HISTORICAL METHOD

Historical Sources
Historical Criticism
MODULE 1
Learning Outcomes
 Evaluate primary sources for their credibility, authenticity, and provenance.
Outline of Discussion
I. Meaning and Relevance of History
II. History as Reconstruction
III. The Historical Method
IV. Historical Sources [ Written and Non- written; Primary and Secondary]
V. Historical Criticism [ External and Internal ]

INTRODUCTION: HISTORY AS RECONSTRUCTION

 The historian is many times removed from the events under investigation
 Historians rely on surviving records
 Only a part of what was observed in the past remembered by those who observed it; only a part of
what was remembered was recorded; only part of what was recorded has survived; only a part of
what has survived has come to the historian’s attention
 “ Only a part of what is credible has been grasped, and only a part of what has been grasped can
be expounded or narrated by the historian,”

HISTORIAN
 Fallible (cable of error… capable of making mistake)
 Biases – personal, political, religious, personal idiosyncrasies
(Bias, Illusion of Control. Selective Perception, Anchoring Effect, Availability/ Recency
Bias, Positive Outcome Bias. Confirmation Bias)
 Each has his own frame of preference – a set of interlocking values, loyalties, assumptions, interests and
Principles of Actions

HISTORY IS NOT FICTION

 Historical accounts must be based on all available relevant evidence
 A version of the past that cannot be supported by evidence is worthless
“The reconstruction of the total past of mankind, although it is the goal of historians, thus becomes
the goal they know full well is UNATTAINABLE.”
WHAT IS HISTORICAL METHOD?
 Agreed ground rules for researching and writing academic research or professional history
 Core protocols historians use for handling sources
 Historians need to be able to locate and organize the relevant sources on which they will base their account
 Historians have to verify sources, to date them, locate their place of origin and identify their intended
functions
In short, the Historical Method is…
 The process of critically examining and analyzing the records and survivals of the past.
Thus, it involves…
 Selection of subject
 Collection of Sources
 Examination of Genuineness
 Extraction from Sources

HISTORICAL SOURCES
 Source – an object from the past or testimony concerning the past on which historians depend in order to
create their own depiction of that past
 Tangible remains of the past

WRITTEN SOURCES
 PUBLISHED MATERIALS
 Books, Magazines, Journals
 Travelogue
 Transcription of Speech
 MANUSCRIPT [ any handwritten or typed record that has not been printed]
 Archival materials
 Memoirs, diary
NON- WRITTEN SOURCES
 Oral History
 Artifact
 Ruins
 Fossils
 Art works
 Video recordings
 Audio recordings
WHAT ARE PRIMARY SOURCES
 Testimony of an eyewitness
 A primary source must have been produced by a contemporary of the event it narrates
 A primary source is a document or physical object which was written or created during the time
under study
 These sources were present during an experience of time period and offer an inside view of a
particular event
 Primary sources provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under
investigation. They are created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or condition
being documented.
 These sources are created at the time when the events or conditions are occurring, it can also
include autobiographies, memoirs, and oral histories recorded later.
 Primary sources are characterized by their content, regardless of whether they are available in
original format, in microfilm/microfiche, in digital format, or published format.
FOUR MAIN CATERGORIES OF PRIMARY SOURCES
 Written Sources
 Images
 Artifacts
 Oral Testimony
WHAT ARE SECONDARY SOURCES?
 A secondary sources interprets and analyzes primary sources. These sources are one or more steps
removed from the event.
 Secondary sources may have pictures, quotes, or graphics of primary sources in them.
 Secondary sources may have pictures, quotes or graphics of primary sources in them.
Examples:
 History textbook
 Printed materials ( serials, periodicals which interprets previous research)
WHAT IS HISTORICAL CRITICISM?
 In order for a source to be used as evidence in history, basic matters about its form and content must be
settled
 External Criticism
 Internal Criticism

WHAT IS EXTERNAL CRITICISM?

 The problem of authenticity
 To spot fabricated, forged, faked documents
 To distinguished a hoax or misrepresentation
TEST OF AUTHENTICITY
 Determine the date of the document to see whether are anachronistic
e.g. pencils did not exist before 16th century
 Determine the author
e.g. handwriting, signature, seal
 Anachronistic style
e.g. idiom, orhography, punctuation
 Anachronistic reference to events
e.g. too early, too late, too remote
 Provenance or custody
e.g. determines its genuineness
 Semantics – determining the meaning of a text or word
 Hermeneutics – determining ambiguities

WHAT IS INTERNAL CRITICISM?

 The Problem of Credibility
 Relevant particulars in the document – is it credible
 Verisimilar – as close as what really happened from critical examination of vast available sources
TEST OF CREDIBILITY
 Identification of the author
e.g. to determine his reliability; mental processes, personal attitudes
 Determination of the approximate date
e.g. handwriting, signature, seal
 Ability to tell the truth
e.g nearness to the event, competence of witness, degree of attention
 Willingness to tell the truth
e.g. to determine if the author consciously or unconsciously tells falsehoods
 Corroboration
e.g. historical facts – particulars which rest upon the independent testimony of two or more reliable
witnesses
THREE MAJOR COMPONENTS TO EFFECTIVE HISTORICAL THINKING
 Sensitive to Multiple Causation
 Sensitive to Context
 Awareness of the interplay of continuity and change in human affairs

SENSITIVE OF MULTIPLE CAUSATION

 Every event or situation is the product of multiple causes or factors, short-term or long-term
 Inquiry into all relevant condition and circumstances that determine the direction of human affairs
SENSITIVITY TO CONTEXT
 Consciousness about how other times and places differ from our own
 Bridging the cultural and temporal gap
 Interpreting the past using values and beliefs of the past (historical mindedness)
CONTINUITY AND CHANGE
 There can be “history” only when there is change