Classification of audio-visual documents and understanding their analysis methods in historical research

Hamraz, Vida

doi:10.22034/dpr.2026.242132

Classification of audio-visual documents and understanding their analysis methods in historical research

https://doi.org/10.22034/dpr.2026.242132

Volume 1, Issue 1 - Serial Number 1
March 2026

Pages 236-256

Journal of Diplomatics Studies and Research

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Vida hamraz

Associate Professor, Radio Department, Iranian Broadcasting University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Being familiar with the types of documents and how to extract historical information from them is one of the most important tasks of historians. Most of the documents used by historians are written and in the form of administrative documents, biographies, letters, maps, etc. However, in the last hundred years, with the invention of photography, cinema, radio, and television, a large amount of cultural, political, and social information about important events and the lives of ordinary people has been recorded and preserved in audio and video form, which historians refer to for research on some contemporary political, cultural, and social issues. However, it must be said that the use of these documents requires the use of validation and analysis methods different from common written documents. In this article, an attempt is made to classify the types of audio and video documents in historical research, and to use the descriptive-analytical method to apply specific research methods for audio and video content, such as quantitative and qualitative content analysis, discourse analysis, semiotics, etc.

Keywords

Historical documents

audio-visual documents

content analysis

discourse analysis

semiotics

Subjects

Documentary and Archival Studies Research

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