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Document Analysis
Megan Polzin
North Carolina State University
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Document Analysis
At the beginning of each interview, participants will be asked to verbally respond to the
following: “What image comes to mind when you think of the word ‘cancer’?”. They will then
be asked to draw this cognitive image of cancer using their choice of provided pens, pencils,
and/or colored pencils, and give an explanation of their drawing. One drawing will be obtained
from each of the two participants.
Document analysis can be “particularly applicable to qualitative case studies” (Bowen,
2009, p. 29) and drawings specifically, have been used in order to understand illnesses such as
HIV/AIDS, leukemia, heart disease, and menopause (Anderson & Spencer, 2002; Bertoia, 2006;
Guillemin, 2004). Additionally, drawings were selected as a data source for this study to
supplement the themes that emerge from interviews, verify findings or evidence from the
interviews, supply richer data, potentially suggest new questions to be asked during the initial or
follow-up interviews, and allow for greater comparison of experiences between participants
(Bowen, 2009, p. 30).
As the viewers can interpret the same image in different ways, participant explanations
will be important to understand how the participant’s drawings were created and their
meaning(s). Participant explanations will then be supplemented using the following questions
(Furth, 1988, as cited in Bertoia, 2006):
1. What is the main focal point in this picture, i.e. what draws one’s attention first?
2. What is odd in this picture?
3. Are there any barriers such as walls or fences?
4. What is missing?
5. What is central or in the middle?
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6. Is there anything out of proportion?
7. Are there lines in the drawing, across the top or bottom or under any images?
8. Is there any edging, i.e. is part of an object off the page?
9. Are there erasures? If so, what is the effect?
10. Is there shading?
11. What colors are used, omitted, or out of place?
12. Is anything out of season?
13. Does the back of any drawing show extra pressure?
14. Do words appear in any drawings?
15. Are there any repeated objects?
16. What are the trajectories of objects, and what would the consequences be if they moved?
17. Are there abstract images?
18. Are objects filled in or empty outlines?
19. What images or symbols are there related to death, disease, future or view of self?
20. What feelings does this picture evoke in the viewer?
Drawings will be analyzed using thematic analysis, “a form of pattern recognition within
the data, with emerging themes becoming the categories for analysis” (Fereday & MuirCochrane, 2006, as cited in Bowen, 2009, p. 32). After intensive review and description of the
data, coding and category formation will be done to determine relevant themes. As these
documents serve as a supplement to other data collection methods, pre-defined codes from the
semi-structured interviews will be applied to the drawings (Bowen, 2009, p. 32).
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References
Anderson, E. H., & Spencer, M. H. (2002). Cognitive representations of AIDS: A
phenomenological study. Qualitative health research, 12(10), 1338-1352.
Bertoia, J. (2006). Drawings from a dying child: Insights into death from a Jungian perspective.
New York, NY: Routledge.
Bowen, G. A. (2009). Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative research
journal, 9(2), 27-40.
Guillemin, M. (2004). Understanding illness: Using drawings as a research method. Qualitative
health research, 14(2), 272-289.