Secondary Sources - Documents

Question 1

What are public documents

Answer 1

These are official publication such as official statistics eg crime/unemployment statistics on the census, government reports, media eg newspapers or novels or historical documents

Question 2

What are personal documents

Answer 2

Such as diaries and letters, text messages, emails, blogs, suicide notes, photos and family histories

Question 3

Reasons for using secondary data

Answer 3

. Information already exists so there is a possibility that the research can be conducted cheaply and quickly
. Historical information may be required
. Research topic could be dangerous to conduct as primary data
. Positivists more likely to use public documents containing quantitative data eg statistics that are more representative and reliable whereas interpretivists are more likely to use personal documents that give insight on meanings

Question 4

What are historical documents

Answer 4

Can take any form and may include any of the public/personal documents. The government and civil service compile numerous reports to investigate particular problems or social issues. They can include photos, paintings, maps, letters, diaries, reports

Question 5

Evaluation of use of documents

Answer 5

STRENGTHS
- (p) only way
- (p) cost and time efficient
- (e) few ethical issues
- (t) verstehen - view society through the eyes of the individuals
- (t) representive

WEAKNESSES
- (p) may be lack of data available
- (p) accessing data may be difficult
- (t) problems with interpretation
- (t) data may have been manipulated by government

Question 6

Example of document research

Answer 6

Laslett was a social historian who wanted to investigate two commonly held beliefs - firstly that people got married much earlier in past centuries and that families were much bigger and more likely to be extended in the past. Laslett used church and parish records and found family size and age of marriage was roughly the same as it was in the 1960s and families were not as extended as people imagined.

Question 7

Evaluation of use of personal documents

Answer 7

STRENGTHS
- (p) only way
- (t) verstehen - gaining insight into how people felt
- (t) can be valid as they are not worried for any audience

WEAKNESSES
- (p) may be hard to access
- (e) ethical issues of consent and harm
- (t) personal bias
- (t) misinterpretation
- (t) subjective according to positivists