Using Documents in Research: When, Where, Why and How

Documents are a rich yet often overlooked source of research data, offering unique insights across disciplines. This book provides a clear and practical guide to working with a wide variety of documents ― including historical and contemporary, hard copy and digital – alone and in teams. Featuring contributions from leading international scholars, it unpacks the decisions researchers make when finding, selecting and analysing documents.

Organised into four sections, the book examines how researchers engage with seemingly mundane materials, explore documents in popular culture, apply multi-modal research techniques, and develop innovative approaches to dissemination. Each chapter offers real-world case studies, illustrating diverse research questions, theoretical perspectives and analytical methods.

Key features include:

- Step-by-step guidance on applying document analysis methods in research;

- Diverse case studies showcasing practical applications across fields;

- Engaging and accessible explanations that clarify complex approaches.

Filling a crucial gap in the methods literature, this essential text equips students and researchers with the tools to harness the full potential of documents in research.

Aimee Grant is Senior Lecturer in Public Health and a Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow, researching gender, disability and health, at Swansea University.

Editor of the Creative Research Methods in Practice book series Helen Kara is a leading independent researcher, author, teacher and speaker specialising in research methods, particularly creative methods, and research ethics. With over twenty years’ experience as an independent researcher Helen now teaches doctoral students and staff at higher education institutions worldwide. She is a prolific academic author with over 25 titles and 3000 citations; notably Creative Research Methods: A Practical Guide in its second edition and Research and Evaluation for Busy Students and Practitioners in its third. Besides her regular blogs and videos, she also writes comics and fiction. Helen is an Affiliate at Swansea University, a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University, and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. In 2021, at the age of 56, she was diagnosed autistic. Her neurodivergence explains her lifelong fascination with, and ability to focus on, words, language and writing.