Philosophical Roots of Classical Grounded Theory: Its Foundations in Symbolic Interactionism

Authors

Khaldoun M. Aldiabat, University of Northern British ColumbiaFollow
Carole-Lynne Le Navenec, University of CalgaryFollow

Abstract

Although many researchers have discussed the historical relationship between the Grounded Theory methodology and Symbolic Interactionism, they have not clearly articulated the congruency of their salient concepts and assumptions. The purpose of this paper is to provide a thorough discussion of this congruency. A hypothetical example about smoking among college students is included in this paper to illustrate this relationship. This paper will be useful for qualitative researchers who seek a fuller understanding of how the assumptions and concepts provided by Symbolic Interactionism can inform the researcher who adopts a Grounded Theory methodology to investigate human behaviour. The relevance of this congruency for nursing researchers is discussed.

Keywords

Symbolic Interactionism, Grounded Theory, Philosophical Congruency, and Nursing Research

Publication Date

7-4-2011

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2011.1121

Recommended APA Citation

Aldiabat, K. M., & Le Navenec, C. (2011). Philosophical Roots of Classical Grounded Theory: Its Foundations in Symbolic Interactionism. The Qualitative Report, 16(4), 1063-1080. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2011.1121