![]() ![]() There are limits to the period over which a sociological study using primary sources can extend, and past events may be important in understanding how contemporary patterns of social life came about. Historical documents are of vital importance to sociologists who wish to study social change which takes place over an extended period of time. Other documents are deliberately withheld from researchers and the public gaze, and therefore do not become available.Ĥ) Meaning – this concerns the ability of the researcher to understand the document for example the document may be written in a foreign language or written in old fashioned language or handwriting or vocabulary which is difficult to comprehend. Many documents do not survive because they are not stored, and others deteriorate with age and become unusable. Two factors that may limit the possibility of using representative documents are survival and availability. This is not always the case as the author may hope to gain advantage from deceiving readers.ģ) Representativeness – a researcher must be aware of how typical or untypical the documents being used are in order to assign limits to any conclusions drawn. In a sincere document the author genuinely believes what they write. Any distortion may be related to sincerity or accuracy. 2) Credibility – this issue relates to the amount of distortion in a document. ![]()
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