“Stop story talking! What’s the concept?” In Memoriam of Grounded Theory’s Co-Founder, Barney G. Glaser

Abstract

There are those rare moments in a life that are just meant to be. You might encounter a person, a piece of text or perhaps an idea that hits you in a way that you couldn´t possibly know beforehand. And yet you intuitively know it is a decisive moment. You get a sense of a cutting point, a transition that leads you on to a new path in life. There is a time before and a time after. But there is no way back. I have lived with grounded theory for two decades. I was lucky to be part of many activities within Barney Glaser´s expanding methodological landscape, and I used to meet him in person several times a year. In this very moment I can already hear Glaser´s dark, friendly-teasing voice ring in the back of my mind: “Stop story talking! What´s the concept?”

Keywords

• story talk
• grounded theory
• barney glaser
• concepts