Basic Social Processes
The goal of grounded theory is to generate a theory that accounts for a pattern of behavior that is relevant and problematic for those involved. The goal is not voluminous description, nor clever verifi cation. As with all grounded theory, the generation of a basic social process (BSP) theory occur...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Sociology Press
2005-06-01
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| Series: | Grounded Theory Review: An International Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://groundedtheoryreview.org/index.php/gtr/article/view/317 |
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| Summary: | The goal of grounded theory is to generate a theory that accounts for a pattern of behavior that is relevant and problematic for those involved. The goal is not voluminous description, nor clever verifi cation. As with all grounded theory, the generation of a basic social process (BSP) theory occurs around a core category. While a core category is always present in a grounded research study, a BSP may not be.
BSPs are ideally suited to generation by grounded theory from qualitative research because qualitative research can pick up process through fieldwork that continues over a period of time. BSPs are a delight to discover and formulate since they give so much movement and scope to the analyst’s perception of the data. BSPs such as cultivating, defaulting, centering, highlighting or becoming, give the feeling of process, change and movement over time. They also have clear, amazing general implications; so much so, that it is hard to contain them within the confines of a single substantive study. The tendency is to refer to them as a formal theory without the necessary comparative development of formal theory. They are labeled by a “gerund”(“ing”) which both stimulates their generation and the tendency to over-generalize them.
In this paper, we shall fi rst discuss the search for, and criteria of, core variables (categories) and how they relate to BSPs. Then we go on to a section on several central characteristics of basic social processes. Lastly, we discuss the relative merits of unit vs. process sociology.
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| ISSN: | 1556-1542 1556-1550 |