A document is the main means of consolidating information, facts, processes, phenomena, problems of reality or mental activity of a person, which is carried out using 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 to disclose their main content. To this end, logical constructions, techniques and procedures are applied that are best able to help extract the necessary information from materials.
Often the information of interest to the researcher is present in documents in an implicit form, in that form and in such content that meets the goals of creating these papers, but this does not always coincide with the objectives of economic research. The analysis of documents is aimed at converting the initial information into the form that is necessary for the researcher to work.
The analysis of documents depends on many factors, among which are the following: conditions, objectives and goals of the study; the content of the text itself; the qualifications and experience of the researcher, as well as the presence of creative intuition. The person involved in the study of man also affects the result, since this method of studying sources is very subjective.
A competent interpretation of primary (and especially secondary) documents in order to extract target information from them is possible using various methods of data analysis.
The main types of analysis are classical (traditional) and formalized (or content analysis). They differ significantly from each other, but do not exclude, but complement each other, compensate for the shortcomings of each separately, helping the economist (marketer or other specialist) to obtain reliable information.
In most cases, the method of analysis of documents is used when working with secondary documents of a socio-psychological orientation.
The traditional analysis of documents , in fact, is a chain of logical mental constructions that 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 research the material, finding the main ideas and thoughts, trace their genesis, find contradictions, evaluate them from the point of view of economic, marketing and other positions, etc. This type of research is able to cover the most significant, deepest sides of documents. The disadvantage of this method is its subjectivity.
The content of traditional analysis is reduced to answering the following questions: what is the type, form of the document, its context, who is its author, what are the goals of creation, how reliable and reliable is the source, what is the estimated value of the text, etc.
Distinguish between external and internal traditional analysis. With the external, the context of the document and the circumstances under which it appeared are examined, its type, form, place and time of compilation, the author and initiator of the creation, goals, reliability, etc. are determined. With the internal, the content of the document is analyzed: the level of reliability of figures and facts is revealed, the author’s competence is determined, his attitude to the described facts, etc.
Some documents, due to the narrow specification, require the use of special methods of analysis, such as legal, psychological and some others.
A formalized analysis of documents (compared with traditional) is aimed at overcoming subjectivity. This method is also called content analysis or quantitative method. In this case, the study reveals such properties and characteristics of the material that are able to illustrate the most significant features of the content. However, it should be borne in mind that not every material can be measured using formal indicators.
When content analysis is operated on only quantitative parameters, so the disclosure of the material cannot be exhaustively complete. With its help, conclusions can be drawn, and the data obtained will always be generalized. It is advisable to use this method in cases where a high accuracy of analysis is required if an extensive material is studied or parts often appearing in materials are 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 the text on the audience; to find out the reasons that led to its creation.