The Grounded Theory and Non-empirical Research. Critical Analysis of the Components of the Qualitative Research Process

Abstract

Qualitative research constitutes a social practice anchored in a socio-historical context, which seeks to understand social reality and generate scientific knowledge through the collection of empirical data. Therefore, the qualitative approach to research attempts to interpret phenomena in in light of the meanings that research participants attribute to their actions and experiences. This article examines a qualitative research methodology: The Grounded Theory, originally formulated by Glaser and Strauss and later developed, with some variants, by Strauss and Corbin. The Grounded Theory allows the generation of theory from systematically collected and analyzed data. For this examination, the article uses research work on the integration of learning. Like academic legal research, Psychoanalytical research in the epistemological context of justification is theoretical research, i.e., non-empirical, where the data are texts and data analysis is based on a hermeneutical interpretation. As is the case with research in the legal fields, there is a tendency to demand empirical research in Psychoanalysis. Additionally, Psychoanalysis offers a critical look at Grounded Theory. The Grounded Theory cannot escape the bias and subjectivities of the researcher or the influence of the hegemonic discourse that predominates in the context in which the research takes place. Neither can it escape the vicissitudes of the transference between the researcher and the research participants.

 Keywords: Grounded Theory; Constant Comparative method; Psychoanalysis; hegemonic discourse