The Impact of Symbolic Interaction on Grounded Theory

• Main Author: Barney G. Glaser, Ph.D., Hon. Ph.D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociology Press 2005-03-01
• Series: Grounded Theory Review: An International Journal
• Subjects: symbolic interaction; grounded theory
• Online Access: http://groundedtheoryreview.com/2005/03/30/1575/

As I stated in the introduction to chapter 9, GT is a general inductive method possessed by no discipline or theoretical perspective or data type. Yet the takeover of GT by Symbolic Interaction (SI) and all the departments and institutes that SI informs and resides in is massive and thereby replete with the remodeling of GT. The literature on qualitative methodology is massive and replete with the assertion that SI is the foundation theoretical perspective of GT. GT is reported as a SI method. That GT is a general inductive method is lost.Sure, GT can use SI type data and its perspective, but as a generalmethod it can use any other type data, even other types of qualitativedata, as well as quantitative, visual, document, journalistic and inany combination, and any other theoretical perspective, such as e.g.systems theory, social structural theory, structural functional theory,social organization theory, cultural theory etc. Thus, the takeover of GT as an SI perspective methodology is just discipline-perspective dominance, as discussed above, and nothing more. It, of course, dominates with a set of TCs (process, strategies, conditions, context etc) I have considered at length in chapters above.