Documentary research: types and characteristics

Many people have the misconception that all research involves administering questionnaires or doing experiments.

However, not all information depends solely on the experimental methodology. Through the search for documents it is possible to expand the knowledge about a certain subject, or expose the state of the matter.

This is where the concept of documentary research comes in. that, although it is very present in the social sciences, it is essential in any branch of science.

• Related article: "The 15 types of research (and characteristics)"

What is documentary research?

Documentary or bibliographical research is one in which Information is obtained, selected, organized, interpreted, compiled and analyzed on an issue that is the object of study from documentary sources.. These sources can be of all kinds, such as books, hemerography, audiovisual records, newspaper clippings, among others. It is a technique widely used in social sciences and is qualitative.

There are investigations that are purely documentary, such as a bibliographic search on a historical event, the vision about an aspect in psychology or the biography of a character famous. Nevertheless,

most scientific research has a documentary part, especially when writing the theoretical framework and relate the results obtained with their experimentation.

Characteristics

There are several characteristics that define documentary research: let's see them.

Data Collection and Use

Data is collected and used with the intention of being able to analyze it, offering logical results from it.

follow a logical order

When consulting the bibliography, past events and findings are searched for, trying to organize them from most to least ancient, seeing how the issue under study has been defended or refuted and consulting previously used research instruments.

Typical of theoretical or referential research

In other words, documentary research is one that is carried out to know the information about a question, exposing the theories that try to explain it in addition to making known to the world the lines of investigation of the same.

This is typical of social sciences, although there are also many works in natural sciences in which this type of research is used., especially when bibliographic searches are presented about the effectiveness of a certain drug or any treatment.

• You may be interested in: "The 8 steps of the scientific method"

It allows finding gaps and reinterpreting approaches

When investigating what exists with respect to a subject, it is possible to find aspects that have not yet been addressed, that is, gaps in scientific knowledge.

It may also be the case that it is seen that a certain theory or scientific finding was not properly analyzed, re-interpreting itself and changing its focus.

Types of documentary research

The types of documentary research that exist are

1. exploratory

exploratory documentary research Its objective is to test whether one or several hypotheses are valid.. In addition, it allows understanding the complexity of a certain issue to be addressed, through its analysis and formulating possible solutions to it. In essence, what is known about the object of study is explored.

2. informative

informative documentary research aims to inform about what is relevant to a specific topic. The object of study is described with all possible details, ordering and selecting all the existing information prior to the writing of the work itself.

Types of information sources

When talking about the types of information sources, we can classify them based on two criteria. The former refers to the origin of the font, while the latter refers to the type of the document itself, that is, its format.

Depending on the origin

Based on the criterion of their origin, the types of information sources for documentary research are as follows.

1. primaries

Primary Research Sources are those that offer first-hand information. They are original and relevant information.

A clear example of a primary source of information is an autobiography, a person's civil documents, such as their birth certificate, or a recording of a historical event.

2. high schools

Secondary research sources are those in which the information has gone through a process of prior analysis, judgment, restructuring or criticism. That is, it is information that may be susceptible to not being completely reliable or having the point of view of the person who has handled it.

An example of this would be, for example, biographies of a famous person made by someone close, history books from times after the events they describe...

Depending on the format

Depending on the format, the sources of information can be classified into these types.

1. Printed documentation

The printed documentation par excellence is the bookHowever, there are many others that can be used in documentary research, such as newspapers, theses, research projects, statistical publications...

2. electronic documentation

Given that we live in a world in which Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are practically essential, they cannot be missing from documentary research.

Electronic documentation is all materials that can be found on the Internet, such as books, digital magazines, online scientific articles, blogs, digitized documents...

3. graphic documentation

Graphic documentation is one that provides visual information, such as photographs, maps, diagrams, charts, infographics...

4. audiovisual documentation

The audiovisual documentation is video and audio recordings, such as films, documentaries, recorded interviews...

Documentary research structure

The structure of the work will basically depend on the type of material that has been consulted and the objective of the documentary research. However, the structure usually shares the following elements:

• State of the matter.
• Statement of the problem to be addressed.
• General and specific objectives.
• Theoretical and/or methodological framework.
• Analysis of the issue.
• Discussion and Conclusions.
• limitations.
• Bibliography and annexes if applicable.

How is this type of research done?

Related to the previous point, each documentary investigation implies a different way of proceeding, depending on the matter to be addressed and access to the available information. However, in most cases we can find the next steps to follow.

In the first place, the material is selected, that is, the documents that will be read to shape the research and the written work. It is important to make an extensive and exhaustive collection of all the material that is considered necessary, since it can be useful for the process of writing and specifying the object of study.

After having obtained all the material, a review of it should be done. Thus, the researchers will classify the sources of information they have obtained, ordering them from most to least relevant, and prioritizing those that are most important to the topic. This is how we start by consulting the bibliography that offers us the most information on the subject, avoiding wasting time.

Once the material has been read, it is selected and The textual information is obtained to make citations and references with the aim of supporting the theories and interpretations that are going to be exposed in the work.. Data analysis is carried out, that is, analyzing the information obtained, preparing the document in which You can reflect your own opinion on the issue addressed or offer an interpretation of the phenomenon addressed.

Finally, the conclusions arrive, in which the research group closes the topic, specifying the points that have been found, the most relevant interpretations, how the question has been addressed and what was intended to be demonstrated and if such a thing has been achieved aim.

On the selection of information sources

Before selecting the material, its value must be evaluated. Research experts suggest that the following four elements be used to evaluate and determine if a source is acceptable or not:

1. Authenticity

Authenticity refers to the authorship of the text, being the first step that should be taken in all documentary research. When consulting a text, you should investigate who its author is, if he is an expert on the subject, if he has done other studies related to the subject and if it is true that the source we are consulting is yours or it is a source secondary.

2. Credibility

Credibility refers to whether the document is accurate and truthful. This can depend on several things, such as the author's point of view, whether they have been impartial, or whether they have consulted verifiable sources. Although truthful documents are the ones that should form the basis of the investigation, those that are not they have to be discarded completely, since they can be used to discuss the information that appears in the themselves.

3. representativeness

Representativeness refers to whether a selected document is relevant to the objective of our study, and if it helps us to expand our knowledge regarding the subject studied.

4. Meaning

The meaning of the sources of information refers to the content of the documents consulted, as well as their understanding and evaluation of the information presented. When determining the meaning of a source of information, it must be determined if the content of the text is adapted to the historical context in which it was written.

Advantages of documentary research

Documentary research allows you to save resources, such as time and money, since, unlike quantitative research, many materials are not required. The information to look for is already written, what you have to do is go in search of it, read it, analyze it and structure the work in which your own interpretations and points of view will be shown.

In experimental research, on the other hand, it is necessary to select the method of obtaining data, carry out experiments, set up the laboratory or design a questionnaire, in addition to investing in obtaining materials.