longitudinal study
The examination of materials ranging from personal photographs, diaries and letters to public materials such as newspapers, works of fiction and archives in libraries. The documents can be analysed, for example, to provide insight into the personal world of sickness and disease, professional relationships between medical and paramedical practitioners, or the construction of public health campaigns (Markova, I. and Farr, R. (1995) (eds), Representations of Health, Illness and Handicap. [Source: The Sage Dictionary of Health and Society; Documentary Analysis]
documentary analysis
methods