Question about symbolic interactionism and grounded theory

Q:
What is symbolic interactionism in grounded theory? 


A:
Grounded Theory is informed by the pragmatism and has the ideas of the symbolic interactionist. I quote Parker & Roffey (1997, pp.216-217) and Denzin (1989, p.5) statements here to let you see the connections between Symbolic interactionism and Grounded theory.


Similarities:

• Interacting individuals produce and define their own definitions of a situation;
• People can engage in self-reflexive behaviour (i.e. assessing the contextual meaning of their own actions and reactions), and
• humans interact with each other in negotiating a poisition in relation to each other.

Differences:

• Interactionists regard (observation of) human interaction as their basic source of date
• Grounded thoery includes data sources such as interviews, written reports and documents that relate to the research phenomenon.