BL MS Harley 2253

Might a method from social sciences embracing both qualitative and quantitative collection and analysis of evidence be useful for medieval literary and cultural studies in our “post-theory” age?

Grounded theory, an inductive method that eschews a priori theoretical frameworks in favor of a contingent, recursive, and comprehensive process in which the result is a theory about a given area of interest, leaves the reader and scholar open to exploration and discovery unconfined by a single theoretical box.

Its “discoverers” Barney G. Glaser and Anselm L. Strauss ([1967]. The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for qualitative research; Aldine Publishing) sought to define data in the broadest possible ways, using Glaser’s motto, “Everything is [or can be] data.”

With this in mind, my “memos” (Glaser’s term for continuous notations on the researcher’s data) here will constitute descriptions and concepts as they emerge from my own reading, thought, and analysis.

In the formation of grounded theories, moreover, the data lead to concepts, not just to descriptions.

As far back as 1978, Glaser contended that:

Grounded theory is a general methodology for generating theory. It is not wedded to Sociology or Social Science–let alone to a school or position in Sociology. It is useful in any field that wishes to generate in inductive theory from systematically collected data, whether qualitative or quantitative. And generated theories which fit, work and are relevant have potentially many specific uses, for many fields (p. 164).

Further Reading

Antony Bryant & Kathy Charmaz. (2007) Introduction: Grounded Theory research: Methods and practices. The SAGE Handbook of Grounded Theory. SAGE Publications. https://methods.sagepub.com/hnbk/edvol/the-sage-handbook-of-grounded-theory/chpt/introduction-grounded-theory-research-methods-practices?PageNum=15

Glaser, Barney G. (1978) Advances in the Methodology of Grounded Theory: Theoretical sensitivity. Sociology Press.

Glaser, Barney G. (2007) Doing Formal Grounded Theory: A proposal. Sociology Press.

Glaser, Barney G. (1992) Emergence vs Forcing: Basics of Grounded Theory analysis. Sociology Press.