Documentary review (literature review)
A research method that analyzes existing publications on a topic to answer a question.
What is a documentary review, and how is it done rigorously?
A documentary review doesn't involve going out to take new measurements: it gathers studies, theses, articles, and institutional documents that already exist, sorts them using criteria defined ahead of time, and analyzes them to see what they say as a whole. Its value lies in organizing scattered evidence and showing where it agrees and where it's missing.
The rigor is in the method: clear questions, written search criteria, a database of sources, and honesty about what the review can actually claim. A review describes associations; proving causes calls for a different kind of study.
Why it matters to your business
Before investing in a field study or a new product, it's worth knowing what's already known. A well-done review saves you from repeating work and gives a business, environmental, or health decision a foundation that holds up to scrutiny.
How we use this at Damorus
The thesis The Airport Inside the City is a documentary review of 88 documents published between 2000 and 2021 (26 theses, 22 scientific articles, 5 monographs, and 35 institutional documents), of which 28 focused on El Dorado were prioritized and organized with the Driving Forces Model. It took about a year of manual work. Today we do literature reviews on commission using the same method, backed by well-directed AI.
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