What is documentary research?
Documentary research
What is documentary research?
Documentary or bibliographic research is one that seeks to obtain, select, compile, organize, interpret and analyze information about an object of study from documentary sources, such as books, archival documents, hemerography, audiovisual records, among others.
This type of research is widely used in the social sciences and is characteristic of the qualitative research model, where it constitutes an objective in itself. However, it is present in all types of investigation, since only from the documentary investigation the antecedents of the problem or the state of the question are known.
Characteristics of the documentary research
Among the most important characteristics of documentary research, we can mention the following:
- It is common to all types of research with a theoretical or referential foundation, be it in natural sciences or social sciences;
- Obtains data from the review of documents of different tenor;
- Organize collected data consistently;
- It allows to rediscover or reinterpret different aspects of a subject;
- Helps to identify gaps, omissions or misrepresentations in the above reference sources;
- Suggest new perspectives and / or analytical theories based on the information obtained;
- It requires the capacity for synthesis, deduction and analysis;
- Provides strength to the researcher's conclusions.
Sources of documentary research
In a strategic sense, we speak of two types of essential sources: primary research sources and secondary research sources.
The primary sources of research are those that give first - hand information about the object of study. They are characterized by providing original and relevant information. For example, in the case of a biography, the character's civil documents (birth certificate and other records) are considered primary sources.
The sources of secondary research are those which have obtained information from another source and are subjected to a screening process, restructuring, analysis and review. Following the example of the biography in progress, the secondary sources would be other previous biographies or history books that expose at least a part of the life of the character under study.
Both primary and secondary research sources refer to the following types of documents depending on the case:
- Printed documentation: it consists of books; thesis; newspaper publication; archival documents (minutes, reports, correspondence, treaties, contracts, accounting records, etc.);
- Graphic documents: paintings, photographs, maps, diagrams, infographics, etc .;
- Audiovisual documents: video records, audio recordings, films, documentaries, among others.
- Electronic documents: in addition to digitized documents, we can identify blogs, information on social networks, etc.
Elements of documentary research
Within all documentary research the following elements are identified:
- Documentary unit, that is, the physical or virtual space in which the available sources are found;
- Documents or sources of information;
- Study sheets for the organization of reading notes.
Types of documentary research
Informative
Informative documentary research is one that aims to inform everything concerning a specific topic. This type of research describes the object of study in its details, and is responsible for ordering and systematizing the available information into a coherent body of ideas. It is usually distinguished by the way it systematizes information and by providing new approaches.
Exploratory
The purpose of exploratory documentary research can be to explore the validity of certain hypotheses, to understand a complex problem through analysis and / or to formulate possible solutions to the problem in question.
Basic structure of a documentary research work
The structure of a documentary research work will depend on the subject and its objective. However, in general terms a work with these characteristics has the following basic structure:
- State of the question;
- Problem Statement;
- General and specific objective;
- Limits and scopes;
- Theoretical / methodological framework;
- Analysis of the question;
- Conclusions;
- Sources consulted;
- Annexes (if applicable).
Steps for documentary research
- Once the topic has been identified, define the type of sources necessary for the research based on the following criteria:
a. Relevance;
b. Completeness;
c. Present. - Keep a record of the sources consulted based on any of the current reference standards (APA, Chicago, Harvard);
- Organization and analysis of the information obtained from documentary sources.
- Update date: March 7, 2021.
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