ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a short overview of qualitative analytical methods. Starting with a short overview of the development of historical source criticism, it discusses the art of identifying and selecting sources (hermeneutics), formal-diplomatic analysis, traditional historical source analysis (‘source criticism’) based on the so-called W-questions and then discusses alternative, post-structural approaches and the appraisal and interpretation of sources. It proposes a pragmatic and selective approach and that it is good practice to apply qualitative source analysis judiciously also to (samples of) serial data in order to enhance quantitative analysis.
