QUALITATIVE QUALITATIVE RESEARCHRESEARCHHISTORICAL ANALYSIS

HISTORICAL ANALYSISHISTORICAL ANALYSISA. DEFINITIONS

◦1. Describing, interpreting, and/or explaining information about the past.

◦2. Reconstruct the past systematically & objectively by collecting, evaluating, verifying, & synthesizing evidence to establish facts & reach defensible conclusions.

◦3. Not just a way of knowing, or making sense about the past, but of understanding & forming theories about the past.

HISTORICAL ANALYSISHISTORICAL ANALYSIS4. Historians study most relevant &

important data from vast amount of information, interpreting this material in some way.

5. Even the most empirically-grounded historian makes arguments for his/her interpretations of the evidence.

6. Many facts in dispute.◦ a. Controversy over what even constitutes

a historical fact.◦ b. Much of the evidence is incomplete,

and/or biased in some way (e.g. accounts may be inaccurate, or slanted

HISTORICAL ANALYSISHISTORICAL ANALYSIS7. Uses multiple methods (including

interviews & quantitative textual analysis, as well as various critical methods).

8. Thus some argue that history an objective social science.

9. Others claim that it is a blend of science & critical textual analysis.

10. Perhaps best seen as a meta-discipline, something applicable to all specialties.

11. As Nord & Nelson (1981) put it, we are all historians of some type.

HISTORICAL ANALYSISHISTORICAL ANALYSIS12. Two basic types of historians:

◦a. The humanist (interpretive) historian: 1) Understand events through contexts. 2) Focus on the unique & particular. 3) History as an art, not a science 4) May describe facts & make

comparisons, but main goal is to tell “the story of the past.”

5) In communication, uses qualitative & critical methods

HISTORICAL ANALYSISHISTORICAL ANALYSISb. The social science historian

◦1) Interested in the processes of history & in comparing event to event.

◦2) Tests hypotheses & makes generalizations.

◦3) Constructs theories that explain the causes of events without regard to context.

◦4) Primarily uses quantitative scientific analysis techniques.

B. TYPES OF HISTORICAL B. TYPES OF HISTORICAL RESEARCHRESEARCH1. Biographical studies

◦ a. Examines lives of prominent, influential, or otherwise remarkable individuals (in the past or current—may use oral history methods).

◦ b. Tends to be descriptive & non-theoretical.◦ c. Rhetorical criticism—influential speakers

(e.g. Presidents, civil rights activists, etc.)◦ d. Journalism--influential journalists & their

contributions (e.g. Hearst, Tarbell, etc.).◦ e. Film & television studies--influential

persons such as famous directors, actors or personalities, industry moguls, etc.

TYPES OF HISTORICAL TYPES OF HISTORICAL RESEARCHRESEARCH2. Oral history

◦ a. Investigates spoken or written accounts of living person(s) who participated in a specific important event.

◦ b. Favors ordinary persons, although also can interview famous people.

◦ c. Relies on primary, firsthand, eyewitness accounts of historical events.

◦ d. Rhetorical criticism—focus on people who have experienced an important rhetorical event or on famous speakers.

◦ e. Media studies--interviews of people involved in various media industries.

TYPES OF HISTORICAL TYPES OF HISTORICAL RESEARCHRESEARCH3. Movement studies/historical time

periods◦a. Studies specific time periods & the

development of political, social, or economic movements.

◦b. Rhetorical criticism--examines persuasive strategies influencing specific campaigns & causes (e.g. civil rights movement, women’s movement, etc.).

◦c. Film studies--examining various film movements & time periods (e.g. German Expressionism, Italian Neo-realism, Black cinema, or the image of the Vamp, etc).

4. Case studies:◦a. Focuses on single important event

(or historical artifact) to understand the communication aspects.

◦b. Rhetorical criticism—analysis of a specific significant speech or visual text.

◦c. Film & television—analysis of a particular significant film or TV show.

◦d. Media studies—analysis of a specific magazine, newspaper, or other written text.

◦e. PR—analysis of specific PR cases (e.g. crisis management).

TYPES OF HISTORICAL TYPES OF HISTORICAL RESEARCHRESEARCH

TYPES OF HISTORICAL TYPES OF HISTORICAL RESEARCHRESEARCH5. Institutional studies

◦a. Concentrating on specific communication or other industries.

◦b. Such research looked at various media institutions (journalism, film, TV, radio), as well as specific corporations (e.g. Disney, Warner Brothers, etc.).

◦c. Also studies of other corporations & institutions like government, education, science, religion, etc.

TYPES OF HISTORICAL TYPES OF HISTORICAL RESEARCHRESEARCH6. Regional studies

◦ a. Focus on particular cities, states, nations & regions.

◦ b. Film studies--examine particular regions or countries during specified time periods (e.g. Soviet montage, French New Wave)

◦ c. Media studies—examine news or broadcasting in a particular geographical area.

◦ d. Organizational—examine development of organizations in particular regions.

◦ e. Intercultural/international—comparative media studies, or histories of groups in a particular area.

TYPES OF HISTORICAL TYPES OF HISTORICAL RESEARCHRESEARCH 7. Editorial studies

◦ a. Translating or processing of documents.◦ b. Decode & make sense of original texts (both old

& new documents).◦ c. Analyze sources of misunderstandings between

cultures.◦ d. Examine impact of changing technology on

messages.◦ f. Might be an initial step prior to doing some other

type of analysis. 8. Most Literature Reviews involve historical research

(examining what was written before on a subject).

II. DOING HISTORICAL II. DOING HISTORICAL ANALYSISANALYSISA. Berger notes the following questions:

◦1. Can you narrow your focus? a. Narrow topic so able to define a

specific problem & deal with it in a reasonable amount of time.

b. Macro focus--looking at the larger picture, perhaps of a specific social movement or trend.

c. Micro focus--looking at a small part or aspect of history, as with case studies.

◦2. What concepts or theory of history are you using to frame the discussion?

DOING HISTORICAL DOING HISTORICAL ANALYSISANALYSIS3. Can you find your primary & secondary

sources?◦ a. Primary sources

1) Those sources directly recording the event (perhaps written or spoken by observers)

2) Includes on-site news reports, brochures, diaries, interviews, videotape, etc.

◦ b. Secondary (second-hand) sources 1) Reports or observations of others (one or

more times removed from the original event) 2) Includes those who weren’t eyewitnesses,

such as an off-site reporter or documentarian, or others studying the event, etc.

DOING HISTORICAL DOING HISTORICAL ANALYSISANALYSIS4. Are your sources reliable (trustworthy)?

◦ a. Value of information increases to nearness in time & space between the witness & the events..

◦ b. Although primary eyewitness sources are the best, do have own biases (see below).

◦ c. Value decreases in proportion to the number of times it removed from the original witness.

◦ d. Check to see if similar to other known information on the same topic, 1) Corroboration through multiple sources 2) Inter-subjective agreement among the

sources you cite

DOING HISTORICAL DOING HISTORICAL ANALYSISANALYSISe. For primary sources, ask if data is authentic.

◦ 1) Divide sources into records & relics.◦ 2) Relics--non-intentional evidence from an

event.◦ 3) Records--intentional eyewitness testimony.

f. If authentic eyewitness, ask if data is accurate & relevant.◦ 1) People may lie about themselves for a

variety of reasons. ◦ 2) People may also be biased, or misperceive

events (see or hear what wish to see or hear).

DOING HISTORICAL DOING HISTORICAL ANALYSISANALYSISB. General procedures:

◦ 1. Define a researchable problem (taken from review of literature).

◦ 2. Establish RQ(s) & maybe a hypothesis.◦ 3. Select data for analysis--a text or texts,

other artifacts, people, etc. (depends on topic & goals). a. Data can be located on site or in a

library archives. b. If have a small amount, can do a

census of a particular universe of texts (or artifacts).

DOING HISTORICAL DOING HISTORICAL ANALYSISANALYSISc. If larger, can take a sample of the

texts (or artifacts):◦1) Can use random sampling

techniques to get representative samples.

◦2) Can use non-random purposive sampling for non-generalizable data (e.g. looking at the fans of a particular film or TV series)

d. For a case study, can just select one or more significant texts.

DOING HISTORICAL DOING HISTORICAL ANALYSISANALYSIS4. Verify the data as much as possible

(see above).5. Select level of data analysis

(interpretation & evaluation of texts/artifacts—see critical research):◦a. Intrinsic--limited to content,

whether manifest (surface) or latent (the hidden meaning)

◦b. Extrinsic--includes additional information about the context, whether from primary or secondary sources

DOING HISTORICAL DOING HISTORICAL ANALYSISANALYSIS6. Decide on the general approach

◦ a. Qualitative data analysis--description, analysis, interpretation; focuses on themes or categories, etc.

◦ b. Quantitative data analysis--summarizing & comparing data numerically, so as to see trends, patterns, recurring analytical units, etc.

7. Apply the analysis to the data, drawing inferences between the interpretations & larger patterns.

DOING HISTORICAL DOING HISTORICAL ANALYSISANALYSIS8. Report the data, the findings, the

interpretations & inferences (conclusions)

9. For qualitative data, a type of reliability & validity is established through intersubjective agreement with conclusions (based on the strength of the evidence & your reasoning).

10. For quantitative data, can establish reliability coefficients, etc.