Jämför metoder

	Komparativ dokumentanalys	Kritisk dokumentanalys
Ämnesområde	Kvalitativa metoder	Kvalitativa metoder
Familj	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Ursprungsår	Mid-to-late 20th century; consolidated as explicit qualitative method by 2000s	Late 20th – early 21st century (2000s–present as an explicit variant)
Upphovsperson	Rooted in historical and social science documentary methods; systematised by scholars such as Lindsay Prior and Glenn Bowen	Glenn Bowen; Lindsay Prior (foundational document analysis); critical theory tradition (Freire, Habermas)
Typ	Qualitative comparative research design	Qualitative research design and analytic method
Ursprungskälla	Bowen, G. A. (2009). Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), 27–40.	Bowen, G. A. (2009). Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), 27–40.
Alias	comparative documentary analysis, cross-document analysis, comparative textual analysis, comparative archival analysis	CDA-doc, critical documentary analysis, critical policy document analysis, critical textual document analysis
Närliggande	6	5
Sammanfattning	Comparative document analysis is a qualitative research design that systematically examines two or more documents — or document sets — side by side to identify similarities, differences, patterns, and contradictions across contexts, institutions, time periods, or jurisdictions. Drawing on document analysis as a primary method, the comparative dimension adds analytical leverage by allowing the researcher to ask not just what a document says, but how and why it differs from comparable documents elsewhere.	Critical document analysis is a qualitative method that systematically examines written, visual, or digital documents — such as policy texts, institutional reports, curriculum materials, and official records — through a critical theoretical lens. Rather than treating documents as neutral containers of information, it interrogates how documents produce, reflect, and reproduce power relations, ideologies, and social inequalities. The approach draws on critical theory traditions, including the work of Paulo Freire and Jurgen Habermas, as well as established frameworks for document analysis developed by Bowen and Prior.