Anselm L. Strauss

Who was Anselm L. Strauss?

Anselm Leonard Strauss was an American sociologist internationally known as a medical sociologist and as the developer of grounded theory, an innovative method of qualitative analysis widely used in sociology, nursing, education, social work, and organizational studies. He also wrote extensively on Chicago sociology/symbolic interactionism, sociology of work, social worlds/arenas theory, social psychology and urban imagery. He published over 30 books, chapters in over 30 other books, and over 70 journal articles.

Strauss, whose grandparents were German immigrants in the United States, was born in New York City and grew up in Mount Vernon, New York. His physician recommended that Strauss move to Arizona after high school because he suffered from bronchial problems. However, he moved to the University of Virginia in 1935, where he received his B.S. in Biology in 1939. From there he went to the University of Chicago, where he received his M.A. in sociology and his Ph.D. in the same field. It was also there where he studied symbolic interactionism under Herbert Blumer.