Symbolic Interactionism and Social Research

Symbolic interactionism has contributed to consolidate the legitimacy of qualitative methods on both epistemological and methodological levels; at the same time, it has provided a consistent theoretical framework for the development of a plurality of approaches, which have become increasingly popular among scholars. This chapter aims to describe the connection between the theoretical and epistemological patterns of symbolic interactionism and the more established qualitative approaches in the contemporary methodological landscape. The specific contribution that symbolic interactionism has offered to the conceptual and procedural renewal of social research is investigated here on two levels: the first concerns how the interactionist perspective has changed the understanding of the research process, its contents, and its practices; the second concerns the connections between the perspective, and three of the most used qualitative approaches, namely ethnography, grounded theory, and the postmodern perspective. The final section will briefly outline some of the current challenges that question the ability of symbolic interactionism to penetrate the complexity of social phenomena.