Socio-Technical Grounded Theory: An Overview

This chapter provides an overview of socio-technical grounded theory (STGT) for conducting qualitative research within qualitative and mixed-methods research studies. First, we will learn about the underlying socio-technical research framework which acts as the sweet spot for applying STGT and more generally for conducting qualitative empirical research in the modern digital world. Next, we will be introduced to STGT including an overview of its philosophical foundations, methodological steps and procedures for qualitative research, and published examples. We will learn about the possible applications of the full STGT method or in a limited capacity as STGT for data analysis. We will also learn about an application selection guide to help us decide how best to apply STGT and when possibly not to. Finally, we will be introduced to the evaluation guidelines. This chapter serves to provide a birds-eye view of STGT, encouraging further exploration in the remaining chapters.