Documents

Documents: definition in sociology

When conducting research, sociologists sometimes utilise documents.

Documents are secondary data because they were created by someone else (not the researcher) and therefore already exist. They are qualitative because they provide written information as opposed to numerical data.

Types of documents in sociology

As mentioned above, there are different types of documents. They will all have different uses and limitations depending on the type of information the researchers need and the nature of the document itself.

The types of documents we will be looking at are:

• Official

• Personal

• Historical documents

We will go through each of these in turn and consider their advantages and disadvantages.

Public documents in sociology

Public or official documents are documents created by organisations such as government departments, businesses, and charities. They are usually in the form of reports and are available for public inspection by anyone who is interested.

Examples of public/official documents include:

• Government inquiries

• Company reports on policies, practices, and corporate governance

• Reports by charities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

• Reports about public bodies, such as schools and hospitals

Many organisations produce public/official documents that can be used by sociologists in their research.

Advantages of public documents

• They can be easily and freely accessed by researchers.

• There are a wide variety of public documents available.

• They are produced by reliable sources.

• Public documents can be very in-depth.

• They may be representative of a wider population e.g. a government inquiry into the standard of prisons is likely to represent the prison population.

• There are few ethical issues as the documents are publicly accessible.

Disadvantages of public documents

• Researchers have to work with existing data, and so they may not find what they need.

• It may take a lot of time to go through the documents if they are in-depth.

• Public documents may also include quantitative data.

Personal documents in sociological research

These are written documents that were created with the intention of keeping them to oneself or to show to certain trusted individuals. Personal documents generally express personal thoughts and feelings and thus are not intended for public viewing.

Types of personal documents

Types and examples of personal documents include:

• Diary entries
• Letters to friends or family
• Photos
• Memorabilia (such as tickets)

Fig. 1 - Diary or journal entries are good examples of personal documents.

Personal documents can be helpful to understand complex and individual experiences through written thoughts and feelings.

Advantages of personal documents in sociology

• As they are written to express thoughts and feelings, they give in-depth insights into the authors' perspectives. They are therefore high in validity.

• They can provide information that may not be covered in official documents.

• They can be easy to access if the owner(s) are willing to reveal them.

Disadvantages of personal documents in sociology

• The subjective nature of personal documents means there is likely to be interpretational bias when considering the meaning of the documents.

• Personal documents may not always contain the truth; this undermines their validity.

• There are access issues as those with personal documents may not be willing to share them.

• Personal documents may lack credibility if they have incorrect or incomplete information e.g. wrong names or dates.

• Going through personal documents may be time-consuming.

• Personal documents are generally unrepresentative as they are one individual's thoughts

• As they were not intended for public viewing (or in the case of diaries, anyone at all), there are ethical issues in studying personal documents.

Historical documents in sociology

Historical documents are documents from the past. They are categorised mainly by their time of creation; as such, they can include official documents (such as past government inquiries), or personal documents (such as letters).

Examples of historical documents include:

• Birth, death and marriage records
• Letters and diary entries
• Old census records
• Old photos

Fig. 2 - Historical documents can help us look into the past.

Sometimes, using historical documents may be the only (or main) way of conducting sociological research. In these cases, sociologists may have to rely on what is available in public records or documents kept by individuals.

Advantages of historical documents in sociology

• Historical documents can offer useful insights into the past, and in some cases, they may be the only way of studying past events.

• Public historical documents, such as records and reports, may be easily accessible.

• They can help researchers draw comparisons to current issues and identify changes over time.

Disadvantages of historical documents

• It may be difficult to verify the authenticity of some historical documents. For example, the author or the purpose of the document may be unknown.

• Words and meanings change over time; this can affect the interpretation of the information.

• Some documents may be missing, damaged or kept private. This can distort the information that is available and may prevent researchers from reaching a full conclusion.

• It can be difficult to find or access some historical documents.

General advantages and disadvantages of documents

As well as the specific advantages and disadvantages of each type of document outlined above, there are many general advantages and disadvantages of using documents in sociological research. Let us look at these from the interpretivist and positivist perspectives.

The interpretivist perspective

• Interpretivists are partial to using documents in sociological research as they contain qualitative, in-depth information.

• They can decipher meanings through documents, especially through personal documents, as they reveal the author's perspective and interpretation of reality.

• Documents are highly valid.

• Documents are a source of readily available data that has already been collected, so there is no issue with data collection.

The positivist perspective

• Positivists do not like using documents in sociological research as they cannot be cross-checked, and are therefore unreliable.

• Documents are not always representative; conclusions cannot be drawn from personal documents because they contain individual insights only.

• However, official and historical documents can be useful as they are often structured (for example, birth records). They are standardised and therefore reliable.