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Even though it represents a whole, the method of personal documents can be divided into several types. The most important classification is the one performed according to the types of the sources of material or the classification into the personal history method, related to formal documents, and the life story method, based on the respondents’ records.
In addition to this classification, the classification according to the types of events, different in scope and significance, is also extremely important. It is the classification into the method of personal documents about the life of the respondent, and method of personal documents about specific events.
Furthermore, there is the classification into the method of personal documents intended to be used for scientific purposes, and the method of personal documents independent of them.
The difference between the method of formal personal documents and other similar methods is that they were written by other people, and the material was processed in the mind of the person who recorded them, which makes its reliability questionable. On the other hand, there are subjective records, made by the respondent. In spite of being subjective, they can be considered as a true research method (Pečujlić & Milić, 1995, p. 139).
As for the method which relates to a majority of events which left some traces on the respondent’s life, it can be said to have a more universal meaning because, in addition to the important events in the life of the respondent, this method also reveals the way in which the respondent developed as a person, every change that took place during that period of time, changes in attitudes, etc.
The importance of the method which relates to fewer events is not in the amount of events, but in their effects on the respondents themselves on the one hand, and in some specific event itself on the other hand.
The biographical method which was developed for scientific purposes is intended to ensure achieving the goal, i.e. examine the relationship between an individual and social phenomena. Therefore, it could be said that this method yields the best results. However, even though an individual is the typical object of biographical research, the validity of this methodological approach has been confirmed in the studies based on the collective units of analysis as well (Poleti-Ćosić, 2019, p. 34).
The role of the researcher using the biographical method is opposite to the role of the researcher performing traditional qualitative research: at the beginning of the research, the researcher collects experiential data, reads or listens to the life stories of people, while doing their best to remain invisible and unnoticeable so as not to affect the data authenticity and quality anyhow, and then carefully reads the collected materials, and reconstructs the real life accordingly.
In addition to bringing some changes into the role of the researcher in a reseach process, the biographical method also brings some changes into the observation of social reality. Traditional research seeks to derive a cause-and-effect chain going from the so-called independent variables to the dependent ones, whereas the biographical method seeks to reconstruct the chronological chain of events and study the logic of their occurrence (Pečujlić & Milić, 1995, p. 139).
Example: When hiring a new worker with a company, the biographical method can be used alongside the questionnaire administration or interviewing. During the narrative interview, the initial introductory question is asked to elecit an account of events and experiences from the interviewee’s own life (the so-called ‘main narrative’), which should not be interrupted by asking additional qustions, but stimulated by non-verbal gestures and expressions of interest. This allows the interviewee to constract the narrative as they wish. During the second part of the interview, i.e. during the ‘interrogation period’, the researcher initiates the broadening of the topic by asking narrative questions or asking for further details about the aspects of life described in the narrative. Talking to a person about certain elements from their biography, in a relaxed atmosphere, is a good way of getting to know the person, and their positive and negative traits better, thus contributing to the prediction of the prospective future business cooperation.
