Dokumentinis tyrimas kaip socialinio kokybinio tyrimo metodas

The article discusses a method of documentary research which is widely used in social researches in the Western countries. The issues of definition of this method as well as its theoretical grounding, problems related to its practical application in social educological qualitative researches, classification of documentary sources and methodological peculiarities of their evaluation, the sub methods of documentary research method are raised in the article. The object of research: theoretical and practical aspects of social qualitative documentary research method. The purpose of research: to discuss and to up-to-date the documentary research method which is to be applied in Lithuanian social educological researches. The methods of research: analysis of theoretical literature and comparative analysis. In accordance with theoretical material and samples of application, provided by educologists of other countries, as well as the practice of Lithuanian social educological researches and theoretical mind, studied in this article, the authors conclude that: • Documentary research method, widely used in both theoretical and practical traditions of western social educological researches, is not common in Lithuania, most likely due to the fact that it is often associated with historical research method. • However, the purpose of documentary researchdiffers from that of historical research. Historical research aims to perceive one's history and the ways in which the present has developed, whereas documentary research aims to discuss the issues and problems of the present which arise from unsolved matters and suppressed problems of the past. • The methods of historical and documentary research have different approach to historical documents. In historical research a document is expected to provide an exact evidence of a historical fact, whereas in documentary research a document is taken to present an evidence of social reality. • Only separate elements of documentary research method are used in theory and practice of Lithuanian social educological qualitative research. • Employment of social documentary research as of independent method would enable flexible integration of research by including and granting a status of sub methods for such separate social qualitative research methods as focus groups, expert method, oral history method, discourse analyses etc., approached and valued differently by Lithuanian educologists. • Implementation of social documentary research