Article published in:
From Text to Political Positions: Text analysis across disciplines
Edited by Bertie Kaal, Isa Maks and Annemarie van Elfrinkhof
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 55] 2014
► pp. 135–160

The Qualitative Analysis of Political Documents

Qualitative document analysis remains one of the most common, yet methodologically misunderstood, components of political science research. While analysts are accustomed to incorporating manifestos, speeches, and other documents as evidence in their studies, few approach the task with the same level of understanding and sophistication as when applying quantitative methods. Building bridges between the two traditions, this chapter suggests guidelines for the rigorous, qualitative study of political documents. The discussion includes a novel examination of materials from the Poltext Project collection – a compilation of documents from across the Canadian provinces. The paper concludes that, whether approaching their work from a quantitative or non-quantitative perspective, researchers must adhere to similar disciplinary standards if their findings are to be considered trustworthy contributions to political science.
Published online: 07 May 2014
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.55.07wes
References

References

Altheide, D.L.
1996 Qualitative Media Analysis. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
Becker, H.S.
1998 Tricks of the Trade: How to Think about Your Research While You’re Doing It. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Berg, B.L.
2004 Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences. 5th Edition. Toronto: Pearson.Google Scholar
Berman, S.
2001 Ideas, norms, and culture in political analysis: Review article. Comparative Politics 33(2), pp. 231–250. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Boyatzis, R.E.
1998 Transforming Qualitative Information: Thematic Analysis and Code Development. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Brady, H.E., D. Collier and J. Seawright
2004 Refocusing the discussion of methodology. In H.E. Brady and D. Collier (eds.) Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards. Boulder: Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 3–20.Google Scholar
Bryman, A.
2001 Social Research Methods. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
2004 Social Research Methods. 2nd Edition. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cohen, A.
1974 Two-Dimensional Man: An Essay on the Anthropology of Power and Symbolism in Complex Society. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Copsey, N.
2007 Changing course or changing clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999-2006. Patterns of Prejudice 41(1), pp. 61–82. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Corbetta, P.
2003 Social Research: Theory, Methods and Techniques. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Creswell, J.W.
1998 Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Traditions. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
2003 Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
David, M. and C.D. Sutton
2004 Social Research: The Basics. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Esterberg, K.G.
2002 Qualitative Methods in Social Research. Boston: McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
Frankenberg, G.
2006 Comparing constitutions: Ideas, ideals, and ideology—toward a layered narrative. International Journal of Constitutional Law 4(3), pp. 439–459. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
George, A.L.
2006 Quantitative and qualitative approaches to content analysis. In J. Scott (ed.) Documentary Research. Volume 1. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. pp. 135–160.Google Scholar
Gerring, J.
1998 Party Ideologies in America, 1828–1996. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Guba, E.G. and Y.S. Lincoln
1985 Naturalistic Inquiry. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Hart, R.P., S.E. Jarvis and E.T. Lim
2002 The American people in crisis: A content analysis. Political Psychology 23(3), pp. 417–437. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Hesse-Biber, S.N. and P. Leavy
2006 The Practice of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Holliday, A.
2007 Doing and Writing Qualitative Research. 2nd Ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Hsieh, H. and S.E. Shannon
2005 Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research 15, pp. 1277–1288. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
King, G., R. Keohane and S. Verba
1993 Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Krippendorff, K.
2004 Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology. 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Laitin, D.D.
1986 Hegemony and Culture: Politics and Religious Change among the Yoruba. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Laver, M.
2001 Why should we estimate the policy position of political actors? In M. Laver (ed.) Estimating the Policy Positions of Political Actors. London: Routledge. pp. 1–3Google Scholar
Lewis, J. and J. Ritchie
2006 Generalizing from qualitative research. In J. Ritchie and J. Lewis (eds.) Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. pp. 263–286.Google Scholar
Manheim, J.B., R.C. Rich and L. Willnat
(eds.) 2002 Empirical Political Analysis: Research Methods in Political Science. 5th Ed. Toronto: Longman.Google Scholar
Marshall, C. and G.B. Rossman
1989 Designing Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
Merriam, S.B.
(ed.) 2002 Qualitative Research in Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Miles, M.B. and A.M. Huberman
1994 Qualitative Data Analysis: A Sourcebook of New Methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Morse, J.M., M. Barrett, M. Mayan, K. Olson and J. Spiers
2002 Verification strategies for establishing reliability and validity in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods1(2), pp. 13–22.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Morse, J.M. and L. Richards
2002 Read Me First for a User’s Guide to Qualitative Methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Neuman, W.L. and K. Robson
2007 Basics of Social Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Canadian Edition. Toronto: Pearson.Google Scholar
Phillips, L.
1998 Hegemony and political discourse: The lasting impact of Thatcherism. Sociology 32(4), pp. 847–867. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Platt, J.
2006a Evidence and proof in documentary research: Part I, some specific problems of documentary research. In J. Scott (ed.) Documentary Research. Volume 1. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. p. 83.Google Scholar
2006b Evidence and proof in documentary research: Part II, some shared problems of documentary research. In Documentary Research, edited by J. Scott. Volume 1. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. p. 105.Google Scholar
Punch, K.F.
2005 Introduction to Social Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Putnam, R.
1993 Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Richerson, P.J. and R. Boyd
2004 The Origin and Evolution of Cultures. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Shively, W. Ph
1998 The Craft of Political Research. 4th Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Smith, C.A. and K.B. Smith
2000 A rhetorical perspective on the 1997 British party manifestos. Political Communication 17(4), pp. 457–473. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Snape, D. and L. Spencer
2006 The foundations of qualitative research. In J. Ritchie and J. Lewis (eds.) Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Tashakkori, A. and Ch. Teddlie
(eds) 2003 Handbook of Mixed Methods in Social and Behavioural Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Weinroth, M.
2004 Rituals of rhetoric and nationhood: The liberal anti-deficit campaign, 1994–1998. Journal of Canadian Studies 38(2), pp. 44–79.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Wesley, J.J.
2009 In search of brokerage and responsibility: Party politics in Manitoba. Canadian Journal of Political Science 42(1), pp. 211–236. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2011a Analyzing qualitative data. In Explorations: A Navigator�s Guide to Research in Canadian Political Science, edited by K. Archer and L. Youngman-Berdahl. 2nd ed. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
2011b Code Politics: Campaigns and Cultures on the Canadian Prairies. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
2011c Observing the political world: Quantitative and qualitative approaches In K. Archer and L. Youngman-Berdahl (eds.) Explorations: A Navigator’s Guide to Research in Canadian Political Science. 2nd Edition. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by other publications

Arielyi, Nivi Gal & Emanuel Tamir
2019. Preserving or maneuvring leadership? Teacher unions’ strategies in Israeli educational regulation. International Journal of Educational Management 33:7 ► pp. 1705 ff. Crossref logo
Burke, Matthew J.
2018. Shared Yet Contested: Energy Democracy Counter-Narratives. Frontiers in Communication 3 Crossref logo
Harrison, Celine, Maria Harries & Mark Liddiard
2018. Child Protection, Child Deaths, Politics and Policy Making: Numbers as Rhetoric. Children Australia 43:3 ► pp. 198 ff. Crossref logo
Næss, Hans Erik
2017. A race towards credibility: the 2009 and 2013 presidential election campaigns at the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA). Palgrave Communications 3:1 Crossref logo
Pressman, Jeremy
2020. ‘History in conflict: Israeli–Palestinian speeches at the United Nations, 1998–2016’. Mediterranean Politics 25:4 ► pp. 476 ff. Crossref logo
Sihvonen, Ella
2018. Parenting Support Policy in Finland: Responsibility and Competence as Key Attributes of Good Parenting in Parenting Support Projects. Social Policy and Society 17:3 ► pp. 443 ff. Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 24 september 2020. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.