Kathy Charmaz 
Professor of Sociology
Coordinator, Faculty Writing Program
Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco
Email: kathy.charmaz@sonoma.edu
Voicemail: 707.664.3955
Fax: 707.664.3920
Office: Stevenson 2084-G
Areas of Expertise:
Sociological Theory, Social Psychology, Qualitative Methods, Health and Illness, Aging and Dying
Academic Interests:
Kathy Charmaz is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Faculty Writing Program at Sonoma State University in which she helps faculty with their research and scholarly writing. She has written, co-authored, or co-edited eight books including Developing Grounded Theory: The Second Generation, the Handbook of Grounded Theory and Health, Illness, and Healing: Society, Social Context and Self as well as well as two award-winning books, Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide Through Qualitative Analysis, and Good Days, Bad Days: The Self in Chronic Illness and Time. Dr. Charmaz writes numerous chapters and articles on qualitative research methods and also publishes in the areas of social psychology and writing for publication. Currently, she works with four psychologists on an innovative collaborative project that demonstrates how researchers representing five different qualitative approaches analyze the same data.
Dr. Charmaz is the president of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction and has served as Chair of the Medical Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association, President of the Pacific Sociological Association, and Editor of Symbolic Interaction. She has received the Feminist Mentors Award and George Herbert Mead Award for lifetime achievement from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction. For the past decade, Dr. Charmaz has been a frequent keynote speaker and seminar presenter in the broad fields of health and illness and qualitative methods. In addition, she regularly teaches professional development classes and workshops for graduate students and faculty on grounded theory methods and academic writing at ResearchTalk in Long Island, New York. As an undergraduate sociology teacher, Dr. Charmaz has an enduring interest in helping SSU students improve their writing and analytic skills and prepare for graduate school.
Courses Offered:
SOCI 315: Socialization
SOCI 317: Emotions and Adult Life
SOCI 319: Aging and Society
SOCI 326: Social Psychology
SOCI 332: Death and American Culture
SOCI 375: Classical Sociological Theory
SOCI 418: Methods Seminar: Social Development of the Self
SOCI 452: Methods Seminar: Health Care and Illness
SOCI 498: Senior Seminar
Selected Publications:
Morse, Janice, Phyllis Stern, Juliet Corbin, Barbara Bowers, Kathy Charmaz, and Adele Clarke. 2009.Developing Grounded Theory: The Second Generation. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
Charmaz, Kathy. 2009. “Recollecting Good and Bad Days.” Pp. 48-62 in Ethnographies Revisited: Constructing Theory in the Field, edited by A. Puddephatt, W. Shaffir, and S. Kleinknecht. London and New York: Routledge.
Charmaz, Kathy. 2008. “Views from the Margins: Voices, Silences, and Suffering.” Qualitative Research in Psychology 5:7-18.
Charmaz, Kathy. 2008. “Grounded Theory as an Emergent Method.” Pp. 155-170 in The Handbook of Emergent Methods, edited byS. N. Hesse-Biber and P. Leavy. New York: Guilford.
Bryant, Antony and Kathy Charmaz (eds.). 2007. Handbook of Grounded Theory. London: Sage.
Charmaz, Kathy. 2006. Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide Through Qualitative Analysis. London: Sage.
Charmaz, Kathy. 2006. “What’s Good Writing in Feminist Research? What Can Feminist Researchers Learn about Good Writing?” Pp. 443-458 in Handbook of Feminist Research Methods, edited by S. Hesse-Biber and D. Leckenby. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Charmaz, Kathy. 2000. “Grounded Theory Methodology: Objectivist and Constructivist Qualitative Methods.” Pp. 509-535 in Handbook of Qualitative Research 2nd ed., edited by N. K. Denzin and Y. Lincoln. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Charmaz, Kathy. 1991. Good Days, Bad Days: The Self in Chronic Illness and Time. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.