Documents Flashcards
(19 cards)
What are documents?
secondary qualitative data, they are a huge variety of these documents
example- government reports, newspapers, letters, diaries, pictures etc.
What are official documents?
produced by organizations such as government departments and their agencies. They are a matter of public record and should be available for anyone who wishes to see themWh
What are personal documents?
first hand accounts of social events and personal experiences , generally include writers feelings and attitudes. Include letters, diaries, paintings etc.
What did Aries study in regards to documents?
Studied childhood using expressive documents in medieval society, he used scriptures, paintings, poems and others works of art.
meant he could study social change
however, only wealthy could afford paintings, not representative.-
What did Valerie Hey research?
girls friendships patterns in 2 London comprehensive schools. Part of data came from notes girls exchanged.
Teacher retrieved discarded notes from bin, others picked up around floor by Hey.
Hey was concerned w the ethic of collecting notes.
What did the girls notes indicate about their concerns in Hey’s study?
15 notes were exchanged between 3 girls in history lesson. 80% of what they wrote concerned their relations w eachother.
What other types of documents is there?
Historical- documents from past helping to give sociologists a picture of social change.
medical documents- range of media sources including newspapers, TVs etc
How are documents criticised for their authenticity?
may not be genuine, 1983- German magazine Stern announced it had acquired Hitler’s diaries- 62 handwritten volumes for which it paid 4 million, diaries were all forgeries.
How are documents criticised for their credibility?
W. Bush in memoir justified using waterboarding on suspected AlQueda, members saying he was saving lives, British officials say this was x true.
May not be credible as it is from his perspective.
How are documents criticised for their repreentativeness?
documents may portray people wrongfully and represent them in a stereotypical way, e.g.- young men described as “Hooligans”
What documents are available to sociologists studying education?
school prospectuses, Ofsted reports, pupil reports, student work
What are some general strengths to documents?
some documents might be the only means of researching the past, interpretivists prefer as they are written by person studying, give an insight.
ethically- they are freely available and many are very in-depth.
What are the disadvantages of documents?
Scott identifies 4- authenticity- parts of document may be missing because of age
credibility- may not be able to verify why someone wrote it, may be distorted for political reasons.
meaning- hard to interpret meaning of documents if written in archaic language.
representativeness- not representative of the whole population, may be picture of small group.
What are the 2 ways we can analyse documents?
formal (quantitative) content analysis (positivists)
qualitative content analysis- thematic and textual analysis (interpretivists)
What is formal content analysis?
counting how many times certain features occur in a given source
example may be counting the types of crime that are reported in news media in a given period
What are the strengths and limitations of using formal content analysis?
strengths- minimises researcher bias as researcher is simply counting, has good reliability and can be repeated
practical as quicker to do than qualitative
limitations-hard to use on broad categories like stereotyping in children’s books
simply counting will tell you nothing of the meaning.
What is thematic analysis?
trying to understand the intentions which lie behind production of mass media documents by subjecting particular area of reportage to detailed investigation.
e.g.- Soothill and Walby- study newspaper reporting of sex crime, reporting emphasised danger of rape in public
What is textual analysis/ semiology?
examining how different words are linked together in order to encourage readers to adopt particular view of what is being reported.
e.g.- Glasgow university media groups reporting of miners strikes in 80s. Found that miners “Demanded” better working conditions, while managers “offered” certain changes to working conditions.
What are the strengths and limitations of using qualitative content analysis?
strengths- allow researcher to look at full context in which media reporting takes place, allows for fuller description of what media is portraying. Higher validity.
Limitations- Both thematic and textual analysis lack objectivity and are reliant on researcher’s own interpretation of the meaning of media texts.
