TY - JOUR
T1 - Computational grounded theory revisited
T2 - From computer-led to computer-assisted text analysis
AU - Carlsen, Hjalmar Bang
AU - Ralund, Snorre
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - The size and variation in both meaning-making and populations that characterize much contemporary text data demand research processes that support both discovery, interpretation and measurement. We assess one dominant strategy within the social sciences that takes a computer-led approach to text analysis. The approach is coined computational grounded theory. This strategy, we argue, relies on a set of unwarranted assumptions, namely, that unsupervised models return natural clusters of meaning, that the researcher can understand text with limited immersion and that indirect validation is sufficient for ensuring unbiased and precise measurement. In response to this criticism, we develop a framework that is computer assisted. We argue that our reformulation of computational grounded theory better aligns with the principles within grounded theory, anthropological theory generation and ethnography.
AB - The size and variation in both meaning-making and populations that characterize much contemporary text data demand research processes that support both discovery, interpretation and measurement. We assess one dominant strategy within the social sciences that takes a computer-led approach to text analysis. The approach is coined computational grounded theory. This strategy, we argue, relies on a set of unwarranted assumptions, namely, that unsupervised models return natural clusters of meaning, that the researcher can understand text with limited immersion and that indirect validation is sufficient for ensuring unbiased and precise measurement. In response to this criticism, we develop a framework that is computer assisted. We argue that our reformulation of computational grounded theory better aligns with the principles within grounded theory, anthropological theory generation and ethnography.
KW - Computational text analysis
KW - digital social research
KW - grounded theory
KW - interpretation
KW - mixed methods
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85126647555
U2 - 10.1177/20539517221080146
DO - 10.1177/20539517221080146
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85126647555
SN - 2053-9517
VL - 9
JO - Big Data and Society
JF - Big Data and Society
IS - 1
ER -