RM: Documents

Question 1

what are the two key “classic” research studies using Documents?

Answer 1

1. Hey- (personal documents)- ‘she keeps-An Ethnography of Girl’s Friendships’
2. News Source- (Public documents)-> e.g. Newspapers

Question 2

what are the two key “Contemporary” research studies using Documents?

Answer 2

1. Shapiro & Humpherys (2013)
   (Personal Documents)-> ‘Comparing Military Blogs and Civil war Letters.’
2. Ofsted reports & school Websites (public documents)

Question 3

who was the sociologist who used Girls notes to find girls’ friendships at school?
Name the sociologist and what is about!

Answer 3

Hey
-‘She Keeps- An Ethnography of Girls’ friendships’

-> she collected notes passed between female students in lesson and school environments to see teenage girls’ construction in their femininity as part of her ethnography.

Question 4

list PET Strengths of using Documents in Hey’s ethnography research.

Answer 4

P:
-Opportunity was possible as Hey had been researching the schools generally
- low cost

E:
- contrast gained at the end
- debriefing

T:
- High validity due to no Hawthorne effect ->as notes were not written sociologist to see.

Question 5

list PET Limitations of using Documents in Hey’s ethnography research.

Answer 5

P:
- Access could have been difficult as many notes are thrown away
- time- consuming

E:
-Lack of informed consent until towards the end of the research,
- lack of confidentially and anonymity
- invasion of privacy

T:
- Low representativeness
- low reliability
- subjectivity in interpretation

Question 6

list PET strengths of using Documents (Newspapers)

Answer 6

P:
- Easy to access
- low cost
- easy to analyse
- good overview to begin research from

E: No consent needed

T: can be analysed objectivity using formal content analysis

Question 7

list PET limitation of using Documents (Newspapers)

Answer 7

P: may not contain information relevant to the research

E: may not be appropriate for a thorough understanding of a sensitive topic .

T:
- subjectivity
- issue with drawing accurate comparisons
- low validity
-low reliability
- low representativeness.

Question 8

who are the sociological (contemporary) research using documents ? name the sociologist!

Answer 8

Shapiro& Humphreys-

(personal documents)
‘comparing Military Blogs and Civil War Letters.’

• they compare the military blog of ‘Dadmanly, with the letters and diaries of ‘Charlie Mac’ who joined the American Civil war in 1862.

Question 9

What was the difference and similarities between Dadmanly’s military blog and Charlie Mac’s letters and diaries ?

Answer 9

Difference:
Dadmanly wrote for a general audience the vast majority of whom he would never know, whereas Charlie wrote mostly for his family.

Similarities:
- both wrote about their political views
- both writer shows their desire to reassure family and friends about their safety and well-being.

Question 10

List PET strengths in ‘Comparing Military blog and civil war letters’ research.

Answer 10

P: Access to blogs easy, low cost, opportunity due to Mac’s family sharing his letters and diaries

E: Blogs publicity available to consent gained

T: Validity , depth , verstehen

Question 11

List PET limitations in ‘Comparing Military blog and civil war letters’ research.

Answer 11

P: Time- consuming to analyse

E: Lack of consent with historical letters and diaries
- invasion of privacy

T: Low representativeness
- low reliability
- subjectivity

Question 12

what are the examples for (contemporary ) using public documents?

Answer 12

Ofsted reports & school Websites

• this is a official school inspection process which they go to schools and inspect and create a report on what is the strengths and weakness of the school is and general information about the school, to supplement the awarding grades.

Question 13

what is PET strengths in using Ofsted reports & school websites

Answer 13

P: access easy due to public publishing on school website
- freely available

E: no informed consent needed

T: Detailed, a good overview of the school before further research

Question 14

what is PET limitations in using Ofsted reports & school websites

Answer 14

P: time-consuming to analyse

E: Pressure on schools/ teachers

T: Low representativeness
- subjectivity

Question 15

Define Public documents

Answer 15

Documents produced by public organisations(e.g. governement, schools , businesses)
Ex) black report - was a comprehensive examination of class and health in the uk. The news is also a public document .

Question 16

Define personal documents

Answer 16

Documents created by private individuals (letters, diaries , emails , photos and authographs )

Question 17

Define Historical documents

Answer 17

Documents (Both public and privte) created in the past. (there is no specific time when a document becomes historical )

Question 18

what are the “4 ways of assessing historical Documents “- Scott ? List 4.

Answer 18

1. Authenticity :
   * is the documents what is claims to be ?
   * is there no errors?
   * Can be sure who wrote this documents?
2. Credibility :
   * is document beliable and sincere?
   * Was the author presnt at event they discribe?
3. Representativeness:
   * is the evidence in the document typical to other founded similar documents?(증거가 전형적인가요)
   * Do those evidence that remain provide similar data to those that are lost?
4. Meaning :
   * what does it mean?
   * Has translation or the change in language althered meaning ?
   * Is there hidden menaing whithin the document?
   Can we sure our interpretation is right ?

Question 19

what are the practical strengths of using public documents?

Answer 19

• Cost : normally free and -widely available

only way of accessing historical analysis: often the only way to study historical events.

Question 20

what is practical limitation of using public documents

Answer 20

• Time : can take a long time to analyse and collect- particularly historical public documents
• Access: some official public documents are kept hidden though the official secrets act.

-Relevance: might not be relevant to the research to topic, especially in the case of the news

Question 21

what are the ethical strengths of using public documents?

Answer 21

• no informed consent needed: public documents are freely available
• confidentially: public documents rarely contain private information about individuals

Question 22

what are the ethical limitations of using public documents?

Answer 22

cold,clinical : public documents are usually not an appropriate way of truly understanding a sensitive issue

Question 23

what are the theoretical strengths of using public documents?

Answer 23

• validity: often provides in-depth data on a public issue.

Question 24

what are the theoretical limitations of using public documents?

Answer 24

• Subjective: not everyone may interpret documents the same way .

-Validity : may not be accurate and may be false

Question 25

what is positivist’s Theoretical views on using Documents?

Answer 25

do not usually use documents ad they are subjective , so they are likely to employ content analysis to quantify the data.

Question 26

what is interpretivist’s Theoretical views on using Documents?

Answer 26

They use documents as they provide rich , in-depth data, they are not concerned about the document not being representative.