About Grounded Theory

“Grounded theory” has a handful of meanings, and I think that they’re all helpful for our purposes—that is, for thinking about “what is ethnography?” and “what is ethnographic writing?”  It can be a

• method, or way of obtaining data. 
• approach to analyzing data—gathering it first and then formulating theories/explanations about what it all means, how it fits together, why it functions in the way(s) that it does
• methodology, or rationale for constructing your research design 
• lens through which you can see the world.  This is super-broad, sure, but if you think about it, it can be an entire outlook or philosophy—are you someone who makes conclusions/judgments (or even tentative hypotheses) first and then seeks to go out and confirm them?  Or are you someone who wants to seek out the data and then arrive at conclusions?  

This ties back to ethnography because it seems to me that most ethnographers see the world of research and human experience through a grounded theory-informed perspective.  The world already exists and it’s their job—as anthropological researchers and social scientists—to understand its many cultures from the native’s perspective(s).