Documentary Research

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.

Along with surveys and ethnography, documentary research is one of the three major types of social research and arguably has been the most widely used of the three throughout the history of sociology and other social sciences.

It has been the principal method - indeed, sometimes the only one - for leading sociologists.

The key issues surrounding types of documents and our ability to use them as reliable sources of evidence on the social world must be considered by all who use documents in their research.

The paucity of sources available until now means that this compendium will be invaluable to social researchers.

Volume One: Theory and Methods Volume Two: Personal Documents Volume Three: Mass Media and Cyber Documents Volume Four: Official Statistics and Sources