What is document research?

If you want to obtain information by collecting, organizing, and analyzing documentary, written, oral, or audiovisual sources, then you must Document research operate.

Learn more about this type of research to find out if it's the right one to collect data and carry out your project.

What is document research?

Document research is a qualitative research technique that involves collecting and selecting information through reading documents, books, journals, magazines, recordings, films, newspapers, bibliographies, etc.

Compared to other methods, document research is not as popular because statistics and quantification are considered safer methods of data analysis.

This type of research is often associated with historical research, causing researchers to lose confidence because of the lack of clarity. However, history gives meaning to the past and the present.

Features of document research

The key features of document research include the following:

• The collection and use of existing documents to analyse data and provide logical results.
• It collects data in a logical order, which makes it possible to find facts that happened long ago, find research sources and develop research tools, etc.
• It uses multiple processes such as analysis, synthesis and deduction of documents.
• It is carried out in an orderly manner and with a list of specific objectives to gain new insights.

Advantages of document research

The key benefits of document research include the following:

• It allows you to save resources such as time and money.
• It increases knowledge and storage capacity.
• It's easy to collect the information you need.
• It makes it possible to organize and spread ideas.
• It is possible to create a database collecting the sources of information.
• It is possible to verify the conclusions reached in research.

Types of document research

There are the following types of desk research:

Exploratory: This type of research is about proving something is right or wrong. It is also about finding solutions and alternatives after evaluating the researched information.

Informative: It highlights relevant information on a particular topic that comes from various sources without confirming it.

Sources of information for document research

The research will be conducted using information from the following information sources

• Printed documentation: Printed materials can be books, newspapers, directories, dissertations, research projects, printouts from statistical archives, etc.
• Electronic documentation: This refers to all materials that can be found on the Internet, such as books, specialist magazines or articles that are published in digital form.
• Graphic documentation: This is information material such as maps, plans, photos, etc.
• Audiovisual documentation: These are videos and audios with information from interviews, presentations, conferences, etc.

Steps to Conduct Document Research

Document research proceeds as follows:

Selection of material: When conducting documentation research, it is important to create a comprehensive collection of the material that may be useful to the process.

Viewing the material: In this step, the researcher classifies the material and separates those that are not essential from those that are important to the topic.

Organisation: The researcher compares the selected material and obtains textual information to create citations and references to support theories and interpretations.

Intelligent Data Analysis: The researcher analyses the information and creates a document that reflects his opinion and interpretation of the study phenomenon.

Conclusion: The researcher concludes the topic by stating the points he wanted to make.

I recommend you find out about others Types of research so you can apply them to your next project.

Conclusion

Document research is an important step in conducting research and an integral part of academic work, it is extremely important for our society as it is responsible for showing the results over time. The quality of the final product is directly related to the quality of the information used to create it.

The resulting learning creates knowledge and provides sources of information for researchers to interpret and improve new documents.

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KEYWORDS OF THIS BLOG POST

Document research | Documents | Research