We set out to investigate the metapragmaticsMetapragmatics of im/politenessIm/politeness by conducting an investigation based on grounded theoryGrounded theory (Auerbach and Silverstein in Qualitative data: an introduction to coding and analysis. NYU Press, 2003; Birks and Mill in Grounded theory: a practical guide, 3rd edn. Sage, 2022; Charmaz in Constructing grounded theory, 2nd edn. Sage, 2014). This involved collecting data using interviewsInterviews with language users about their perspectives on im/politeness, and then analyzing this data in an inductive and reflexive process. Finally, it involved creating theoretical claims grounded empirically in what our participants actually said about im/politeness. The research design was tailored to address our concerns that metapragmaticMetapragmatics research in the field of im/politeness needs to be more participant-oriented as well as more theoretically impactful (see Chap. 2 ). We conducted research on KoreanKorean, and were particularly mindful to avoid recreating the stereotypical descriptions of im/politenessIm/politeness that characterize previous research on this language (see Chap. 3 ). In this chapter, we introduce the research context (Sect. 4.2), participants (4.3), data collection procedures (4.4) and data analysis techniques (4.5), placing particular focus on how we fostered a participant-centred perspective.