Documentary Research in the Social Sciences

From diaries and letters to surveys and interview transcripts, documents are a cornerstone of social science research. This book guides you through the documentary research process, from choosing the best research design, through data collection and analysis, to publishing and sharing research findings.

Using extensive case studies and examples, it situates documentary research within a current context and empowers you to use this method to meet new challenges like digital research and big data head on.

In a jargon-free style perfect for beginner researchers, this book helps you to:

Interrogate documentary material in meaningful ways

Choose the best research design for your project, from literature reviews to policy research

* Understand a range of approaches, including quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods.

Accessible, clear and focused, this book gives you the tools to conduct your own documentary research and celebrates the importance of documentary analysis across the social sciences.

“This is an excellent introduction to documentary research methods in the social sciences. Both comprehensive and accessible, it will prove an invaluable resource for students across a range of disciplines.”

A much-needed overview allowing the reader to sharpen their perspective in the realm of documentary research and to find paths to further information on different research methodologies.

-- Alexander Geimer
  -- Kevin Myers

Malcolm Tight has written an excellent textbook on that taken-for-granted method - documentary research. He provides comprehensive and clear coverage of the whys, whats and hows of using documents for research purposes. This book is an essential read for research method students of all disciplines and an invaluable resource for their teachers. 

-- Rosalind Edwards

Most social scientists engage in documentary research, but too few approach it with Tight’s rigour.  With lessons drawn from a dozen disciplines, this accessibly-written book is an essential resource for students and scholars dedicated to the empirical study of written texts and recorded material.

-- Jared Wesley

In clear and cogent writing, Malcolm Tight articulates not only what documentary research is but also provides an illuminating guide to different genres, techniques, and examples associated with this often-overlooked approach to social research. Documentary Research in the Social Sciences is an indispensable, go-to reference for scholars interested in doing documentary research.

-- Brian D. Schultz
I would highly recommend this book to researchers in all fields, and especially policy and qualitative researchers. The author’s enthusiasm, expertise and understanding of DR really helps to draw the reader in, as does his clear, coherent writing style and pragmatic approach. -- Ruthi Margulis SRA Research Matters

Malcolm Tight is a Professor in the Educational Research department at Lancaster University.

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