''The Discovery of Grounded Theory'' is a 1967 book () by

Barney Glaser Barney Galland Glaser (1930-2022) was an American sociologist and one of the founders of the grounded theory methodology. Glaser was born on February 27, 1930, in San Francisco, California, and lived in nearby Mill Valley. He received his Bachel ...

and

Anselm Strauss Anselm Leonard Strauss (December 18, 1916 – September 5, 1996) was an American sociologist professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) internationally known as a medical sociologist (especially for his pioneering attention t ...

grounded theory Grounded theory is a systematic methodology that has been largely applied to qualitative research conducted by social science, social scientists. The methodology involves the construction of hypotheses and theories through the collecting and anal ...

. 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: * Legitimize

qualitative research Qualitative research is a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical (descriptive) data in order to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation. This ...

. Having a reference book by established authors helped students defend qualitative studies which were not widely accepted at the time. * Criticize functionalists like

Talcott Parsons Talcott Parsons (December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979) was an American sociologist of the classical tradition, best known for his social action theory and structural functionalism. Parsons is considered one of the most influential figures in sociol ...

and his student

Robert K. Merton Robert King Merton (born Meyer Robert Schkolnick; July 4, 1910 – February 23, 2003) was an American sociologist who is considered a founding father of modern sociology, and a major contributor to the subfield of criminology. He served as th ...

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

ethnographic Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

descriptions.

References

* Legewie, Heiner & Schervier-Legewie, Barbara (September 2004). "Forschung ist harte Arbeit, es ist immer ein Stück Leiden damit verbunden. Deshalb muss es auf der anderen Seite Spaß machen". Anselm Strauss interviewed by Heiner Legewie and Barbara Schervier-Legewie. ''Forum: Qualitative Social Research On-line Journal'', 5(3), Art. 22.
Interview as MP3 audio (English)

Accessed on May 20, 2005. * Glaser, Barney G. and Strauss, Anselm L. (1967) ''The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research.'' Chicago.: Aldine. 1967 non-fiction books Social sciences books American non-fiction books Collaborative non-fiction books {{science-book-stub