On April 13th, Professor Li Zhigang from the School of Management of Ocean University of China was invited to make an academic report on how to understand and carry out rooted theoretical research, and to exchange ideas with teachers and students. In the morning, Professor Li Zhigang elaborated on how to use the grounded theory to carry out research. He started by introducing the points for attention during interviews, such as paying attention to the emotions of the interviewees, mastering communication skills, ways to obtain audio and video data, and the basic quality requirements of the interviewer. Professor Li pointed out that when using grounded theory for research, interviews, literature reading and theoretical mastery should form an interactive cycle: literature reading is the basis of the initial stage and can be used to compare with interview information at any time. However, it can not be used as a criterion for judging the content of the interview. The initial literature and theoretical preparation may not be sufficient, the new information extracted from the interview needs to be further studied on the basis of relevant literature theory, and this may require a second round of interviews, so that we can form a circular interaction between interviews and literature theory. In addition, the interview information that is inconsistent with the existing theory deserves more attention, which may lead to the discovery of new contents or theories. Professor Li mentioned that the establishment of a theory requires three steps, namely concept, categorizing basing on the concept and forming a conceptual framework model.

In the afternoon, under the title of Grounded Theory and Its Application in Fissile Entrepreneurship Research, Professor Li Zhigang started with his personal experiences, and shared his story of getting involved with the grounded theory, as well as the current relevant research results. He mentioned that the application of grounded theory is more and more widely applied, and there is increasing number of articles on this topic. The theory’s value is getting more recognition and attention from the academic community. During the session of sharing and discussion of students’ research, the students presented their own research on the application of grounded theory and put forward their confusion and problems during the process. Professor Li gave suggestions for improving the research of the students. The questions and confusions were solved one by one. In the end, Professor Li encouraged students to pay attention to the grounded theory, study and apply the theory. He looked forward to further exchanges and discussions.

The day of exchange and sharing was concluded with enthusiastic applause from the students. Professor Li Zhigang’s deep understanding and vivid explanation of the grounded theory had enriched students’ knowledge of the research methods based on the grounded theory. They had a deeper understanding of how to apply the grounded theory method to carry out research, and it was an important enlightening on further academic thinking and research.