Disadvantages of using archives

What are the disadvantages of using archives to look at government policies? history

Hi @x.ella.x

My name is Dom and I may be able to help. My masters thesis was heavily influenced by archival information on government policy.

I don't really think there are any intrinsic disadvantages of archives. It may be that I don't understand your question. Are you asking what disadvantages there are with specific types of documents on government policies that are held in archives? If you are then here is what I would say.

If you are accessing transcripts from Parliamentary debate in the Parliamentary Archives then one of the disadvantages is that what ministers are revealing is being said in a public space. This could be a disadvantage as ministers are less likely to highlight the failings of their own policies in public. Thus, whatever is being revealed is generally a refined answer of the truth which downplays any failings.

If you are using official correspondence between Ministers and civil servants, these generally are found in the national archive, then these have less obvious disadvantages. Obviously, they are great pieces of primary evidence as they were never meant to be viewed by public etc. First;y, you should always be looking at the dates, who wrote the document to find out its significance as a document. Also, in my experience I'd say that these documents sometimes can be inconsequential. What I mean by this is that, unlike diary entries from people that are effected by government policy, don't go into detail the positive and negative effects of policy like other types of primary document do.

If this is a piece of work for undergraduate study then try and focus on the significance of the document more on its advantages and disadvantages as all primary documents are important in their own way. A good historian will look at two pieces of documentation and highlight their significance and come to a reasoned conclusion why one piece may be more important than the other.

Hope this helps. If you need any more help please feel free to ask.

Dom

Hi! Thank you so much! This was extremely helpful!