types of historical research pdf

The Princeton Guide to Historical Research

• Zachary Schrag

Before you purchase audiobooks and ebooks

Please note that audiobooks and ebooks purchased from this site must be accessed on the Princeton University Press app. After you make your purchase, you will receive an email with instructions on how to download the app. Learn more about audio and ebooks .

Support your local independent bookstore.

• United States
• United Kingdom

The essential handbook for doing historical research in the twenty-first century

• Skills for Scholars

• Look Inside
• Request Exam Copy
• Download Cover

The Princeton Guide to Historical Research provides students, scholars, and professionals with the skills they need to practice the historian’s craft in the digital age, while never losing sight of the fundamental values and techniques that have defined historical scholarship for centuries. Zachary Schrag begins by explaining how to ask good questions and then guides readers step-by-step through all phases of historical research, from narrowing a topic and locating sources to taking notes, crafting a narrative, and connecting one’s work to existing scholarship. He shows how researchers extract knowledge from the widest range of sources, such as government documents, newspapers, unpublished manuscripts, images, interviews, and datasets. He demonstrates how to use archives and libraries, read sources critically, present claims supported by evidence, tell compelling stories, and much more. Featuring a wealth of examples that illustrate the methods used by seasoned experts, The Princeton Guide to Historical Research reveals that, however varied the subject matter and sources, historians share basic tools in the quest to understand people and the choices they made.

• Offers practical step-by-step guidance on how to do historical research, taking readers from initial questions to final publication
• Connects new digital technologies to the traditional skills of the historian
• Draws on hundreds of examples from a broad range of historical topics and approaches
• Shares tips for researchers at every skill level

Skills for Scholars: The new tools of the trade

Awards and recognition.

• Winner of the James Harvey Robinson Prize, American Historical Association
• A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year

• Introduction: History Is for Everyone
• History Is the Study of People and the Choices They Made
• History Is a Means to Understand Today’s World
• History Combines Storytelling and Analysis
• History Is an Ongoing Debate
• Autobiography
• Everything Has a History
• Narrative Expansion
• From the Source
• Public History
• Research Agenda
• Factual Questions
• Interpretive Questions
• Opposing Forces
• Internal Contradictions
• Competing Priorities
• Determining Factors
• Hidden or Contested Meanings
• Before and After
• Dialectics Create Questions, Not Answers
• Copy Other Works
• History Big and Small
• Pick Your People
• Add and Subtract
• Narrative versus Thematic Schemes
• The Balky Time Machine
• Local and Regional
• Transnational and Global
• Comparative
• What Is New about Your Approach?
• Are You Working in a Specific Theoretical Tradition?
• What Have Others Written?
• Are Others Working on It?
• What Might Your Critics Say?
• Primary versus Secondary Sources
• Balancing Your Use of Secondary Sources
• Sets of Sources
• Sources as Records of the Powerful
• No Source Speaks for Itself
• Languages and Specialized Reading
• Choose Sources That You Love
• Workaday Documents
• Specialized Periodicals
• Criminal Investigations and Trials
• Official Reports
• Letters and Petitions
• Institutional Records
• Scholarship
• Motion Pictures and Recordings
• Buildings and Plans
• The Working Bibliography
• The Open Web
• Limits of the Open Web
• Bibliographic Databases
• Full-Text Databases
• Oral History
• What Is an Archive?
• Archives and Access
• Read the Finding Aid
• Follow the Rules
• Work with Archivists
• Types of Cameras
• How Much to Shoot?
• Managing Expectations
• Duck, Duck, Goose
• Credibility
• Avoid Catastrophe
• Complete Tasks—Ideally Just Once, and in the Right Order
• Maintain Momentum
• Kinds of Software
• Word Processors
• Means of Entry
• A Good Day’s Work
• Word Count Is Your Friend
• Managing Research Assistants
• Research Diary
• When to Stop
• Note-Taking as Mining
• Note-Taking as Assembly
• Identify the Source, So You Can Go Back and Consult if Needed
• Distinguish Others’ Words and Ideas from Your Own
• Allow Sorting and Retrieval of Related Pieces of Information
• Provide the Right Level of Detail
• Notebooks and Index Cards
• Word Processors for Note-Taking
• Plain Text and Markdown
• Reference Managers
• Note-Taking Apps
• Relational Databases
• Spreadsheets
• Glossaries and Alphabetical Lists
• Image Catalogs
• Other Specialized Formats
• The Working Draft
• Variants: The Ten- and Thirty-Page Papers
• Thesis Statement
• Historiography
• Sections as Independent Essays
• Topic Sentences
• Answering Questions
• Invisible Bullet Points
• The Perils of Policy Prescriptions
• A Model (T) Outline
• Flexibility
• Protagonists
• Antagonists
• Bit Players
• The Shape of the Story
• The Controlling Idea
• Alchemy: Turning Sources to Stories
• Turning Points
• Counterfactuals
• Point of View
• Symbolic Details
• Combinations
• Speculation
• Is Your Jargon Really Necessary?
• Defining Terms
• Word Choice as Analysis
• Period Vocabulary or Anachronism?
• Integrate Images into Your Story
• Put Numbers in Context
• Summarize Data in Tables and Graphs
• Why We Cite
• Citation Styles
• Active Verbs
• People as Subjects
• Signposting
• First Person
• Putting It Aside
• Reverse Outlining
• Auditing Your Word Budget
• Writing for the Ear
• Conferences
• Social Media
• Coauthorship
• Tough, Fair, and Encouraging
• Manuscript and Book Reviews
• Journal Articles
• Book chapters
• Websites and Social Media
• Museums and Historic Sites
• Press Appearances and Op-Eds
• Law and Policy
• Graphic History, Movies, and Broadway Musicals
• Acknowledgments

"This volume is a complete and sophisticated addition to any scholar’s library and a boon to the curious layperson. . . . [A] major achievement."— Choice Reviews

"This book is quite simply a gem. . . . Schrag’s accessible style and comprehensive treatment of the field make this book a valuable resource."—Alan Sears, Canadian Journal of History

"A tour de force that will help all of us be more capable historians. This wholly readable, delightful book is packed with good advice that will benefit seasoned scholars and novice researchers alike."—Nancy Weiss Malkiel, author of "Keep the Damned Women Out": The Struggle for Coeducation

"An essential and overdue contribution. Schrag's guide offers a lucid breakdown of what historians do and provides plenty of examples."—Jessica Mack, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, George Mason University

"Extraordinarily useful. If there is another book that takes apart as many elements of the historian's craft the way that Schrag does and provides so many examples, I am not aware of it."—James Goodman, author of But Where Is the Lamb?

"This is an engaging guide to being a good historian and all that entails."—Diana Seave Greenwald, Assistant Curator of the Collection, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

"Impressive and engaging. Schrag gracefully incorporates the voices of dozens, if not hundreds, of fellow historians. This gives the book a welcome conversational feeling, as if the reader were overhearing a lively discussion among friendly historians."—Sarah Dry, author of Waters of the World: The Story of the Scientists Who Unraveled the Mysteries of Our Oceans, Atmosphere, and Ice Sheets and Made the Planet Whole

"This is a breathtaking book—wide-ranging, wonderfully written, and extremely useful. Every page brims with fascinating, well-chosen illustrations of creative research, writing, and reasoning that teach and inspire."—Amy C. Offner, author of Sorting Out the Mixed Economy

historyprofessor.org website, maintained by Zachary M. Schrag, Professor of History at George Mason University

Stay connected for new books and special offers. Subscribe to receive a welcome discount for your next order. 

Buy a gift card for the book lover in your life and let them choose their next great read.

• ebook & Audiobook Cart

Historical Methods

Cite this chapter.

• Robert F. Berkhofer Jr.  

225 Accesses

A lthough the past is gone, historians not only presume that the past was once real but that they can comprehend what happened then from those things postulated as surviving from the past into the present. Even though the past no longer exists as such, historians maintain it can be inferred from such things as manuscripts, monuments, and other material objects that exist in the present but have been accepted as survivals from previous times. In particular, memories not only seem to offer clues to past matters themselves but also justify the reality of a past once existing as such. But texts and things and even memories do not replicate the entire context of which they are presumed part. Thus historians must envision or postulate the larger context of the survivals they study even as they explore them for clues to that larger world. Efforts to overcome this hermeneutical paradox became known as the historical method in the profession. 1 The variety of techniques that come under this rubric are considered the empirical or “scientific” side of what the profession does, according to many historians and other scholars. 2

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save.

• Get 10 units per month
• Download Article/Chapter or eBook
• 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
• Cancel anytime
• Available as PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info
• Durable hardcover edition

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Unable to display preview.  Download preview PDF.

Hermeneutics studies how to bridge understanding between today and what past persons meant in their documents. The standard reference is Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method , 2nd rev. ed., trans. Joel Weinsheimer and Donald G. Marshall (New York: Crossroad, 1989), but see David C. Hoy, The Critical Circle: Literature, History, and Philosophical Hermeneutics (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978), for a useful, brief introduction to the field.

Google Scholar  

For example, Stephen Davies, Empiricism and History (Houndmills, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003).

See Harry Ritter’s attempt to clarify historians’ use of the terms “method” and “methodology” in his Dictionary of Concepts in History (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1986), 268–72. The first modern handbooks on method appeared at the end of the nineteenth century: Ernst Bernheim, Lehrbuch der historische Methode (Leipzig: Duncker and Humblot (sic), 1889); and Charles V. Langlois and Charles Seignobos, Introduction aux etudes historique (Paris: Hachette, 1898). Rolf Torstendahl, “Fact, Truth, and Text: The Quest for a Firm Basis for Historical Knowledge around 1900,” History and Theory 42, no. 3 (2003), 305–31, discusses these early guides.

Since “documents,” “records,” and “relics” imply from their names how they are to be used as sources and even “remains,” “traces,” and “artifacts” seem to connote too much their specific nature as sources, I have adopted the somewhat unusual use of “survival” as the most comprehensive and neutral term. Of course, the term still presupposes the object comes from the past.

David Henige, Historical Evidence and Argument (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2005), as his title suggests, advances a strong case for the place of argument in understanding survivals as evidence. He offers many examples from ancient times as well as non-Western societies in support of his contention.

What Miles Fairburn, Social History: Problems, Strategies and Methods (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999), 1–2, calls the “old history,” which he sees as “event-oriented” and narrative in form.

Alexander Stille, The Future of the Past (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002), provides a broadly interpretive introduction to the nature of survivals. 8. Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History: A Primer of Historical Method , 2nd ed. (New York: Knopf, 1969), ch. 5. First published in 1950. 9. Arthur Marwick, The Nature of History , 3rd ed. (Houndmills: Macmillan, 1989), 208–16. Quotation is from p. 208. First published in 1970.

Martha Howell and Walter Prevenier, From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historical Methods (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2001), 20–27.

See ibid., 17, for example.

In addition to Gottschalk, Marwick, and Howell and Prevenier cited above, see John Tosh, The Pursuit of History: Aims, Methods, and New Directions in the Study of History , 3rd ed. (Harlow, UK: Pearson, 2000), ch. 3; and Neville Morley, Writing Ancient History (London: Gerald Duckworth, 1999) 53–96. The division between texts and things is the basis for Chapters 3 and 4 here.

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, A Midwife ’ s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785–1812 (New York: Knopf, 1990), shows what can be developed from even very brief entries in a diary.

See, among many, Peter Burke, Eyewitnessing: The Uses of lmages as Historical Evidence (London: Reaktion Books, 2001); John O’Connor, ed., Image as Artifact: The Historical Analysis ofFilm and Television (Malabar, FL: Robert E. Krieger, 1990); Michael Ann Holly, Past Looking: Historical Imagination and the Rhetoric of Image (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996); Francis Haskell, History and Its Images: Art and the Interpretation of the Past (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1993); Alan Trachtenberg, Reading American Photographs: Images as History (New York: Hill and Wang, 1989); Robert I. Rotberg and Theodore K. Rabb, eds., Art and History: Images and Their Meaning (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988); John Tagg, The Burden of Representation: Essays on Photographs and Histories (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1988); and Michael Baxandall, Pattern of Intention: On the Historical Explanation of Pictures (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1981).

On the fragility of such materials, see the Web site of the Save Our Sounds project of the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov /folklife/sos/index.html. On sounds in general, see Mark M. Smith, ed., Hearing History: A Reader (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2004).

Paul R. Thompson, The Voice of the Past , 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), is a good introduction to historical practice in general as well as the practice of oral history. Another recent guide is Donald A. Ritchie, Doing Oral History: A Practical Guide , 2nd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003). See also Robert Perks and Alistair Thomson, eds., The Oral History Reader , 2nd ed. (London: Routledge, 2006).

James M. O’Toole, Understanding Archives and Manuscripts (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1990), ch. 1, provides a brief history of records from the viewpoint of technology of production.

Howell and Prevenier, From Reliable Sources , 19. To designate anything as “evidence” of course assumes that it already communicates to the historian according to some research agenda.

Cf. Morley; Nick Merriman, ed., Making Early Histories in Museums (London: Leicester University Press, 1999); and Bill McMillon, The Archaeology Handbook: A Field Manual and Resource Guide (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1991), chs. 10–11. Cf evidence for medieval European history in Marcus Bull, Thinking Medieval: An Introduction to the Study of the Middle Ages (Houndmills, UK: Palgrave, 2005), ch. 3. See also Stille, The Future of the Past. William M. Kelso, Jamestown: The Buried Truth (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2006), offers an example of what survives from a specific site.

“Library of Congress to Treat Acidity in Books,” New York Times , January 1, 2002, National edition, A18.

Jeremy Black, Maps andHistory: Constructing Images of the Past (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997), 233–34. Cf. for different examples, see William J. Turkel, “Every Place is an Archive: Environmental History and the Interpretation of Physical Evidence,” Rethinking History 10, no. 2 (2006), 259–76.

Jan Ellen Lewis and Peter S. Onuf, eds., Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson, Memory, and Civic Culture (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1999), offer larger context.

Stille, The Future of the Past , 299–309, discusses these problems. Cf. Michael Moss, “Archives, the Historian, and the Future,” in Companion to Historiography , ed. Michael Bentley (London: Routledge, 1997), ch. 39.

Stille, The Future ofthe Past , 303.

Dana Canedy, “Florida Ponders Fate of Historic 2000 Ballots,” New York Times , February 16, 2003, National edition, A18.

The estimate of Luciano Canfora, quoted in Stille, The Future of the Past , 260.

The estimate of Michael Clanchy, mentioned in Bull, Thinking Medieval, 71.

Gottschalk, Understanding History , 45.

The point of Lorraine Daston’s arguments in “Marvelous Facts and Miraculous Evidence in Early Modern Europe,” in Questions of Evidence: Proof, Practice, and Persuasion Across Disciplines , ed. James Chandler, Arnold I. Davidson, and Harry Harootunian (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), 243–74, 282–89.

See again O’Toole, UnderstandingArchives and Manuscripts , ch. 1.

Cf., for example, what Howell and Prevenier, Reliable Sources , 44–56, call technical tools with what R. J. Shafer, A Guide to Historical Method (Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press, 1969), 111–20, calls “auxiliary disciplines.”

For example, Black, Maps and History ; Burke, Eyewitnessing.

Quoted in Janet Owen, “Making Histories from Archaeology” in Making History in Museums , ed. Gaynor Kavanagh (London: Leicester University Press, 1996), 207.

See, for example, the estimates of Giles Constable, “Forgery and Plagiarism in the Middle Ages,” Archiv fiür Diplomatik 29 (1983), 11. Cf. Bull, Thinking Medieval , 65–66, but see all of ch. 3 on evidence.

For an introduction to the topic, see Anthony Grafton, Forgers and Critics: Creativity in Western Scholarship (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1990). Mark Jones et al, eds., Fake? The Art of Deception (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), provides both an introduction and pictures of paintings, objects, and texts from ancient to modern times from an exhibit in the British Museum; Kenneth W. Rendell, Forging History: The Detection of Fake Letters and Documents (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1994), offers an introduction to its subject by an expert who played a role in uncovering several modern forgeries.

Kirsten A. Seaver, Maps, Myths, and Men: The Story of the Vinland Map (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2004).

The authority is Norman Cohn, Warrantfor Genocide: The Myth of the Jewish World-Conspiracy and the Protocols of Zion (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1967).

Burke, Eyewitnessing , 23, 24.

George H. Roeder, The Censored War: American Visual Experience During World War Two (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1993), 8.

William H. Goetzmann and William N. Goetzmann, The West of lmagination (New York: Norton, 1986), ch. 20, discuss Curtis’ artistic manipulation to romanticize the disappearing “red man.” Cf. Robert Flaherty’s similar manipulation in his documentary film of Inuit natives in ch. 5 below.

O’Connor, ed., Image as Artifact , 11. See in general, Susan L. Carruthers, The Media at War: Communication and Conflict in the Twentieth Century (Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan, 2000).

Tessa Morris-Suzuki, The Past Within Us: Media, Memory and History (London: Verso, 2005), explores the future as well as the past of media manipulation.

Provenance is usually used in the arts while provenience is preferred for archaeological items. Although “provenance” usually refers to origins, it can also refer to the chain of custody that allows the investigator to establish the authenticity of the object by tracing it back to its origins. Cf. Lewis J. Bellardo and Lynn Lady Bellaro, A Glossary for Archivists, Manuscript Curators, and Records Managers (Chicago: The Society of American Archivists, 1992), 27.

See examples given in Morley, Writing Ancient History , 65.

Thompson, The Voice ofthe Past , 4. He argues oral history can compensate for this bias.

According to Jennifer L. Eichstedt and Stephen Small, Representations of Slavery: Race and Ideology in Southern Plantation Museums (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2002), even surviving plantation buildings are usually interpreted from the perspective of antebellum white elite values, thereby “trivializing” the experiences of “enslaved” and “enslaver” alike.

Peter Burke, Eyewitnessing , 14–15, observes that visual imagery criticism has the same problems of context, function, rhetoric, recollection, and the like, as source criticism. Cf. Johnson, Voice ofthe Past , ch. 4; O’Connor, Image as Artifact , chs. 2–3.

Gottschalk, Understanding History , 54, offers five possible meanings of “original source” and the two he prefers historians use.

Chapter 3, section 2 examines the kinds and degrees of intervention in such hybrid primary sources.

See their Web sites: http://www.hms-victory.com /index.php and http://www.ussconstitution.navy.mil /. On the rebuilding of the HMS Victory , see Peter Fowler, The Past in Contemporary Society: Then, Now (London: Routledge, 1992), 11. On reconstructing the USS Constitution , see ch. 4 here. See the interesting speculation of Stille, The Future of the Past , ch. 2, on the differences between an Asian and a Western sense of preservation of the original versus its reproduction.

The views of the restoration’s director can be found in Pinin Brambilla Barcillon and Pietro C. Marani, Leonardo: The Last Supper , trans. Harlowe Tighe (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001).

Charlene Mires, Independence Hall in American Memory (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002), 213–26. If conveying the context of such relatively recent times proves challenging, imagine the context of, say, the ancient Egyptian pyramids, which were built it is believed today by a household village society. See Stille, Future of the Past , 38.

Benjamin Franklin , PBS on November 19–20, 2002, now on DVD, PBS Home Video BENF601.

Cf. David Lowenthal, The Past is a Foreign Country (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), 214–17.

Howell and Prevenier, From Reliable Sources , 19. C£ the use of the terms historical and historiographic contexts in the American Historical Association pamphlet on Careers for Students of History under “Skills of the Professional Historian” http://www.historians.org /pubs/careers/Introduction.htm#skills.

Burke, Eyewitnessing , 13.

Peter Burke, “Context in Context,” Common Knowledge 8, no. 1 (2002), 152–77, provides a brief history of the term and today’s uses and problems of application. Robert D. Hume, Reconstructing Contexts: The Aims and Principles of Archaeo-Historicism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), offers a new name for a traditional approach to establishing context with many examples from theater history.

For example, Davies, Empiricism and History.

See Vernon K. Dibble, “Four Types of Inference from Documents to Events,” History and Theory 3, no. 2 (1963), 219–21, for a brief overview of older methods manuals on testimony. Cf. David Cockburn, Other Times: Philosophical Perspectives on Past, Present and Future (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 246–50, 260–63, 266–70, on testimony.

See Fact Sheet G17 from House of Commons Information Office, http://www.parliament.uk /documents/upload/g17.pdf.

Mildred L. Amer, The Congressional Record; Content, “History and Issues ” (Washington, DC: Congressional Reference Service, 1993), http://www.llscc.org /attachments/wysiwyg/544/crs-93–60.pdf.

Donald H. Reiman, The Study of Modern Manuscripts: Public, Confidential, and Private (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993), explores the relationship between the intentions of authors and the nature of their presumed audiences for understanding and interpreting sources.

See the cautionary words of Marwick, Nature of History , 228–31.

Gottchalk, Understanding History , 56, 139.

Carlo Ginzburg, The Cheese and The Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller , trans. John Tedeschi and Anne Tedeschi (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980); and Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou: The Promised Land of Error , trans. Barbara Bray (New York: George Braziller, 1978).

The phrase is used by Robert Finlay, “The Refashioning of Martin Guerre,” American Historical Review 93, no. 5 (1988), 571, but see whole dispute, 553–603.

Leonard Labaree and Whitfield J. Bell, eds., The Papers of Benjamin Franklin , vol. 4 (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1961), 118–19.

See the forum on the larger issue in the William and Mary Quarterly , 3rd ser., vol. 53, no. 3 (1996), 587–635.

David Boucher, Texts in Context: Revisionist Methods for Studying the History of ldeas (Dordrecht, Netherlands: D. Reidel, 1985); James Tully, ed., Meaning and Context: Quentin Skinner and His Critics (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988).

C. Behan McCullagh, The Logic of History: Putting Postmodernism in Perspective (London: Routledge, 2004), 18–36, outlines a comprehensive list of problems on these issues from his point of view. Cf. the two quite different approaches of George Steiner, After Babel: Aspects of Language and Translation , 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998); and Roger T. Bell, Translation and Translating: Theory and Practice (London: Longman, 1991). See the special issue of The Journal of American History 85, no. 4 (1999), 1280–1460, which is devoted to “Interpreting the Declaration of Independence by Translation,” for a practical demonstration of translation (and retranslation).

The larger point of Constantin Fasolt, The Limits of History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004).

The larger issue is discussed by Michael Pickering, “History as Horizon: Gadamer, Tradition, and Critique,” Rethinking History 3, no. 2 (1999), 177–95.

Cf. Dibble, “Four Types of Inference from Documents to Events,” 210–13.

J. B. Harley, “Maps, Knowledge, and Power,” in The Iconography of Landscape: Essays on the SymbolicRepresentation, Design, and Use of Past Environments , ed. Denis Cosgrove and Stephen Daniels (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 277–312, suggests possibilities.

See, for example, how much Laurel Thatcher Ulrich contextualizes the artifacts she makes the focus of her chapters in The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth (New York: Knopf, 2001), especially when she lacks evidence of provenance as in ch. 1.

Robert F Berkhofer, Jr., “Jefferson, the Ordinance of 1784, and the Origins of the American Territorial System,” William and Mary Quarterly , 3rd ser., 29, no. 2 (1972), 231–62; and “The Northwest Ordinance and the Principle of Territorial Evolution” in The American Territorial System , ed. John Porter Bloom (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1973).

Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin, eds., Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts (London: Routledge, 2000), provides an introduction to terminology and concepts.

Fairburn, Social History , tackles these and other problems relevant to this and the next two paragraphs. Cf. C. Behan McCullagh, The Truth of History (London: Routledge, 1998), passim.

Pat Hudson, History by Numbers: An Introduction to Quantitative Approaches (London: Arnold, 2000), outlines briefly the history of quantitative analysis in historical practice as she explicates approaches.

For one introduction, see Martyn Thompson, “Reception Theory and the Interpretation of Historical Meaning,” History and Theory 32, no. 3 (1993), 248–72. Janet Staiger covers reception theory in general and its application, chiefly to movies and television, in a series of books: Interpreting Films: Studies in the Historical Reception of American Cinema (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992); Perverse Spectators: The Practices of Film Reception (New York: New York University Press, 2000); and Media Reception Studies (New York: New York University Press, 2005). In addition to historians of film, audience reaction is also a major concern of museum people.

Lizabeth Cohen, Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919–1939 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990).

Clayton Roberts, The Logic of Historical Explanation (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996), and Michael Stanford, The Nature of Historical Knowledge (Oxford: Blackwell, 1986), ch. 2, wrestle with the nature of “macroevents,” as Roberts terms them. Cf. McCullagh, Truth of History.

Wilcomb E. Washburn, The Governor and the Rebel: A History of Bacon ’ s Rebellion in Virginia (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1957), 98–99. Cf. 107–9.

Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker, Torchbearer of the Revolution: The Story of Bacon ’ s Rebellion and its Leader (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1940); Stephen Saunders Webb, 1676: The End of American Independence (New York: Knopf, 1984).

Cf the statements on George Washington in Berkhofer, Beyond the Great Story: History as Text and Discourse (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995), 53–56.

See for some guidance to the documents, George J. Olezewski, A History of the Washington Monument, 1844–1968 (Washington, DC: Office of History and Historic Architecture, Eastern Service Center, National Park Service, 1971), http://www.nps.gov /archive/wamo/history/.

The seemingly clear-cut distinction others make between what is theory or generalization versus fact in this paragraph and the next three depends upon who is making the distinction according to what framework. What is theory or generalization to one person according to her framework is fact to another and her system of beliefs (and vice versa at times) and this is the point of the exercise.

See Frances R. Keller, Fictions of U. S. History: A Theory and Four Illustrations (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002), ch. 2, for one woman historian’s general statement on the myth and “pathology” of patriarchy. Gerda Lerner, The Creation of Patriarchy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986), is classic.

Cf. Constantino Brumidi’s 1865 fresco The Apotheosis of George Washington in the dome of the Capitol’s rotunda: Barbara A. Wolanin, Constantino Brumidi: Artist of the Capitol (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1998), ch. 9.

Cockburn, Other Times , 54–58.

See the important role living memories can play in museum collections and exhibitions of recent material objects as opposed to those in ancient times by comparing most of the essays in Kavanagh, ed., Making History in Museums , with those in Merriman, ed., Making Early Histories in Museums. See also Gaynor Kavanagh, Dream Spaces: Memory and the Museum (London: Leicester University Press, 2000), chs. 7–11.

Cf. Anna Green, Cultural History (Houndmills, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), chs. 5–6, on remembering and memory, with Paul Ricoeur, Memory, History, Forgetting , trans. Kathleen Blarney and David Pellauer (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004).

Of the multitude of books and articles on memory, I found valuable for overall perspective: Wulf Kansteiner, “Finding Meaning in Memory: A Methodological Critique of Collective Memory Studies,” History and Theory 41, no. 2 (2002), 179–97; Hue-Tarn Ho Tai, “Remembered Realms: Pierre Nora and French National Memory,” American Historical Review 106, no. 3 (2001), 906–22; Kerwin Lee Klein, “On the Emergence of Memory in Historical Discourse,” Representations , no. 69 (2000), 127–50; Mon Confino, “Collective Memory and Cultural History: Problems of Method,” American Historical Review 102, no. 5 (1997), 1386–1403; Paul Hutton, History As an Art of Memory (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1993); Paul Connerton, How Societies Remember (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989); and Lowenthal, The Past is a Foreign Country , 193–210. See also Jacob J. Climo and Maria Cattell, Social Memory and History: Anthropological Perspectives (Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2002); James Fentress and Chris Wickham, Social Memory (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992).

See Lowenthal, Possessed by the Past , chs. 8–9; Kavanagh, Dream Spaces, passim. See, for one example of different groups in a society having varying collective memories, the various articles in W. Fitzhugh Brundage, ed., Where These Memories Grow: History, Memory, and Southern Identity (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000).

From the translation that appeared in Representations and reprinted in Jacques Revel and Lynn Hunt, eds., Histories: French Constructions of the Past , trans. Arthur Goldhammer et al (NewYork: New Press, 1995), 642–643. See Tai, Remembered Realms , for an extended review and critique of this position and project. For the British, see Raphael Samuel, Theatres of Memory , vol. 1 (London: Verso, 1994); and the uncompleted second volume, published as Island Stories: Unraveling Britain , ed. Alison Light et al (London: Verso, 1998). For the United States, see Michael Kammen, Mystic Chords of Memory: The Transformation of Tradition in American Culture (New York: Knopf, 1991); and John Bodnar, ed., Remaking America: Public Memory, Commemoration, and Patriotism in the Twentieth Century (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992).

Morris-Suzuki, The Past Within Us , offers a general introduction to media and memory. See on television, Gary R. Edgerton and Peter C. Rollins, eds., Television Histories: Shaping Collective Memory in the Media Age (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1999). As his title states, Wulf Kansteiner, In Pursuit of German Memory: History, Television, and Politics after Auschwitz (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2006), chs. 6–8, examines the important role television played in creating modern Germans’ memory of their earlier twentieth-century past.

These questions are inspired by Kansteiner, “Finding Meaning in Memory.” Cf. Bodnar, ed., Remaking America , 13–30, 245–53.

Revel and Hunt, eds., Histories , 633.

Lowenthal, Possessed by the Past , 121–2. Cf. his The Past is a Foreign Country , 212–14, for the same position.

Kansteiner, “Finding Meaning in Memory,” 180.

David Farber, ed., The Sixties: from Memory to History (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994). Cf. Steve Gillon, Boomer Nation: The Largest and Richest Generation Ever and How It Changed America (New York: Free Press, 2004). Pierre Nora, “Generation,” in Realms of Memory: Rethinking the French Past , ed. Pierre Nora, trans. Arthur Goldhammer, vol. 1 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996), ch. 13, offers a good introduction to the concept in general as well as its use in a French context.

Ellen F. Fitzpatrick, History ’ s Memory: Writing the American Past, 1880–1980 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002), which searches for the historical forebears of interpretations favored today, can be read as an exercise in changing the official memory of one nation’s profession of itself through historiography.

See, for one example of national identity and collective memory fashioning professional historical works, Joshua A. Fogel, ed., The Nanjing Massacre in History and Historiography (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000); and Takashi Yoshida, The Making of the “ Rape of Nanking”: History and Memory in Japan, China, and the United States (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006),

Carl Bridenbaugh, “The Great Mutation,” American Historical Review 68, no. 2 (1963), 315–31.

See, for example, Brundage, Where These Memories Grow.

Such as in the classic that created the term, Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, eds., The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983).

Kansteiner, “Finding Meaning in Memory,” 195.

Download references

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Copyright information

© 2008 Berkhofer, Jr.

About this chapter

Berkhofer, R.F. (2008). Historical Methods. In: Fashioning History. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230617209_1

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230617209_1

Publisher Name : Palgrave Macmillan, New York

Print ISBN : 978-1-349-37565-3

Online ISBN : 978-0-230-61720-9

eBook Packages : Palgrave History Collection History (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

• Privacy Policy

Home » Historical Research – Types, Methods and Examples

Historical Research – Types, Methods and Examples

Table of Contents

Historical Research

Definition:

Historical research is the process of investigating and studying past events, people, and societies using a variety of sources and methods. This type of research aims to reconstruct and interpret the past based on the available evidence.

Types of Historical Research

There are several types of historical research, including:

Descriptive Research

This type of historical research focuses on describing events, people, or cultures in detail. It can involve examining artifacts, documents, or other sources of information to create a detailed account of what happened or existed.

Analytical Research

This type of historical research aims to explain why events, people, or cultures occurred in a certain way. It involves analyzing data to identify patterns, causes, and effects, and making interpretations based on this analysis.

Comparative Research

This type of historical research involves comparing two or more events, people, or cultures to identify similarities and differences. This can help researchers understand the unique characteristics of each and how they interacted with each other.

Interpretive Research

This type of historical research focuses on interpreting the meaning of past events, people, or cultures. It can involve analyzing cultural symbols, beliefs, and practices to understand their significance in a particular historical context.

Quantitative Research

This type of historical research involves using statistical methods to analyze historical data. It can involve examining demographic information, economic indicators, or other quantitative data to identify patterns and trends.

Qualitative Research

This type of historical research involves examining non-numerical data such as personal accounts, letters, or diaries. It can provide insights into the experiences and perspectives of individuals during a particular historical period.

Data Collection Methods

Data Collection Methods are as follows:

• Archival research : This involves analyzing documents and records that have been preserved over time, such as government records, diaries, letters, newspapers, and photographs. Archival research is often conducted in libraries, archives, and museums.
• Oral history : This involves conducting interviews with individuals who have lived through a particular historical period or event. Oral history can provide a unique perspective on past events and can help to fill gaps in the historical record.
• Artifact analysis: This involves examining physical objects from the past, such as tools, clothing, and artwork, to gain insights into past cultures and practices.
• Secondary sources: This involves analyzing published works, such as books, articles, and academic papers, that discuss past events and cultures. Secondary sources can provide context and insights into the historical period being studied.
• Statistical analysis : This involves analyzing numerical data from the past, such as census records or economic data, to identify patterns and trends.
• Fieldwork : This involves conducting on-site research in a particular location, such as visiting a historical site or conducting ethnographic research in a particular community. Fieldwork can provide a firsthand understanding of the culture and environment being studied.
• Content analysis: This involves analyzing the content of media from the past, such as films, television programs, and advertisements, to gain insights into cultural attitudes and beliefs.

Data Analysis Methods

• Content analysis : This involves analyzing the content of written or visual material, such as books, newspapers, or photographs, to identify patterns and themes. Content analysis can be used to identify changes in cultural values and beliefs over time.
• Textual analysis : This involves analyzing written texts, such as letters or diaries, to understand the experiences and perspectives of individuals during a particular historical period. Textual analysis can provide insights into how people lived and thought in the past.
• Discourse analysis : This involves analyzing how language is used to construct meaning and power relations in a particular historical period. Discourse analysis can help to identify how social and political ideologies were constructed and maintained over time.
• Statistical analysis: This involves using statistical methods to analyze numerical data, such as census records or economic data, to identify patterns and trends. Statistical analysis can help to identify changes in population demographics, economic conditions, and other factors over time.
• Comparative analysis : This involves comparing data from two or more historical periods or events to identify similarities and differences. Comparative analysis can help to identify patterns and trends that may not be apparent from analyzing data from a single historical period.
• Qualitative analysis: This involves analyzing non-numerical data, such as oral history interviews or ethnographic field notes, to identify themes and patterns. Qualitative analysis can provide a rich understanding of the experiences and perspectives of individuals in the past.

Historical Research Methodology

Here are the general steps involved in historical research methodology:

• Define the research question: Start by identifying a research question that you want to answer through your historical research. This question should be focused, specific, and relevant to your research goals.
• Review the literature: Conduct a review of the existing literature on the topic of your research question. This can involve reading books, articles, and academic papers to gain a thorough understanding of the existing research.
• Develop a research design : Develop a research design that outlines the methods you will use to collect and analyze data. This design should be based on the research question and should be feasible given the resources and time available.
• Collect data: Use the methods outlined in your research design to collect data on past events, people, and cultures. This can involve archival research, oral history interviews, artifact analysis, and other data collection methods.
• Analyze data : Analyze the data you have collected using the methods outlined in your research design. This can involve content analysis, textual analysis, statistical analysis, and other data analysis methods.
• Interpret findings : Use the results of your data analysis to draw meaningful insights and conclusions related to your research question. These insights should be grounded in the data and should be relevant to the research goals.
• Communicate results: Communicate your findings through a research report, academic paper, or other means. This should be done in a clear, concise, and well-organized manner, with appropriate citations and references to the literature.

Applications of Historical Research

Historical research has a wide range of applications in various fields, including:

• Education : Historical research can be used to develop curriculum materials that reflect a more accurate and inclusive representation of history. It can also be used to provide students with a deeper understanding of past events and cultures.
• Museums : Historical research is used to develop exhibits, programs, and other materials for museums. It can provide a more accurate and engaging presentation of historical events and artifacts.
• Public policy : Historical research is used to inform public policy decisions by providing insights into the historical context of current issues. It can also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of past policies and programs.
• Business : Historical research can be used by businesses to understand the evolution of their industry and to identify trends that may affect their future success. It can also be used to develop marketing strategies that resonate with customers’ historical interests and values.
• Law : Historical research is used in legal proceedings to provide evidence and context for cases involving historical events or practices. It can also be used to inform the development of new laws and policies.
• Genealogy : Historical research can be used by individuals to trace their family history and to understand their ancestral roots.
• Cultural preservation : Historical research is used to preserve cultural heritage by documenting and interpreting past events, practices, and traditions. It can also be used to identify and preserve historical landmarks and artifacts.

Examples of Historical Research

Examples of Historical Research are as follows:

• Examining the history of race relations in the United States: Historical research could be used to explore the historical roots of racial inequality and injustice in the United States. This could help inform current efforts to address systemic racism and promote social justice.
• Tracing the evolution of political ideologies: Historical research could be used to study the development of political ideologies over time. This could help to contextualize current political debates and provide insights into the origins and evolution of political beliefs and values.
• Analyzing the impact of technology on society : Historical research could be used to explore the impact of technology on society over time. This could include examining the impact of previous technological revolutions (such as the industrial revolution) on society, as well as studying the current impact of emerging technologies on society and the environment.
• Documenting the history of marginalized communities : Historical research could be used to document the history of marginalized communities (such as LGBTQ+ communities or indigenous communities). This could help to preserve cultural heritage, promote social justice, and promote a more inclusive understanding of history.

Purpose of Historical Research

The purpose of historical research is to study the past in order to gain a better understanding of the present and to inform future decision-making. Some specific purposes of historical research include:

• To understand the origins of current events, practices, and institutions : Historical research can be used to explore the historical roots of current events, practices, and institutions. By understanding how things developed over time, we can gain a better understanding of the present.
• To develop a more accurate and inclusive understanding of history : Historical research can be used to correct inaccuracies and biases in historical narratives. By exploring different perspectives and sources of information, we can develop a more complete and nuanced understanding of history.
• To inform decision-making: Historical research can be used to inform decision-making in various fields, including education, public policy, business, and law. By understanding the historical context of current issues, we can make more informed decisions about how to address them.
• To preserve cultural heritage : Historical research can be used to document and preserve cultural heritage, including traditions, practices, and artifacts. By understanding the historical significance of these cultural elements, we can work to preserve them for future generations.
• To stimulate curiosity and critical thinking: Historical research can be used to stimulate curiosity and critical thinking about the past. By exploring different historical perspectives and interpretations, we can develop a more critical and reflective approach to understanding history and its relevance to the present.

When to use Historical Research

Historical research can be useful in a variety of contexts. Here are some examples of when historical research might be particularly appropriate:

• When examining the historical roots of current events: Historical research can be used to explore the historical roots of current events, practices, and institutions. By understanding how things developed over time, we can gain a better understanding of the present.
• When examining the historical context of a particular topic : Historical research can be used to explore the historical context of a particular topic, such as a social issue, political debate, or scientific development. By understanding the historical context, we can gain a more nuanced understanding of the topic and its significance.
• When exploring the evolution of a particular field or discipline : Historical research can be used to explore the evolution of a particular field or discipline, such as medicine, law, or art. By understanding the historical development of the field, we can gain a better understanding of its current state and future directions.
• When examining the impact of past events on current society : Historical research can be used to examine the impact of past events (such as wars, revolutions, or social movements) on current society. By understanding the historical context and impact of these events, we can gain insights into current social and political issues.
• When studying the cultural heritage of a particular community or group : Historical research can be used to document and preserve the cultural heritage of a particular community or group. By understanding the historical significance of cultural practices, traditions, and artifacts, we can work to preserve them for future generations.

Characteristics of Historical Research

The following are some characteristics of historical research:

• Focus on the past : Historical research focuses on events, people, and phenomena of the past. It seeks to understand how things developed over time and how they relate to current events.
• Reliance on primary sources: Historical research relies on primary sources such as letters, diaries, newspapers, government documents, and other artifacts from the period being studied. These sources provide firsthand accounts of events and can help researchers gain a more accurate understanding of the past.
• Interpretation of data : Historical research involves interpretation of data from primary sources. Researchers analyze and interpret data to draw conclusions about the past.
• Use of multiple sources: Historical research often involves using multiple sources of data to gain a more complete understanding of the past. By examining a range of sources, researchers can cross-reference information and validate their findings.
• Importance of context: Historical research emphasizes the importance of context. Researchers analyze the historical context in which events occurred and consider how that context influenced people’s actions and decisions.
• Subjectivity : Historical research is inherently subjective, as researchers interpret data and draw conclusions based on their own perspectives and biases. Researchers must be aware of their own biases and strive for objectivity in their analysis.
• Importance of historical significance: Historical research emphasizes the importance of historical significance. Researchers consider the historical significance of events, people, and phenomena and their impact on the present and future.
• Use of qualitative methods : Historical research often uses qualitative methods such as content analysis, discourse analysis, and narrative analysis to analyze data and draw conclusions about the past.

Advantages of Historical Research

There are several advantages to historical research:

• Provides a deeper understanding of the past : Historical research can provide a more comprehensive understanding of past events and how they have shaped current social, political, and economic conditions. This can help individuals and organizations make informed decisions about the future.
• Helps preserve cultural heritage: Historical research can be used to document and preserve cultural heritage. By studying the history of a particular culture, researchers can gain insights into the cultural practices and beliefs that have shaped that culture over time.
• Provides insights into long-term trends : Historical research can provide insights into long-term trends and patterns. By studying historical data over time, researchers can identify patterns and trends that may be difficult to discern from short-term data.
• Facilitates the development of hypotheses: Historical research can facilitate the development of hypotheses about how past events have influenced current conditions. These hypotheses can be tested using other research methods, such as experiments or surveys.
• Helps identify root causes of social problems : Historical research can help identify the root causes of social problems. By studying the historical context in which these problems developed, researchers can gain a better understanding of how they emerged and what factors may have contributed to their development.
• Provides a source of inspiration: Historical research can provide a source of inspiration for individuals and organizations seeking to address current social, political, and economic challenges. By studying the accomplishments and struggles of past generations, researchers can gain insights into how to address current challenges.

Limitations of Historical Research

Some Limitations of Historical Research are as follows:

• Reliance on incomplete or biased data: Historical research is often limited by the availability and quality of data. Many primary sources have been lost, destroyed, or are inaccessible, making it difficult to get a complete picture of historical events. Additionally, some primary sources may be biased or represent only one perspective on an event.
• Difficulty in generalizing findings: Historical research is often specific to a particular time and place and may not be easily generalized to other contexts. This makes it difficult to draw broad conclusions about human behavior or social phenomena.
• Lack of control over variables : Historical research often lacks control over variables. Researchers cannot manipulate or control historical events, making it difficult to establish cause-and-effect relationships.
• Subjectivity of interpretation : Historical research is often subjective because researchers must interpret data and draw conclusions based on their own biases and perspectives. Different researchers may interpret the same data differently, leading to different conclusions.
• Limited ability to test hypotheses: Historical research is often limited in its ability to test hypotheses. Because the events being studied have already occurred, researchers cannot manipulate variables or conduct experiments to test their hypotheses.
• Lack of objectivity: Historical research is often subjective, and researchers must be aware of their own biases and strive for objectivity in their analysis. However, it can be difficult to maintain objectivity when studying events that are emotionally charged or controversial.
• Limited generalizability: Historical research is often limited in its generalizability, as the events and conditions being studied may be specific to a particular time and place. This makes it difficult to draw broad conclusions that apply to other contexts or time periods.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

You may also like

Original Research – Definition, Examples, Guide

Humanities Research – Types, Methods and Examples

Artistic Research – Methods, Types and Examples

Scientific Research – Types, Purpose and Guide

Documentary Research – Types, Methods and...

• Architecture and Design
• Asian and Pacific Studies
• Business and Economics
• Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Computer Sciences
• Cultural Studies
• Engineering
• General Interest
• Geosciences
• Industrial Chemistry
• Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies
• Jewish Studies
• Library and Information Science, Book Studies
• Life Sciences
• Linguistics and Semiotics
• Literary Studies
• Materials Sciences
• Mathematics
• Social Sciences
• Sports and Recreation
• Theology and Religion
• Publish your article
• The role of authors
• Promoting your article
• Abstracting & indexing
• Publishing Ethics
• Why publish with De Gruyter
• How to publish with De Gruyter
• Our book series
• Our subject areas
• Your digital product at De Gruyter
• Contribute to our reference works
• Product information
• Tools & resources
• Product Information
• Promotional Materials
• Orders and Inquiries
• FAQ for Library Suppliers and Book Sellers
• Repository Policy
• Free access policy
• Open Access agreements
• Database portals
• For Authors
• Customer service
• People + Culture
• Journal Management
• How to join us
• Working at De Gruyter
• Mission & Vision
• De Gruyter Foundation
• De Gruyter Ebound
• Our Responsibility
• Partner publishers

Your purchase has been completed. Your documents are now available to view.

Research Methods for History

• Lucy Faire and Simon Gunn
• X / Twitter

Please login or register with De Gruyter to order this product.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
• Copyright year: 2016
• Audience: College/higher education;
• Main content: 288
• Other: 24 B/W illustrations
• Keywords: History
• Published: July 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9781474408745

• University of Wisconsin–Madison
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Research Guides
• Introduction to Historical Research

Introduction to Historical Research : Home

• Archival sources
• Multimedia sources
• Newspapers and other periodicals
• Biographical Information
• Government documents

Subject-Specialist Librarians

There are librarians on campus that can help you with your specific area of research.

Subject Librarian Directory Subject-specialist/ liaison librarians are willing to help you with anything from coming up with research strategies to locating sources.

Ask a Librarian

or click for more options ...

This guide is an introduction to selected resources available for historical research.  It covers both primary sources (such as diaries, letters, newspaper articles, photographs, government documents and first-hand accounts) and secondary materials (such as books and articles written by historians and devoted to the analysis and interpretation of historical events and evidence).

"Research in history involves developing an understanding of the past through the examination and interpretation of evidence. Evidence may exist in the form of texts, physical remains of historic sites, recorded data, pictures, maps, artifacts, and so on. The historian’s job is to find evidence, analyze its content and biases, corroborate it with further evidence, and use that evidence to develop an interpretation of past events that holds some significance for the present.

Historians use libraries to

• locate primary sources (first-hand information such as diaries, letters, and original documents) for evidence
• find secondary sources (historians’ interpretations and analyses of historical evidence)
• verify factual material as inconsistencies arise"

( Research and Documentation in the Electronic Age, Fifth Edition, by Diana Hacker and Barbara Fister, Bedford/St. Martin, 2010)

This guide is meant to help you work through these steps.

Other helpful guides

This is a list of other historical research guides you may find helpful:

• Learning Historical Research Learning to Do Historical Research: A Primer for Environmental Historians and Others by William Cronon and his students, University of Wisconsin A website designed as a basic introduction to historical research for anyone and everyone who is interested in exploring the past.
• Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: A Guide for College Students by Patrick Rael, Bowdoin College Guide to all aspects of historical scholarship—from reading a history book to doing primary source research to writing a history paper.
• Writing Historical Essays: A Guide for Undergraduates Rutgers History Department guide to writing historical essays
• History Study Guides History study guides created by the Carleton College History Department

• Next: Books >>
• Last Updated: Mar 4, 2024 12:48 PM
• URL: https://researchguides.library.wisc.edu/introhist

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

Download Free PDF

Sources of Historical Study, Primary, Secondary and Tertiary, Written and Oral, Evaluation of Sources

The word History originated from Greek word ἱστορία, historia, meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation"1. It is the study of the past, particularly how it relates to humans. It is an umbrella term that relates to past events as well as the memory, discovery, collection, organization, presentation, and interpretation of information about these events.2 In a broader sense, “history is a systematic account of the origin and development of the humankind, a record of the unique events and movements in its life, it is an attempt to recapture however imperfectly, that which is, in a sense, lost forever.3 Any leftover of the past, which adds to our knowledge of that past, can be considered as its source. Hence History definitely has some sources.

Related papers

Research Journal of Indian Cultural, Social & Philosophical Stream (ISSN: 0973-8762), 2014

Council of Europe, 2005

Reports of the Workshops and Workshop Materials on: “The use of sources in teaching and learning history” Nicosia, Cyprus 13 – 14 November 2005 & “The use of historical sources in teaching cultural and social history of Cyprus” Nicosia, Cyprus 9 – 10 June 2006

Teaching controversial and sensitive topics in history is always a challenge and Euroclio has devoted several seminars, projects and conferences on how best to teach these subjects at school. The objective of this booklet was to tackle the topic of St. Paul’s Shipwreck in Malta which is controversial on various levels in Maltese history. St. Paul’s shipwreck is mentioned in the bible and Malta a country where the Catholic religion is very strong, has always held this saint in high estime and there has been devotion and feasts dedicated to him since the Order of St John’s time in the 16th century. However, there has been some controversy raised by historians who have questioned whether he did come at all! These argue that apart from the reference in the bible there are no other historical sources which mention this event. This book tries to teach the topic by introducing the history method and how history works versus how mythology is enhanced. This is a sensitive issue because St. Paul is reverred as the one who brought the faith to the islands and the Maltese converted to christianity because of this provincial shipwreck. The popular belief is that from the shipwreck in 60 A.C.E. up to the present day there was a continuity of the Christian faith on the islands. This booklet also explores the validity of this claim of continuity by inviting pupils to look at the available sources and to make their own conclusions and interpretations based on the reliability of these sources. Irrespective of the theme, this booklet is interesting to all history teachers and history learners in any country because understanding the scientific way of how history works is useful in all contexts. While it also offers ideas and ways of using sources in such a way as not to impose judgements in history but to investigate sources and back any historical claims according to the evidence available.

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD), 2020

IJCRT - International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT), 2021

Geschichtstheorie am Werk, 2022

The Behavior analyst / MABA, 1983

HSSE Online: Research and Practice in Humanities and Social Studies Education, 2018

ELK Asia Pacific Journal of Social Sciences, 2014

paper.ssrn, 2021

Educational Research: Proofs, Arguments, and Other Reasonings, 2009

Oxford Research Encyclopedia, 2020

Related topics

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

Page Not Found

Uh-oh looks like we’ve roamed off course.

It seems the page you’re looking for has strayed from the pride. But don’t worry, at Old Dominion University, we’re all about discovery and new adventures. Let’s get you back on track!

Here are some helpful links to guide you:

• Home – Start your journey here
• Admissions – Begin your Monarch adventure
• Academics – Discover our programs
• Campus Life – Explore student life at ODU
• University Libraries – Find books, study spaces & labs 
• Directory – Find Faculty & Staff
• myODU Portal – Access ODU online resources

Remember, with Big Blue and the heart of a lion, no obstacle is too big. Keep exploring, and you’ll find your way!

Roaring with you,

Enhance your college career by gaining relevant experience with the skills and knowledge needed for your future career. Discover our experiential learning opportunities.

Picture yourself in the classroom, speak with professors in your major, and meet current students.

From sports games to concerts and lectures, join the ODU community at a variety of campus events. 

6. Type of Research and Type Research Design

• December 2020
• In book: Research Methodology (An Overview) (pp.46-57)
• Publisher: KD Publications

• Chaudhary Bansilal University Bhiwani Haryana

Discover the world's research

• 25+ million members
• 160+ million publication pages
• 2.3+ billion citations

• Aris Sudaryanto
• Hasri Ainun Pratiwi
• Onyiso Sachbear Atieno
• Matthews Muoki
• Kamau Wango

• Sajeeb Kumar Shrestha

• Airis Jane Llave

• pragya chaudhary

• Mahmoud Zayed

• Fathima Rushna Waffa

• Isra’ Salem

• Rustam Vahidov

• Recruit researchers
• Join for free
• Login Email Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google Welcome back! Please log in. Email · Hint Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google No account? Sign up