ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses forms of documents that researchers may choose to use in their studies. It describes the opportunities and challenges that using documents present researchers. People inhabit worlds that are increasingly documented. They journal, tweet or blog their experiences; record their conversations through emails and through Twitter; participate in virtual communities in which their interactions are captured; and take photos to preserve images of events. The disciplinary origins of using documents to gain understanding are many and varied. Aristotle’s work on interpretation, for example, provides groundwork for much of contemporary interpretation. Visual documents have long been a part of arts and humanities research. Historians, for example, have used images in their work, particularly photographs. Documents are records of things that may take written, photographic, electronic or other forms. The underlying intent of a document is to convey a message or information to individuals or groups who will consume it.
