Symbiotic Theorization

Grounded theory method (GTM) is the standard theorization approach used to develop theories grounded in data (TGD). In this paper, I propose symbiotic theorization (ST) as an alternate approach to developing theories grounded in data. Compared to GTM, ST elevates the role of subject matter owners (SMOs, the people whose behaviors a theoretician is studying) to theory aggregator to allow true emergence of theories grounded in data from their actions and interactions. This simultaneously reduces the role of theoretician to moderator, catalyst, and integrator of the theory. ST’s interpretation and implementation of emergence brings it in line with the modern concept of emergence in complex system theory. ST also introduces a third type of participant, theoretical coders (TCer), who are well versed in various theoretic codes and are hired to serve as catalysts for the emergence of theoretical relationships. ST specifies an environment where subject matter owners and theoreticians are motivated to work in a symbiotic manner to generate a good theory that is sufficiently abstract and comprehensive, while explaining and predicting well.