Describing expert practice in physical therapy.

In this article, the authors demonstrate how grounded theory may be used to develop models for understanding clinical practice. Through a series of research studies involving novice, experienced, and expert physical therapy practitioners, conceptual frameworks were continually revised based on data obtained from returning to the field and relevant literature available at the time. As concepts and relationships moved to larger themes, a theoretical framework for expertise in clinical practice was proposed. Current work on verifying the theoretical framework continues. Grounded theory is an excellent research approach to bound and help guide a multistage research program involving multiple researchers working in multiple settings.