Posts Tagged ‘analytical methods’

11
Apr
2017

document analysis methodology

categories: qualitative research

document analysis – literature on the methodology

  • Bowen, G. A. (n.d.). Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9, 27–40.
    https://www.academia.edu/8434566/Document_Analysis_as_a_Qualitative_Research_Method
    Document analysis is a systematic procedure for reviewing or evaluating documents—both printed and electronic (computer-based and Internet-transmitted) material. Like other analytical methods in qualitative research, document analysis requires that data be examined and interpreted in order to elicit meaning, gain understanding, and develop empirical knowledge(Corbin&Strauss,2008;seealsoRapley,2007).
    Document analysis is often used in combination with other qualitative research methods as a means of triangulation—‘the combination of methodologies in the study of the same phenomenon’ (Denzin, 1970, p. 291)
    The qualitative researcher is expected to draw upon multiple (at least two) sources of evidence; that is, to seek convergence and corroboration through the use of different data sources and methods. Apart from documents, such sources include interviews, participant or non-participant observation, and physical artifacts (Yin,1994).By triangulating data, the researcher attempts to provide ‘a confluence of evidence that breeds credibility’ (Eisner, 1991, p. 110). By examining information collected through different methods, the researcher can corroborate findings across data sets and thus reduce the impact of potential biases that can exist in a single study. According to Patton (1990), triangulation helps the researcher guard against the accusation that a study’s findings are simply an artifact of a single method, a single source, or a single investigator’s bias. Mixed-method studies (which combine quantitative and qualitative research techniques)sometimes include document analysis. Here is an example: In their large-scale, three-year evaluation of regional educational service agencies (RESAs), Rossman and Wilson (1985) combined quantitative and qualitative methods—surveys (to collect quantitative data) and open ended, semi structured interviews with reviews of documents (as the primary sources of qualitative data). The document reviews were designed to identify the agencies that played a role in supporting school improvement programs.
  • Glenn A. Bowen, (2009) “Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method”, Qualitative Research Journal, Vol. 9 Issue: 2, pp.27-40, doi: 10.3316/QRJ0902027
    http://www.emeraldinsight.com/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.3316%2FQRJ0902027
  • Document Review and Analysis
    https://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/researchcourse/develop_docreview.html

Qualitative

  • Semiotics (studies the life of signs in society; seeks to understand the underlining messages in visual texts; forms basis for interpretive analysis)
  • Discourse Analysis (concerned with production of meaning through talk and texts; how people use language)
  • Interpretative Analysis (captures hidden meaning and ambiguity; looks at how messages are encoded or hidden; acutely aware of who the audience is)
  • Conversation Analysis (concerned with structures of talk in interaction and achievement of interaction)
  • Grounded Theory (inductive and interpretative; developing novel theoretical ideas based on the data)

Document Analysis
Document analysis is a form of qualitative research in which documents are interpreted by the researcher to give voice and meaning around an assessment topic. Analyzing documents incorporates coding content into themes similar to how focus group or interview transcripts are analyzed. A rubric can also be used to grade or score a document. There are three primary types of documents:

• Public Records: The official, ongoing records of an organization’s activities. Examples include student transcripts, mission statements, annual reports, policy manuals, student handbooks, strategic plans, and syllabi.

• Personal Documents: First-person accounts of an individual’s actions, experiences, and beliefs. Examples include calendars, e-mails, scrapbooks, blogs, Facebook posts, duty logs, incident reports, reflections/journals, and newspapers.

• Physical Evidence: Physical objects found within the study setting (often called artifacts). Examples include flyers, posters, agendas, handbooks, and training materials.

As with all research, how you collect and analyse the data should depend on what you want to find out. Since you haven’t told us that, it is difficult to give you any precise advice. However, one really important matter in using documents as sources, whatever the overall aim of your research, is that data from documents are very different from data from speech events such as interviews, or overheard conversations.So the first analytic question you need to ask with regard to documents is ‘how are these data shaped by documentary production ?’  Something which differentiates nearly all data from documents from speech data is that those who compose documents know what comes at the end while still able to alter the beginning; which gives far more opportunity for consideration of how the recepient of the utterances will view the provider; ie for more artful self-presentation. Apart from this however, analysing the way documentary practice shapes your data will depend on what these documents are: for example your question might turn out to be ‘How are news stories produced ?’ – if you are using news reports, or ‘What does this bureaucracy consider relevant information (and what not relevant and what unmentionable) ? if you are using completed proformas or internal reports from some organisation.

An analysis technique is just like a hardware tool. It depends where and with what you are working to choose the right one. For a nail you should use a hammer, and there are lots of types of hammers to choose, depending on the type of nail.

So, in order to tell you the bettet technique, it is important to know the objectives you intend to reach and the theoretical framework you are using. Perhaps, after that, We could tell you if you should use content analysis, discourse or grounded theory (which type of it as, like the hammer, there are several types of GTs).

written after Bowen (2009), but well chewed and digested.

1. Introduction: Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research?

excellent guide to the structure of a qualitative research

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more on qualitative research in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=qualitative+research