DOCUMENTARY RESEARCH

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DOCUMENTARY RESEARCH
I. DEFINITION: Documentary Research is the use of outside sources to support the viewpoint or argument of an academic work. The process of documentary research often involves some or all of conceptualising, using and assessing documents .

 Documentary research involves the use of texts and documents as source materials: - government publications, - newspapers, - certificates, - census publications, - novels, - film and video, - paintings, - personal photographs, - diaries and innumerable other written, visual and pictorial sources in paper, electronic, or other `hard copy' form.

II. ESSENTIAL STEPS OF DOCUMENTARY RESEARCH

The steps in undergoing documentary research are essentially the same as those involved in other types of research projects. 1. Develop a research problem. There are several motivations for undertaking a research which could spring from a desire to know what really happened. At the beginning, the problem may be broad and difffused, but through analysis, the problems will just break into proper form.

 As much as possible, the choice of a problem for study should be based on a felt need among those concerned with the study. It should be in an unexplored area in order to minimize duplication of research efforts. 2. Gather data from available documents. - One of the early tasks of doing documentary research is the gathering of materials and where to get the best materials so that the problem of the study may be answered.

3.

Interviewing to obtain additional information and/or cross-check facts. One of the problems in gathering information for documentary research is the scarcity of records on the subject. To overcome this problem, it sometimes becomes necessary to interview people who can fill in gaps or supplement inadequate information.

4. Analyzing the information in accordance with study objectives and goals - The documentary method relies very heavily on a thorough analysis of the information gathered. 2 Steps: 1. Reviewing the information 2. Organizing the information

5. Write the report in answer to the statement of the problem. The writing of documentary usually appears to be uninteresting reading, it being replete with documentaries that relate the truth in its naked form, wanting of the common flourish which the literary style can furnish.

HANDLING DOCUMENTARY SOURCES

DATA must be handled SCIENTIFICALLY

QUALITY CONTROL CRITERIA:

A.
b. C. d
AUTHENTICITY

CREDIBILITY
REPRESENTATIVE

MEANING

1. AUTHENTICITY refers to the truthfulness of origins; evidence is genuine, attributions, commitments, sincerity, devotion, and intentions. Circumstances that needs close scrutiny: a. When the document does not make sense or has obvious errors b. When there are internal inconsistencies in terms of style, content and so on;

c. When there are different versions of the same document; d. When the version available is derived from a dubious, suspicious or unereliable secondary source; and e. When the document has been in the hands of a person or persons with vested interest in a particular reading of the text.

b. CREDIBILITY refers to the objective and subjective components of the believability of a source or message, whether the evidence is free from error and distortion. c. REPRESENTATIVES refers to whether the evidence is typical of its kind or not, to the extent of its un-typicality known.

d. Meaning refers to whether the evidence is clear and comprehensible.

III. EXAMPLES OF DOCUMENTARY RESEARCH

Marx made extensive use of documentary sources and other official reports, such as: 1. Her Majesty Inspectors of Factories Reports made between 1841 and 1867 (spanning over a period of 26 years), 2. reports by the Medical Officer of the Privy Council, Royal Commission and Inland Revenue Reports,

4.

as well as reports on the employment of children in factories, the Banking Acts, the Corn laws, the Hansard and Census Reports for England and Wales. 5. Acts and Statutes, such as, the Factory Regulations Acts of between 1833 and 1878 (spanning over a period of about 45 years).

On the other hand, Durkheim, who is credited as one of the founding fathers of the discipline of Sociology, relied on official statistics in his study of suicide. An article printed 50 years ago in a newspaper included the wrong date for a land sale. December 1937 was rounded to 1938, and the amount of money land was bought for was likewise inaccurate. The Vrouw Maria of 1771

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