Five Ukrainian universities used AI-assisted grounded theory on 51 literature sources

The open-access article examines how identity is created and fragmented within the social media landscape, and how the resulting “fragmented Self” figures in propaganda and public opinion formation. It takes a social constructionist stance and draws on soft power, public diplomacy, social identity, network, and agenda-setting theory.

Methodologically it combines qualitative content analysis with grounded theory elements, applied in sequence, an approach the authors argue yields deeper theoretical insight than either method alone. The sample of literature sources included 51 items, drawn together by five authors from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, the State University of Trade and Economics, and three other Ukrainian institutions.

Evidano was used to formulate the categories that were then carried into the constructed theory and modelling. The authors single out automatic theme extraction from qualitative data as the capability that let them move quickly from sources to candidate categories and concepts.

The inductive theory-development process itself was carried out manually, as grounded theory requires. The result is a conceptual model of digital soft power influence on fragmented identity across three dimensions: social, national, and civic identity. The split between AI-assisted category formulation and manual theory construction is stated plainly in the methodology section.