Ready-to-wear: discovering grounded formal theory

As qualitative methods have become popular and qualitative reports abundant, researchers have begun to discuss techniques for synthesizing findings about related phenomena from diverse samples. Grounded formal theory analysis is one such approach that can yield higher level, broadly applicable theory from analysis of situation-specific substantive theories. Although grounded formal theories may lack the cultural detail and contextual tailoring of smaller, more focused "designer" analyses, they have the potential to serve as "ready-to-wear" models that fit experiences of individuals in a variety of settings.