Policy Press
Using Documents in Research
-
Edited by:
and
About this book
Documents are a rich yet often overlooked source of research data, offering unique insights across disciplines. This book provides a clear and practical guide to working with a wide variety of documents — including historical and contemporary, hard copy and digital – alone and in teams. Featuring contributions from leading international scholars, it unpacks the decisions researchers make when finding, selecting and analysing documents. Organised into four sections, the book examines how researchers engage with seemingly mundane materials, explore documents in popular culture, apply multi-modal research techniques, and develop innovative approaches to dissemination. Each chapter offers real-world case studies, illustrating diverse research questions, theoretical perspectives and analytical methods. Key features include: - Step-by-step guidance on applying document analysis methods in research; - Diverse case studies showcasing practical applications across fields; - Engaging and accessible explanations that clarify complex approaches. Filling a crucial gap in the methods literature, this essential text equips students and researchers with the tools to harness the full potential of documents in research.
Topics
-
Download PDFPublicly Available
Front Matter
i -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Contents
iii -
Download PDFPublicly Available
List of figures, tables and boxes
v -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Notes on contributors
vi -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
1 Introduction
1 - PART I Understanding the past
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
2 Documentary theatre as participatory social research
11 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
3 Music and sound in documents: a case study of music and asylum history
25 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
4 Folklore in Asian martial arts: using documents to test the theory of martial creation
39 - PART II Exploring the machinery of governance
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
5 Using government inquiry documents in research to raise voices suppressed by non-disclosure agreements
55 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
6 Investigating identity documents through historical ethnography
69 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
7 From public document to engaging experiences: arts-based research and knowledge translation
82 - PART III Using official documents
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
8 Reflections on using charity annual reporting data to consider questions of representation
101 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
9 Unequal bureaucracies in practice: analysing documents using Institutional Ethnography
115 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
10 Using documents in research during periods of conflict and political turbulence
129 - PART IV Exploring the personal
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
11 Impactful inquiry: how insider knowledge enhances the real-world relevance of research with documents
145 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
12 The social conditions of possibility: reading medical records as documents of practice
159 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
13 Curating COVID-19: creating an illustrated digital archive with diary and interview research data
175 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
14 Conclusion
188 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Bibliography
192 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Index
213