As educational systems around the globe become more collaborative and at the same time more competitive (Culver & Warfvinge, in press), the theoretical framework guiding research into these systems must conceptualize and account for differences evident across cultures and countries. Too often, however, the theory underpinning much educational research is unclear. The purpose of this research was to examine how one type of methodology, grounded theory (GT), which has been used in the higher education literature in prominent journals in the United States and Europe, has provided insight into building theory from a research setting. As Glaser and Strauss (1967) have noted, grounded theory is a systematic examination that uses a constant comparative method to build theory from emerging associations. Analyzing data inductively, grounded theorists move from being descriptive to being analytical in creating conceptual frameworks grounded in the data (Charmaz, 2011). Grounded theory (GT) researchers distinguish from other qualitative researchers by focusing on a causal process and using quantitative research tools in order to ground the theory in the data (Bryant & Charmaz, 2012). GT methods provide teachers, researchers, and policy makers with a set of procedures that enable them to think theoretically (LaRossa, 2005). Studying the social phenomena systematically and explaining it theoretically enables the researcher to capture relevant aspects of the topic under study (Corbin & Strauss, 1990). In their study Corbin and Strauss presented a set of criteria for evaluating studies in GT and suggested other qualitative researchers to define their own evaluative criteria. Our main goal for examining higher education literature is continuing the development of the rigor the studies published. 

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