Between Methodical Systematization and Creativity: An Example of the Application of Grounded Theory for the Documentary Analysis of Regulations on Asylum

Abstract

This article aims to contribute to debates on research based on documentary analysis. It describes the theoretical and methodological contributions of some authors on the subject and then focuses on the proposal of Grounded Theory. In relation to this method, its main tools, postulates, and criteria are presented and then exemplified with its application in research on the right to protection of refugees and/or applicants for refugee status. Underlying the work is the idea that, in documentary analysis, the articulation between methodological rigor and the art of interpretation is necessary for the development of a systematic, flexible, and situated analysis strategy, combining “epistemological vigilance” and “sociological imagination.”