Document Analysis (In Data Gathering)

 advantages and disadvantages of document analysis

Advantages:

• Eliminates the ‘researcher effect’/Hawthorne Effect where the presence of a

researcher may affect the observed data

• May provide a larger sample for analysis
• Provides access to data that may be inaccessible in any other way e.g.

people may be unwilling to discuss/mention details

• Cost of the research is relatively low compared to other methods of

gathering data

• Documentation may be highly detailed containing vast repositories of data

gathered over long periods of time/tracking over time/previous observations/questionnaires

• Documentation may contain spontaneous comments of recorders e.g.

personal feelings/comments/observations/notes that give greater insight into

the operations of a company/stock control system

Disadvantages:

• Can be subjective/based on views of the researcher
• Can be time-consuming compared to other methods of gathering data
• Documents are not usually designed for research purposes so may be

difficult to comprehend/follow by researcher

• Documentation may be incomplete as documents can be misfiled/lost over

time

• Documentation can vary in quality of information
• Researcher may lose/damage/misplace important documents during the

research process