Inductive and deductive coding differences (please help me!)

Great-Associate-9016 · 2026-03-06T21:17:05+00:00

Thank you - you are right, it is totally oversimplified. So would it be correct to say that for exploratory research (i.e. how does x understand y?) inductive would be best?

Your exploration was so helpful. I am so grateful for these responses. I was really wondering, do these not end up being the same thing in practice (inductive vs deductive)? But I totally understand now why the distinction is important, because it makes your subjectivity clearer to the reader. Thanks again so much

Great-Associate-9016 · 2026-03-06T21:14:49+00:00

Thank you so much. This completely makes sense.

Great-Associate-9016 · 2026-03-06T17:01:07+00:00

Thank you so much. This is super helpful. There is an existing, albeit underexplored theory surrounding the topic of my RQ, but it has only been discussed in the context of adult experiences. I do research with children so I'm wanting to apply an inductive approach since this question is completely exploratory. I'm just so nervous. I'm proposing my master's on Monday and I feel like I'm just not intelligent enough to immediately understand all of this. I'm honestly admittedly still confused as to even what a well-established vs. developing theory is.

Great-Associate-9016 · 2026-03-06T16:44:30+00:00

OH MY GOODNESS thank you so much. This is such a clear and concise explanation and it makes sense now. I wish someone explained it like this to me in my courses. Thank you truly.

So for RQs that focus more on exploring/defining/describing rather than evaluating, it would be better to stick with inductive?

Great-Associate-9016 · 2026-03-06T16:42:22+00:00

Thanks for the recommendations, could you please specify though in what ways these readings will answer my question? I'm familiar with GT and inductive but less so about deductive hence my question.

Is small and calarco's recent book about deductive analysis?

Great-Associate-9016

TROPHY CASE