| archival data | Source of evidence based on records or documents relating the activities of individuals, institutions, governments, and other groups; used as an alternative to or in conjunction with other research methods.
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| content analysis | Any of a variety of techniques for making inferences by objectively identifying specific characteristics of messages, usually written communications, but can be any form of message; used extensively in the analysis of archival data.
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| multimethod approach | Approach to hypothesis testing that seeks evidence by collecting data using several different measures of behavior; a recognition of the fact that any single measure of behavior can result from some artifact of the measuring process.
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| physical traces | Source of evidence that is based on the remnants, fragments, and products of past behavior; used as an alternative to or in conjunction with other research methods.
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| selective deposit | Bias that results from the way physical traces are laid down and the way archival sources are produced, edited, or altered, as they are established; when present, the bias severely limits generality of research findings.
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| selective survival | Bias that results from the way physical traces and archives survive over time; when present the bias severely limits the external validity of research findings.
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| spurious relationship | Exists when evidence falsely indicates that two or more variables are associated.
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| unobtrusive (nonreactive) measures | Measures of behavior that eliminate the problem of reactivity because observations are made in such a way that the presence of the observer is not detected by those being observed.
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