Analysis of documents

The document is the main means of fixing information, facts, processes, phenomena, problems of reality or mental activity of a person, which is carried out with the help of a special medium (most often - paper). Documentary sources can contain very diverse and unique information about economic, social and other phenomena.

The analysis of documents is necessary for disclosure of their main content. For this purpose, logical constructions, techniques and procedures that are best able to help extract the necessary information from materials are used.

Often the information of interest to the researcher is present in the documents in an implicit form, in the form and in such content that correspond to the purposes of creating these papers, but this does not always coincide with the tasks of economic research. The analysis of documents is aimed at transforming the initial information into the form that is necessary for the researcher to work.

Analysis of documents depends on many factors, among which the following: conditions, objectives and objectives of the research; The content of the text itself; Qualification and experience of the researcher, as well as his creative intuition. The person involved in human research also influences the result, since this method of studying the sources is highly subjective.

A competent interpretation of primary (and especially secondary) documents in order to extract the target information from them is possible through the use of various methods of data analysis.

The main types of analysis are classical (traditional) and formalized (or content analysis). They differ significantly, but they do not exclude, but complement each other, compensate for the shortcomings of each individually, helping the economist (marketer or other specialist) to obtain reliable information.

In most cases, the method of document analysis is used when working with secondary socio-psychological documents.

Traditional analysis of documents , in fact, is a chain of logical mental constructs, which are aimed at identifying the main content of the material under study from a specific point of view, interesting in a particular economic situation. Traditional analysis allows you to explore the material, finding the main ideas and thoughts, trace their genesis, find contradictions, evaluate them in terms of economic, marketing and other positions, etc. This type of research is able to cover the most significant, in-depth aspects of documents. The drawback of the method is its subjectivity.

The content of the traditional analysis is reduced to answering the following questions: what is the form, the form of the document, its context, who is its author, what are the purposes of creation, how reliable and reliable is the source, what is the estimated value of the text etc.

There are external and internal traditional analysis. When external, the context of the document and the circumstances under which it appeared are examined, its type, form, place and time of compilation, author and initiator of the creation, purpose, reliability, etc. are determined. When internal, the content of the document is analyzed: the level of reliability of figures and facts is revealed, Determines the competence of the author, his attitude to the facts described, etc.

Some documents require special analysis methods, such as legal, psychological and some others, because of the narrow specification.

The formalized analysis of documents (in comparison with the traditional one) is aimed at overcoming subjectivity. This method is also called content analysis or a quantitative method. In this case, the study reveals such properties and characteristics of the material, which can illustrate the most significant features of the content. However, one must take into account that not any material can be measured with the help of formal indicators.

With content analysis, only quantitative parameters are operated, so the disclosure of the material can not be exhaustively complete. With its help it is possible to deduce the conclusions, and the received data will always be character of generalization. It is advisable to apply this method in cases where high accuracy of analysis is required if extensive material is investigated or the frequently occurring parts are being studied.

Content analysis is used to identify the characteristics of the text that are best able to reflect the sides of the studied object; To assess the effect of text on the audience; To find out the reasons that led to its creation.