Documentary Research

 DOCUMENTARY RESEARCH

Documentary research refers to a method of conducting research that relies primarily on the analysis and interpretation of existing documents, a document is a written text. It involves the systematic examination of various types of documents, such as written records, photographs, audio recordings, videos, and other forms of media, to gather information and generate knowledge.

There are two types of documents that are used in documentary study, namely primary documents and secondary documents.

1. Primary documents refer to eye-witness accounts produced by people who experienced the particular event or the behaviour we want to study.

2. Secondary documents are documents produced by people who were not present at the scene but who received eye-witness accounts to compile the documents or have read eye-witness accounts.

Documentary research is commonly used in academic research, social sciences, history, anthropology, and other disciplines. It can be employed as a standalone research method or in combination with other research approaches, depending on the nature of the study.

Advantages

1. Data readily available.

2. Inexpensive and economical form of data.

3. Save time.

4. ‘Non-reactivity’ - records unbiased by data collection process.

5. Researcher does not have to be present during data collection.

6. Useful for hypothesis / problem formulation.

Disadvantages

1. Limited by the availability of data.

2. Inaccuracies in original material.

3. Bias - ‘selective deposit’.

4. Bias – ‘selective survival’ - missing/incomplete data.

5. Total document or part of document.

6. Data studied out of context.

7. Preparation before analysis.

So, documentary research is a research approach that relies on analyzing existing written sources to investigate a topic or phenomenon. It offers valuable insights and historical context but requires critical evaluation and careful interpretation of the available documents.