G O VT CO LLEG E O F ED UCATIO N CAN AL RO AD

JAM M U

TOPIC:-REVIEW VARIOUS
DOCUMENTS

Name : Amita Narsingia

Roll No:-02,M.Ed 2nd Sem
Session:-2015-17

 Documentary Analysis research is a

type of qualitative research that

focuses on the search, analysis and
interpretation
of
the
available
relevant documents for answering
the research questions of the study.

Documents should be available in

written form so that we can know
about their content by their reading
and comprehension.
They should essentially relate to
some aspect of the social world such
as individual or good behaviour, the
account or life events of an
individual, group, institution or
community etc

Letters,
Diaries &
Private
Papers

Biography
&
Autobiogra
phy

Public or
official
documents

Books &
Literature

Historical
Documents

Print &
Visual
media

Archives

Data Banks

Physical
Traces

EVALU ATIN G D O CU M EN TS
Scott (1990) has mentioned four

major criterias to be used for the

Authenticity
evaluation
of document:

 Authenticity

It seeks answers for the following questions:

1.By whom the document has been
authored.
2.Is the authorship of the document beyond
doubt.
3.Is the document the genuine version of
the authors writing.
4.Are there different versions of the same
document in circulation.

 Credibility

Credibility of a document refers to

its reliability.
Researcher needs to examine :
1.For example ,was the author actually
present at the event and writing
immediately after it, when it was
fresh in the memory or was it written
months or years later.

 In nutshell a researcher while

evaluating the credibility of a

document in hand should always ask
who wrote and created the document
, why ,when , for whom and in what
context , so as to be assured of its
genuineness ,worth and quality.

 Representativeness

It seeks answers to the questions as given

below:
1.Does the document give a complete or only
a partial picture of the social phenomenon
in which the researcher is interested.
2.Does the document provide a complete or
total picture of the events described or
information furnished or it seems that a
part of it is missing.

 Meaning

In it the researcher seeks to answer

two broad questions:
1. Surface meaning , deeper or hidden
meaning.
2. Practical or situational meaning.

AN ALYSIS O F D O CUM EN TARY EVID EN CES

Use of content analysis for
analyzing documents used for
documentary research

Quantitative
content
analysis

Qualitative
content
analysis

Texture
analysis

Themati
canalysi
s

 Quantitative content analysis-

using coding for categorizing and

numbering the contents in terms of
category used.
Qualitative content analysis-

Knowing, understanding and

interpreting the subjective contents
of the documents in the way best
possible

 Textual Analysis-

It means the analysis of the

document in terms of language or
mode employed by the creator of the
text or document.
Thematic Analysis-

It is concerned with a theme around

which the subject matter of the
document is found to be knitted.

ADVANTAGES OF DOCUMENTARY
ANALYSIS RESEARCH
These researches describe places and

social relationships at a time when we may

not have been born or were not simply
present.
We are in a position to get the needed
information answering our research
questions through the available documents.
Diaries , Letters and Biographies allow us to
intimate with the private areas of social life.
These are very much helpful in behavioral
sciences,

LIMITATIONS
The researchers may experience a lot of

problems and difficulties in locating and

searching for the sources.
There always hangs a sword of doubt and
suspicion on the genuineness , reliability and
validity of the documents.
Documents give information about what has
already been occurred. They dont tell about
what exists at present.
In behavioral sciences, it is a typical area and a
puzzling task for most of the researchers
especially the new entrants in the field.

 REFERENCES:

1.Adams ,Gerald R. and

J.D.Schvaneveldt(1991),Understandi
ng Research methods (2nd ed) New
York :Longman.
2.Louis,Lawrence Manion and Keith
Morrison(2007),Research methods in
education (6th ed) London.

THANKS!