There are several ways to access knowledge. The traditional methods to access information are those of direct research through experimentation, or the application of deductive techniques, and the always mentioned "trial and error".
Research is the key methodology for the development of new fields, and for the expansion of existing knowledge. This has been the fundamental element to expand the horizons of understanding of human beings in all aspects.
There is a type of research, which is widely used for historical studies, where the search for information that has been collected in books and manuscripts is essential. This is known as desk research.
What is document research?
Basically, it involves the search for information in a critical way, resorting to various sources by evaluating its veracity, by contrasting with known facts, verifying the reliability of the source (not all of them offer information first-hand), among other aspects.
Tips for conducting a documentary investigation:
- Try to maintain an impartial position, evaluate the facts and try to form judgments only when there is a corroborating source.
- Review various sources, giving more weight to those that have been certified as truthful.
- If you get information that comes from a source that is not entirely reliable, it is recommended that you look for other documents to help you confirm.
- Take notes, and make an efficient classification of the subject, either by dates, events or in order of appearance. The important thing is that you have a clear management of the order of ideas.
- Make diagrams that help you visualize the order that your research should follow, this will allow you to focus on the scope of the objectives that you have set for yourself.
Methodology of a documentary investigation
The focus of this research is critical review of various printed sources. At all times the investigator must maintain his impartial attitude, questioning everything that does not come from a certified source. Thus, the development of the subject, unlike the cases of experimental research, is carried out qualitatively, by reading the information, evaluating, classifying and drawing conclusions.
- Information search: First of all, we must compile the documents with information of interest.
- Bibliographic review: Once we have located the focus of the information, we must proceed to carry out a conscious reading, soaking up the topic that we are going to develop. At this stage it is recommended make a small outline, which allows us to have it in a summarized and easily accessible form. You can write an idea that encompasses the content of the text you reviewed, and make annotations with the name of the document where the information that supports them is found and the respective page number.
- Evaluation: It is quite common to find contrasting information on a topic. We must remember that all sources are usually influenced by one point of view, so when you come across two versions of the same topic you can proceed in different ways:
- You delve into that field, until you find more information that confirms or eliminates the ambiguity found.
- You make reference to both points of view in your work, and explain the possible influences that could be present in each one
- Rating: This is a very important stage, and in this you must group all the information similar that you have been able to find on the same topic. It is important that you separate by topic, since, if your research is extensive, and you do not perform an efficient classification, you will get lost in the large volume of documents, and you will lose the progress you have made in the previous steps.
- Preparation of conclusions: Finally, and based on all the review carried out, you must draw conclusions that give answers to the questions or problems raised in your initial objectives.
Types of documents
Although as a researcher you must review and evaluate all the information found regarding the topic you are developing, it is important that you have a clear classification of the sources to which you have access, in this way you will know which one you can give more confidence to.
- Primary source: It is the review made of a phenomenon or event, made by a person who had direct access to it. Among the documents belonging to this line we have: books, articles, reviews, brochures, monographs, among others. These documents are certified by specialized associations in the field, since they have been submitted to the consideration of specialists.
This is the type of information that we can trust, since it has been corroborated as valid by experts in the field.
- Secondary source: The articles in this item are based on the primary documents. They are summaries and compilations of various topics, supported by research carried out by someone else. This information must be corroborated, since, in many cases, subjectivity is present in the person who writes them.
Action field
The study by consulting documents is an important method of action, and its field of action extends to almost all areas, since all research, even if it is not entirely documentary, involves a bibliographic review phase. Next, we specify the main areas of application of this study:
- Historical facts: Except for the cases of paleontological research, where the test carried out with carbon gives us information about a past event. Historical events can only be relived by consulting bibliographic clues, prepared by our ancestors with the purpose of documenting a fact, or an event, and that today allow us to clarify and corroborate what is often transmitted to us through popular tradition.
- Research in other areas: Documentation is an important phase in the execution of any study. Even the investigations of an experimental or social nature, despite having their own instruments to determine the information, present a documentation phase, which is in charge of paying the field in order to lay the foundations for the investigation.