1. Documentary analysis in CAM research: Part 2
- Author
-
Dew, Kevin
- Subjects
Computer-aided manufacturing ,Documentary films ,Alternative medicine ,Health care industry - Abstract
To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2005.08.005 Byline: Kevin Dew Abstract: The analysis of documents can provide insights into important social and political issues related to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). This paper identifies some important sources of documents and outlines some of the advantages and disadvantages of using documents in social research. A number of analytic strategies are illustrated with examples to demonstrate the potential for documentary analysis to answer particular CAM-related research questions. These strategies are described as quantitative content analysis, qualitative descriptive analysis, qualitative interpretive analysis and semiotic analysis. It is argued that documents are a convenient source of data and that their analysis can enrich our understanding of CAM. Part 1 covered quantitative and qualitative strategies. Part 2 focuses on semiotic analysis and the methodological strengths and weaknesses of the different strategies. Author Affiliation: Department of Public Health, Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Otago, P.O. Box 7343, Wellington South, New Zealand
- Published
- 2006