2.5D: Documents
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Documentary research involves examining texts and documents as evidence of human behavior.
Learning Objectives
- Describe different kinds of documents used in sociological research
Key Points
- This kind of sociological research is generally considered a part of media studies.
- Unobtrusive research involves ways of studying human behavior without affecting it in the process.
- Documents can either be primary sources, which are original materials that are not created after the fact with the benefit of hindsight, or secondary sources that cite, comment, or build upon primary sources.
- Typically, sociological research involving documents falls under the cross-disciplinary purview of media studies, which encompasses all research dealing with television, books, magazines, pamphlets, or any other human-recorded data. The specific media being studied are often referred to as texts.
- Sociological research involving documents, or, more specifically, media studies, is one of the less interactive research options available to sociologists. It can provide a significant insight into the norms, values, and beliefs of people belonging to a particular historical and cultural context.
- Content analysis is the study of recorded human communications.
Key Terms
- content analysis : Content analysis or textual analysis is a methodology in the social sciences for studying the content of communication.
- documentary research : Documentary research involves the use of texts and documents as source materials. Source materials include: government publications, newspapers, certificates, census publications, novels, film and video, paintings, personal photographs, diaries and innumerable other written, visual, and pictorial sources in paper, electronic, or other “hard copy” form.
- media studies : Academic discipline that deals with the content, history, meaning, and effects of various media, and in particular mass media.
Documentary Research
It is possible to do sociological research without directly involving humans at all. One such method is documentary research. In documentary research, all information is collected from texts and documents. The texts and documents can be either written, pictorial, or visual in form.
The material used can be categorized as primary sources, which are original materials that are not created after the fact with the benefit of hindsight, and secondary sources that cite, comment, or build upon primary sources.
Media Studies and Content Analysis
Typically, sociological research on documents falls under the cross-disciplinary purview of media studies, which encompasses all research dealing with television, books, magazines, pamphlets, or any other human-recorded data. Regardless of the specific media being studied, they are referred to as texts.
Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly from its core disciplines of mass communication, communication, communication sciences, and communication studies.
Researchers may also develop and employ theories and methods from disciplines including cultural studies, rhetoric, philosophy, literary theory, psychology, political economy, economics, sociology, anthropology, social theory, art history and criticism, film theory, feminist theory, information theory, and political science.
Content analysis refers to the study of recorded human communications, such as paintings, written texts, and photos. It falls under the category of unobtrusive research, which can be defined as ways for studying human behavior without affecting it in the process. While sociological research involving documents is one of the less interactive research options available to sociologists, it can reveal a great deal about the norms, values, and beliefs of people belonging to a particular temporal and cultural context.