Reconstructing changes in the Great Barrier Reef - The Great Barrier Reef: An Environmental History - page 32

Therefore, the analysis of documentary, oral and visual data together allowed
the cross-referencing of sources and allowed a fuller historical narrative to be
written; this was one advantage of the use of an array of qualitative methods in
my research.
Summary
This chapter has outlined the methodology used in my research, including
the sources of data available and the methods of data collection and analysis.
My research involved the use of an array of diverse qualitative materials and
a variety of interpretive techniques. However, textual analysis of archival
documents and oral history transcripts was the main method used. Despite
some limitations, as described above, those materials provide abundant original
evidence of some environmental changes in the Great Barrier Reef for the
period 1860-1960. My research included an evaluation of the use of qualitative
sources in environmental history research for a coastal and marine environment,
so the limitations of each type of material were made explicit. Those various
qualitative materials have been used to construct the environmental history
narrative that follows. However, before telling that story, some contextual
material is presented first, in the next two chapters.