Grounded Theory - Definition and Overview

Grounded theory is a general research method for social sciences developed by the sociologists Barney Glaser (b. 1930) and Anselm Strauss (1916-1996). Their successful collaboration in research on dying in hospitals resulted in the book "Awareness of Dying" and the "constant comparative method" later named grounded theory in the methodology "The Discovery of Grounded Theory" (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). The name underscores the generation of theory from data.

Since the 1970s Glaser and Strauss have developed two different versions of the methodology dealt with in the following articles:

• Grounded Theory (Glaser) - an overview of grounded theory according to Glaser.
• Grounded Theory (Strauss) tells about grounded theory in the tradition of Strauss and later of Juliet Corbin.