Skip to main content
PMC home page
Tobacco Control logoLink to Tobacco Control
. 2005 Dec;14(6):368–376. doi: 10.1136/tc.2004.010132

Tobacco document research reporting

S Carter 1
PMCID: PMC1748115  PMID: 16319359

Abstract

Design: Interpretive analysis of published research.

Sample: 173 papers indexed in Medline between 1995 and 2004 that cited tobacco industry documents.

Analysis: Information about year published, journal and author, and a set of codes relating to methods reporting, were managed in N*Vivo. This coding formed the basis of an interpretation of tobacco document research reporting.

Results: Two types of papers were identified. The first used tobacco documents as the primary data source (A-papers). The second was dedicated to another purpose but cited a small number of documents (B-papers). In B-papers documents were used either to provide a specific example or to support an expansive contention. A-papers contained information about purpose, sources, searching, analysis, and limitations that differed by author and journal and over time. A-papers had no clear methodological context, but used words from three major traditions—interpretive research, positivist research, and history—to describe analysis.

Interpretation: A descriptive mainstream form of tobacco document reporting is proposed, initially typical but decreasing, and a continuum of positioning of the researcher, from conduit to constructor. Reporting practices, particularly from experienced researchers, appeared to evolve towards researcher as constructor, with later papers showing more complex purposes, diverse sources, and detail of searching and analysis. Tobacco document research could learn from existing research traditions: a model for planning and evaluating tobacco document research is presented.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (118.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Angen M. J. Evaluating interpretive inquiry: reviewing the validity debate and opening the dialogue. Qual Health Res. 2000 May;10(3):378–395. doi: 10.1177/104973230001000308. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Balbach E. D., Gasior R. J., Barbeau E. M. Tobacco industry documents: comparing the Minnesota Depository and internet access. Tob Control. 2002 Mar;11(1):68–72. doi: 10.1136/tc.11.1.68. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Balbach Edith D., Gasior Rebecca J., Barbeau Elizabeth M. R.J. Reynolds' targeting of African Americans: 1988-2000. Am J Public Health. 2003 May;93(5):822–827. doi: 10.2105/ajph.93.5.822. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bero Lisa. Implications of the tobacco industry documents for public health and policy. Annu Rev Public Health. 2001 Nov 6;24:267–288. doi: 10.1146/annurev.publhealth.24.100901.140813. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bryan-Jones Katherine, Bero Lisa A. Tobacco industry efforts to defeat the occupational safety and health administration indoor air quality rule. Am J Public Health. 2003 Apr;93(4):585–592. doi: 10.2105/ajph.93.4.585. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Carter Stacy M. Mongoven, Biscoe & Duchin: destroying tobacco control activism from the inside. Tob Control. 2002 Jun;11(2):112–118. doi: 10.1136/tc.11.2.112. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Collin Jeff, Lee Kelley, Gilmore Anna B. Unlocking the corporate documents of British American Tobacco: an invaluable global resource needs radically improved access. Lancet. 2004 May 29;363(9423):1746–1747. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(04)16334-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Cook Benjamin Lê, Wayne Geoffrey Ferris, Keithly Lois, Connolly Gregory. One size does not fit all: how the tobacco industry has altered cigarette design to target consumer groups with specific psychological and psychosocial needs. Addiction. 2003 Nov;98(11):1547–1561. doi: 10.1046/j.1360-0443.2003.00563.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Cummings K. M., Morley C. P., Horan J. K., Steger C., Leavell N-R. Marketing to America's youth: evidence from corporate documents. Tob Control. 2002 Mar;11 (Suppl 1):I5–17. doi: 10.1136/tc.11.suppl_1.i5. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Cummings K. M., Pollay R. W. Exposing Mr Butts' tricks of the trade. Introduction. Tob Control. 2002 Mar;11 (Suppl 1):I1–I4. doi: 10.1136/tc.11.suppl_1.i1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gilgun Jane F. "Grab" and good science: writing up the results of qualitative research. Qual Health Res. 2005 Feb;15(2):256–262. doi: 10.1177/1049732304268796. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Glantz S. A., Barnes D. E., Bero L., Hanauer P., Slade J. Looking through a keyhole at the tobacco industry. The Brown and Williamson documents. JAMA. 1995 Jul 19;274(3):219–224. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Lee Kelley, Gilmore Anna B., Collin Jeff. Looking inside the tobacco industry: revealing insights from the Guildford Depository. Addiction. 2004 Apr;99(4):394–397. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2004.00718.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Malone R. E., Balbach E. D. Tobacco industry documents: treasure trove or quagmire? Tob Control. 2000 Sep;9(3):334–338. doi: 10.1136/tc.9.3.334. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Muggli Monique E., LeGresley Eric M., Hurt Richard D. Big tobacco is watching: British American Tobacco's surveillance and information concealment at the Guildford depository. Lancet. 2004 May 29;363(9423):1812–1819. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(04)16309-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Poland B. D. Learning to 'walk our talk': the implications of sociological theory for research methodologies in health promotion. Can J Public Health. 1992 Mar-Apr;83 (Suppl 1):S31–S46. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Proctor Robert N. Should medical historians be working for the tobacco industry? Lancet. 2004 Apr 10;363(9416):1174–1175. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(04)15981-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Talley Colin, Kushner Howard I., Sterk Claire E. Lung cancer, chronic disease epidemiology, and medicine, 1948-1964. J Hist Med Allied Sci. 2004 Jul;59(3):329–374. doi: 10.1093/jhmas/jrh088. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Wolf Zane Robinson. Exploring the audit trail for qualitative investigations. Nurse Educ. 2003 Jul-Aug;28(4):175–178. doi: 10.1097/00006223-200307000-00008. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Tobacco Control are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES