• Only separate elements of documentaiy research method are used in theory and practice of Lithuanian social educological qualitative research. • Employment of social documentary research as of independent method would enable flexible integration of research by including and granting a status of sub methods for such separate social qualitative research methods as focus groups, expert method, oral history method, discourse analyses etc., approached and valued differently by Lithuanian educologists. • Implementation of social documentary research method in educological researches would allow for more flexible discussions on the presence of Lithuanian educational system and identification of the reasons of its development.