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Research Techniques in

International Relations

2014-2015

Degree in International Relations

Blanquerna-Universitat Ramon Llull

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Learning Unit 1

Documents as sources of data

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Includes documents, reports, statistics,

manuscripts, and other written, oral, or visualmaterials

The most commonly used data source in

political science

The written record

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The written record can be divided into

The episodic record

The running record

T!es of written records

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!roduced and preserved in a more casual,

personal, and accidental manner byindividuals

Includes personal diaries, correspondence,

brochures, pamphlets, and other materials

"ery important #or political historians

To illustrate phenomena in qualitativeanalyses

The e!isodic record

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Three advantages o# the running record rather

than the episodic record cost, in both time and money

accessibility o# records)locating episodic records

can be quite time consuming

covers a more e*tensive period o# time

The running record and the e!isodic

record com!ared

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Three disadvantages o# using the running

record record-%eeping organi&ations decide how to %eep

records

sometimes di##icult #or researchers to identi#y

organi&ations+ record-%eeping practices

raw data is not always available

The running record and the e!isodic

record com!ared

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Di##erent ways to use the written record as

evidence *tract e*cerpts, quotations, or e*amples #rom

the written record to support an observation or

relationship

$easure the number o# times content appears in

a document

"ontent analsis

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uantitative analysis

.requency in which a word or category is observedwithin the documents studied

/g/ 'ounting particular words in government speeches

ualitative analysis

!laces more emphasis on the meaning o# a particularstatement and its relation to other statements

Blurs into discourse analysis

$ost li%ely analysis o# documents in the conte*to# qualitative research in political science issomewhat in between

"ontent analsis

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(ndrew 4/ Barrett and Lowell 4/ Barrington/

5667/ Bias in 8ewspaper !hotograph 1election,

!olitical Research uarterly, 79 2:3 ;6

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8ewspapers

$ost research on visual images had been #ocused

on television

8ewspapers have #ewer visual images, and

photographs are li%ely to be used repeatedly

Readers o# newspapers are also li%ely to see view

photographs #or longer

Impact o# an image is li%ely to be greater .inally, it is easier to determine the political

atmosphere o# a newspaper

#ews co$erage of cam!aigns

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'ollection o# photographs o# candidates 1even di##erent statewide and local races in =

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$ain #indings

'andidates endorsed by a particular newspaper or

whose political leaning match the political

atmosphere o# a given paper, generally have more

#avorable photos o# them published than their

opponents

#ews co$erage of cam!aigns

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(dvantages o# the written record over othermethods

(llows access to subCects who are di##icult orimpossible to research through direct, personalcontact

Raw data are usually nonreactive Records are o#ten available #or analysis over time

'an use a larger sample si&e than with interviews

or direct observation Less e*pensive because record %eeping costs are

borne by record %eepers

The written record

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Disadvantages o# the written record

1elective survival)record %eepers may not preserve all

materials selectively save 2or destroy3 embarrassing, controversial, or

problematic records

Large gaps e*ist in many archives

4ritten record content may be biased throughincomplete, selectively preserved, inaccurate, or#alsi#ied records

1ome written records are unavailable to researchers)classi#ied, sealed, or they may be stored in such a waythat they are di##icult to use

Records may lac% a standard #ormat

The written record

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4ritten record personal records, archival collections,organi&ational statistics, and the products o# the newsmedia

Episodic record 0istorical political research

aining access is resource-consuming

But less o# a problem as more documents are available online Running record

Rich source o# political data

enerally more quantitative that the episodic record

Used to conduct longitudinal analyses $easurements can o#ten be obtained ine*pensively

'ontent analysis is the most #requently used method to

study the written record

"onclusion