Methods - Documents Flashcards
What are the three kinds of documents?
- Public: documents created by organisations
- Personal: first-person accounts of social events and personal experiences
- Historical: a document created in the past
What are the 4 things you need to asses documents on?
Scott (1990):
- Authenticity: is it real and is it full?
- Credibility: is it true to the author’s experience?
- Representativeness: is it typical of people’s experiences?
- Meaning: What is it actually trying to say?
Why must we asses for authenticity in documents?
We have to check whether its a real document, free of errors, absences or forgery.
Why must we asses for credibility in documents?
We must check whether the author was sincere in their writing, some (such as politicians) know their writing will be publicised so will lie; additionally, high emotions (such as after a riot or tragedy) may affect credibility.
Why must we asses for representativeness in documents?
Experiences of documenters may not be generalisable: surviving documents may not be typical and certain groups may be unrepresented, like the illiterate or those with little leisure time.
Why must we asses for meaning in documents?
Researchers may require certain skills such as accurate foreign languages or to objectively analyse the experience.
What are the practical advantages and disadvantages of documents?
+ Most are easily accessible
+ Often the only source of info on the past
+ Cheap
- 30 year rule prevent access to official document for 30 years
- Not always documents for what you need
What are the ethical advantages and disadvantages of documents?
+ No harm (they be dead)
- No informed consent (They be dead)
What are the theoretical advantages and disadvantages of documents?
+ Very verstehen, insight through richly detailed qualitative data
+ Content analysis can make it quantitative
- Some reason to lie if they know its going public
- May not be representative
- Researcher may impose opinion
