The method that involves studying a document in its entirety with the aim of identifying elements relevant to the research objective is the holistic method.
The method that is used to study a document in order to understand its cultural and social contexts is termed peripheral analysis.
The analysis that deals with data gathered by researchers, public institutions or government authorities previously is called official analysis.
The study that collects data on a topic and then converts the results in a manner that allows the findings to be compared and integrated into a common conclusion is the summative study.
The attribute of a documentary method that enables researchers to study events and issues of the past is called retrospectivity.
The content type of documents that consists of the visible, surface text, the actual parts of the text as shown in the document (for example, the words, sentences, paragraphs and so on) is known as fixed content.
The content type of documents that entails the underlying meaning conveyed through the document, that is, what one reads between the lines, and registers the hidden meanings and messages is termed the manifest content.
In content analysis, a category is a set of criteria, which are integrated around a theme or value.
In text analysis, the socially constructed frameworks of meanings, which act upon people like rules, norms or conventions are called paradigms.
The purpose of discourse analysis is to examine the way in which meanings of social phenomena, as they are employed by people to make sense of their lives, are constructed.
Hermeneutic circle is a technique employed to link the unknown whole with the known parts, and arrive at a full understanding of the situation.