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25 - Qualitative Archival Data: A Call to Creativity

from Part VI - Qualitative Data Collection Sources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2024

By
Constance Jones  and
Andrea Wiemann
Edited by
John E. Edlund  and
Austin Lee Nichols
John E. Edlund
Affiliation:
Rochester Institute of Technology, New York
Austin Lee Nichols
Affiliation:
Central European University, Vienna
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Summary

Not all empirical investigations require fresh data collection. Abundant sources of data, amenable for systematic evaluation, already exist in the form of archival data. Meaning may be extracted from a variety of data sources surrounding us (primary archival data – e.g., obituaries, blogs, yearbooks) or from data previously collected by other researchers (secondary archival data – e.g., computerized archives). Examples of both primary and secondary archival data are provided, with an emphasis on qualitative sources. Common techniques for analyzing qualitative data are then described, and a suggested set of steps for proceeding with a study employing archival data is detailed. The chapter ends with a list of important qualitative secondary archival data sets.

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The Cambridge Handbook of Research Methods and Statistics for the Social and Behavioral Sciences
Volume 2: Performing Research
 , pp. 571 - 590
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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