 1 — Sound notes Tempo, key, instruments, production

Pass 2 — Content notes Lyrics, narrative, visual imagery

Initial Code Prompts — Label everything you notice

Lyrical themes & content

Emotional & affective tone

Structural & linguistic elements

Musical & sonic features

Visual & video elements If a music video is available

Contextual factors

Additional observations & quick codes

Emergent Open Codes — Name 3–5 initial themes

Look across your notes above. What recurring concepts, tensions, or patterns do you see? Give each one a short label — these are your open codes. Don't worry about getting it "right"; these will evolve.

📖 What is Axial Coding? Axial coding is the second stage, where you begin to connect your open codes. You look for categories (broader groupings) and explore the relationships between them — causes, conditions, contexts, consequences, and strategies. The "axis" is the pivot point connecting subcategories to a core category.

Step 1 — Group your open codes into categories

Look at the open codes you named in Phase 1. Which ones cluster together? Combine related codes into broader categories. Each category should have a name and a short description of what it captures.

Step 2 — Explore relationships between categories

For each relationship, identify the two categories involved and describe how they connect. Use the relationship type to guide you. In GT, we look for: Causal conditions → Phenomenon → Context → Intervening conditions → Action/strategy → Consequences.

Step 3 — Paradigm model notes

Causal conditions What triggers or causes the central phenomenon?

Central phenomenon The main concept / event / process you are analyzing

Context Specific conditions that shape the phenomenon

Intervening conditions Broader structural factors that influence strategies

Action / interaction strategies How does the artist/text respond to the phenomenon?

Consequences Outcomes — for the artist, the audience, or the genre

📖 What is Selective Coding? Selective coding is where the theory comes together. You select one core category — the central concept that all other categories relate to — and systematically connect everything around it. The result is a storyline: a narrative that integrates your categories and begins to explain why and how something works the way it does.

Core Category

Core category name The single concept everything else revolves around

Why this is the core How does it relate to all other categories?

Story Line

Integrated narrative Write a paragraph that tells the story of your categories and their relationships

Theoretical Memo

What is a theoretical memo? Memos are informal notes to yourself about analytical decisions, hunches, contradictions, and emerging ideas. They are a core GT practice — write freely.

Key analytical insights

Gaps & tensions

Theoretical saturation notes Does more evidence confirm or challenge your categories?

Next steps

Discussion Board Excerpt

Post for class discussion Share your core category + 1 piece of evidence. Keep it to 3–5 sentences.

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Import a Previous QMD

Paste the contents of a saved .qmd file to repopulate all fields — useful for revising or continuing work.

Paste .qmd contents here

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Generate & Export

Generate your document, then copy as Markdown or download as a .qmd file for Obsidian.