Further uses for Grounded Theory: A methodology for psychological studies of the visual arts and written media

Wilkinson, Samantha ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1564-5472, Wilkinson, Catherine and Silverio, Sergio (2020) Further uses for Grounded Theory: A methodology for psychological studies of the visual arts and written media. Qualitative Methods in Psychology Bulletin, 29. ISSN 2044-0820

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Abstract

Grounded theory remains a popular qualitative methodology even after half-a-century of existence. Recent years have seen a renaissance in the use of the methodology and it is increasingly being utilised in innovative ways. These have included the application of grounded theory to ‘nontraditional’ data such as those derived from the performing arts, literature and visual media. Most published grounded theory analyses using these data appear experimental and/or tentative when drawing their conclusions, and little guidance is published on how to conduct grounded theory on visual and textual media. With this article, we go some way towards redressing this issue and further explore the adaptability and utility of grounded theory as a qualitative methodology. Further, we offer a methodological approach derived from the ‘classical’ school, to be used by psychologists and other social science researchers who wish to explore psychological phenomena in the context of the performing arts, literature and visual media.