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Archival research can involve complex measurement and analysis of historical qualitative data. In one study, researchers examined the relationship between optimism and health by analyzing open-ended questionnaires about wartime experiences completed by college students in the 1940s. They used content analysis to extract an explanatory style score for each participant, and then assessed the statistical relationship between these early optimism scores and archival measures of the men’s health at age 60, finding a positive correlation (Pearson’s $$r = +.25$$).

Example of Archival Research: Optimism and Health

In a study examining the relationship between early optimism and later health, what type of historical data did researchers analyze to determine the participants' early optimism scores?

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