Grounded Theory and Qualitatitve Methods ~ UNIPI

Language: English

Period: 19 – 22 May 2026

Application Deadline: 19 April 2026

Program Intensity: Full-time

ECTS: 3

Tuition fees: 500€

IMPORTANT NOTICE: undergraduate and postgraduate students, PhD candidates, researchers not employed by universities benefit from a special 50% discount. For them the tuition fees amount to 250€.

Following the success of previous editions (2016, 2017, 2019, 2024), which saw the participation of more than two hundred students from all around the world, the Department of Political Science of the University of Pisa is now organizing the new International Summer School on Grounded Theory and Qualitative Methods.

This short (four days) but intense Summer School will continue the long-standing tradition of the Center for Advanced Studies in Symbolic Interactionism and Qualitative Methods of the Department of Political Science (University of Pisa), in offering opportunities for knowledge and in-depth study for all those who are engaged in empirical qualitative research activities (but not only), particularly for PhD students and young researchers.

The Summer School hosts the best of internationally renowned scholars in the Grounded Theory – Qualitative Research and Symbolic Interactionism perspective (Kathy Charmaz and David Altheide opened the first edition with their lectures, and Joseph Kotarba, Jacqueline Low, Lisa-Jovan den Scott gave speech and key-lectures last year), and of the Italian teachers whose contribution is particularly relevant in the study of qualitative methods.

This edition of the Summer School too will include lectures by well-known scholars in the field of Grounded Theory and Qualitative Methods, to give advice, suggestions, and practical directions in the use of Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Softwares (CAQDAS). Particularly, the afternoon sessions will be dedicated to an open dialogue between the participants and the lecturers (and other scholars), in which it will be possible to deal with specific issues related to the participant’s own research projects.

The Summer School will be activated with at least 10 students. The maximum number of participants is set to 100 students.

The Summer School will be held on campus, in Pisa, at Polo Piagge, via Matteotti, 11.

Aim

The Summer School will be an opportunity to deepen the understanding of the Grounded Theory’s contribution to the development of qualitative methods, and its coherence with the theoretical and methodological heritage of Symbolic Interactionism will be highlighted.

The Summer School supports participants who are currently in the midst of a qualitative research project or engaged in qualitative coding for an earlier study, whether or not it’s a Grounded Theory study.
Qualitative researchers often experience problems such as getting lost after collecting and coding data, overlooking possibilities for developing their ideas, and having difficulties in writing their reports. The Summer School focuses on improving skills in using Grounded Theory strategies to increase the incisiveness, clarity, and creativity of your work. It will help students retain the flexibility of Grounded Theory while furthering the conceptual depth and scope of their analysis. Since analysis does not stop when we move to drafting our reports, we will briefly discuss how to create a rendering of the participants’ work to increase the power of their analysis. We will also address strategies for developing arguments, writing literature reviews, and theoretical frameworks.
To this end, participants are invited to prepare questions for the speakers, so that there can be concrete effects on their research projects. In particular, we will emphasize how to

develop and recognize powerful codes,
engage in comparative analysis,
strengthen the emergent conceptual categories, and
integrate these categories into a coherent and compelling report,
satisfy quality in qualitative analysis,
communicate findings and
use CAQDAS to improve the analyses.

We will also address the fit between Grounded Theory and Symbolic Interactionism, and how the method and perspective complement each other.

Finally, the Summer School aims at building a community of scholars interested in GT, Qualitative Methods and Symbolic Interactionism.

Who can apply

The Summer School is designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students, PhD candidates, researchers, professors, professionals operating both in public and in private fields.

Application

Admission Requirements

To be undergraduate and postgraduate students, PhD candidates, researchers, professors, professionals operating both in public and in private fi elds.

Required documents

Identity Document (*PASSPORT in case you are a foreign student*)
Enrolment Form
Curriculum vitae

All the documents must be in pdf format, in order to upload them on the portal when required.

Application has to be submitted via Alice portal following the instructions of the “How to apply” page.

Fees

Tuition fees: 500€

IMPORTANT NOTICE: undergraduate and postgraduate students, PhD candidates, researchers not employed by universities benefit from a special 50% discount. For them the tuition fees amount to 250€.

Pay fees by Debit/Credit Card or PayPal online using the following Payment Form

NOTICE:

International students without Italian Tax Code: please tick the box ‘Anonymous’ in order to disable the field ‘Italian personal ID/VAT number’.
Please type your NAME and SURNAME next to the pre-filled text of the field ‘Reason’
Please pay only after receiving the admission letter

REFUND POLICY:

Registration fees will be fully refunded in the event of compelling reasons (to be communicated to the scientific coordinator), and within 20 days of the start date of the Summer School.

Contacts

Coordinator
Prof. Irene Psaroudakis irene.psaroudakis@unipi.it

Operational Manager
Dr. Alice Levy alice.levy@phd.unipi.it

Website https://grounded-theory.sp.unipi.it/

Summer/Winter School Office support.summerschool@unipi.it

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Grounded Theory and Qualitatitve Methods

Admission Requirements

Required documents

Contacts