The Discovery of Grounded Theory
Encyclopedia
The Discovery of Grounded Theory is a 1967 book (ISBN 0-202-30260-1) by Barney Glaser
and Anselm Strauss
on grounded theory
.
After their success with Awareness of Dying
, Glaser and Strauss decided to write a book on methodology. The Discovery of Grounded Theory was meant to invite and motivate people to use the newly developed methodology. Unlike later works, it does not provide much advice on how to put the theory into practice.
The authors had several goals in mind when writing the book:
Barney Glaser
Barney G. Glaser is an American sociologist and one of the founders of the grounded theory methodology.Glaser was born in San Francisco, California, and lives in Mill Valley. He received his BA degree at Stanford in 1952. He pursued academic studies at the University of Paris where he studied...
and Anselm Strauss
Anselm Strauss
Anselm Leonard Strauss was an American sociologist internationally known as a medical sociologist and as the developer of grounded theory, an innovative method of qualitative analysis widely used in sociology, nursing, education, social work, and...
on grounded theory
Grounded theory
Grounded theory is a systematic methodology in the social sciences involving the generation of theory from data. It is mainly used in qualitative research, but is also applicable to quantitative data....
.
After their success with Awareness of Dying
Awareness of Dying
Awareness of Dying is a 1965 book by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss.The book was also the first application of grounded theory...
, Glaser and Strauss decided to write a book on methodology. The Discovery of Grounded Theory was meant to invite and motivate people to use the newly developed methodology. Unlike later works, it does not provide much advice on how to put the theory into practice.
The authors had several goals in mind when writing the book:
- Legitimize qualitative researchQualitative researchQualitative research is a method of inquiry employed in many different academic disciplines, traditionally in the social sciences, but also in market research and further contexts. Qualitative researchers aim to gather an in-depth understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such...
. Having a reference book by established authors helped students defend qualitative studies which were not widely accepted at the time. - Criticize functionalists like Talcott ParsonsTalcott ParsonsTalcott Parsons was an American sociologist who served on the faculty of Harvard University from 1927 to 1973....
and his student Robert K. MertonRobert K. MertonRobert King Merton was a distinguished American sociologist. He spent most of his career teaching at Columbia University, where he attained the rank of University Professor...
who in turn had been a teacher of Barney Glaser. - Demonstrate the possibility of building theories from data, something that many qualitative researchers doubt to this day, instead choosing to stick with mere ethnographicEthnographyEthnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
descriptions.