Document: Analysis & Review

Document Analysis is an efficient procedure for reviewing documents, be it printed or electronic (computer-based and Internet-transmitted) material. Like other rational methods, document analysis often in research methodologies is required to examine data and interpret to extract meaning, gain understanding, and develop realistic knowledge.

Document Analysis is appropriate for qualitative case studies — rigorous studies, delivering rich descriptions of a single phenomenon, event, organization, or program

Documents Analysis can serve a variety of purposes as part of a research undertaking, such as:

- It can provide data on the context within which research participants operate

- It provides information, which could suggest some questions, needs to be asked and situations that need to be observed, being part of the research

- It helps to provide supplementary research data

- Means of tracking — Change & Development

- Document Analysis serves to verify findings or corroborate evidence from other sources

Document Analysis involves superficial examination also known as scanning, reading as in thorough examination, and understanding. This computational process combines elements of content analysis and other analysis such as thematic analysis. Content analysis allows organizing information into required categories in line with the central questions of the research. Document Analysis is the available social research method as well as an important tool.

Document Analysis is a low-cost way to obtain empirical data as part of the process that is unobtrusive and non-reactive. Often documentary evidence is combined with data from interviews and observation to minimize bias and increase credibility.

Document Review is amongst all one of the best processes to collect data by reviewing the available existing documents. The document could be internal to a program or an organization. Document Review is often the high-priced stage of the litigation process including the ediscovery process, and the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM).

Following calls for the document review:

- If background information is to be gathered

- To ascertain, whether the implementation of the program reflects program plans or not.

- Information is required: to develop other data collection tools for evaluation.

- Data is required: To answer what and how many evaluation questions

Document Review: Planning & Conduct

- If Existing documents to be accessed

- Post Assessment — The secure access to the documents

- Confidentiality to be maintained

- Documents compilation: Relevant to the Evaluation

- To have a real understanding of how and the reason, why documents were produced

- Accuracy of the documents to be determined

- Information to be summarised post the review of the document

The document review process is a very crucial component in the applicable industries such as legal. In the legal industry, having it perfectly implemented determine, if a case is successful and hence contributes to your reputation among the clients and the competitors.

Document Review: The advantages & Disadvantages can be enumerated as

Advantages:

- Comparatively cheap or is known to be relatively inexpensive

- A valuable source of background information

- Unobtrusive

- Helps in a behind-the-scenes look at a program — It may not be directly observable

- Helps in identifying the issues, which may not be traced by the others

Disadvantages:

- Information may not be useful, inapplicable, not well organized, expired, or not available

- Possibility of biased information because of the selective survival of information

- Possibility of inaccuracy as well as incomplete information

- A time-consuming process as each action (Collect, review & analyze) takes a lot of time.

Increased and effective understanding of document analysis is vital if any research methodology is to be used.