Personal documents

Some personal documents have been used by sociologists to gain insights into everyday life. They analyse documents such as diaries and letters to try and understand the meanings and motives of people. This is the type of material is qualitative and often richly detailed, showing how events and changes in society were perceived by those experiencing them. The advantage of this is the availability of the material, especially if the research is investigating events that took place several years ago. There are difficulties in asking someone during an interview or in  questionnaire about their feelings 40 or 50 years ago, if you…