Grounded theory is best for generating or discovering a theory to explain the experiences of the participants in the study while narrative analysis explores the stories told by a group (Creswell, 2013; Polio, Graves, and Arfken, 2006). The latter are a valuable means of explaining cultural or group views of experience (Creswell, 2013; Polio, Graves, and Arfken, 2006). If this study of taxpayer attitudes towards pre-filled tax returns sought to develop a theory to explain the "why" of taxpayer attitudes, then grounded theory would be an appropriate design method. Conversely, for a study attempting to determine what the attitudes are, grounded theory would not address the question adequately and would be neither appropriate nor effective. Moreover, the goal of determining existing taxpayer attitudes towards tax preparation does not lend itself to investigation through narrative analysis because it will not provide the answer to what those attitudes are. Conversely, a phenomenological study is well-suited to the phenomenon under …show more content…
Of these, 33.64% were taxpayers aged 18 to 34, 49.15% were aged 35 to 54, and 15.93% were aged 65 and older (SOI Tax Stats, 2016). Taxpayers under 18 years old filed the remaining 1.28% (SOI Tax Stats, 2016). Moreover, the data shows that single taxpayers filed 46.82% of all returns, those with head-of-household status filed 14.86% and 36.29% file with a status of married filing jointly (SOI Tax Stats, 2016). Married filing separately and surviving spouse statuses accounted for just under 2% of all returns filed (SOI Tax Stats, 2016). Participants will be selected with the goal of obtaining a sample similar to this where distribution with approximately 34% of the sample between age 18 – 34; 50% aged 35 – 54 and 16% aged 65 and