LibGuides: History: Research Methods

Research Methods Books

Historiography by Zoe Lowery; Heather Niver (Editor)
ISBN: 9781622755615
Publication Date: 2015-12-30
Historiography is the writing of history and the study of such writing, particularly that based on critically examining sources, choosing specific details from authentic materials within those sources, and finally, amalgamating all these details into a history that can withstand an analytical scrutiny. This pithy volume delves into a thorough examination, beginning with Egypt, where the world's earliest annals were penned. The text then takes the reader through the evolution of historiography, winding through its most important human activities, questions, and understandings. This thought-provoking book also guides readers through the theories and the history of historical writing.
Historiography: an Introductory Guide by Eileen Ka-May Cheng
ISBN: 9781441148773
Publication Date: 2012-03-08
"What is historiography?" asked the American historian Carl Becker in 1938. Professional historians continue to argue over the meaning of the term. This book challenges the view of historiography as an esoteric subject by presenting an accessible and concise overview of the history of historical writing from the Renaissance to the present. Historiography plays an integral role in aiding undergraduate students to better understand the nature and purpose of historical analysis more generally by examining the many conflicting ways that historians have defined and approached history. By demonstrating how these historians have differed in both their interpretations of specific historical events and their definitions of history itself, this book conveys to students the interpretive character of history as a discipline and the way that the historian's context and subjective perspective influence his or her understanding of the past.

Research Methods Websites

Merriam-Webster definition of "historical method"
Historical Method: a technique of presenting information (as in teaching or criticism) in which a topic is considered in terms of its earliest phases and followed in an historical course through its subsequent evolution and development
Historiography
Brittanica article on historiography, with further information on the History of Historiography, the Branches of History, and the Methodology of Historiography.
Historian's Work
The American Historical Association promotes historical work and the importance of historical thinking in public life. Incorporated by Congress in 1889, its mission to enhance the work of historians also encompasses academic freedom, professional standards and ethics, innovative scholarship and teaching and international collaboration.

Description of Research Methods

Professional historians—people with some advanced training in the discipline of history—bring a particular and often-misunderstood set of skills to the task of learning about the past. They gather and weigh different kinds of evidence, including primary sources (documents or recollections from the time period being studied), material artifacts, and previous scholarship (secondary sources). Using these sources, they work toward careful, often provisional interpretations of what was happening and why at a given time. [from National Council of Public History]

How Historians Work

The term historical method refers to the collection of techniques and guidelines that historians use to research and write histories of the past. Secondary sources, primary sources and material evidence such as that derived from archaeology may all be drawn on, and the historian's skill lies in identifying these sources, evaluating their relative authority, and combining their testimony appropriately in order to construct an accurate and reliable picture of past events and environments.

Source criticism (or information evaluation) is the process of evaluating the qualities of an information source, such as its validity, reliability, and relevance to the subject under investigation.

Gilbert J. Garraghan and Jean Delanglez divide source criticism into six inquiries:^[1]

When was the source, written or unwritten, produced (date)?
Where was it produced (localization)?
By whom was it produced (authorship)?
From what pre-existing material was it produced (analysis)?
In what original form was it produced (integrity)?
What is the evidential value of its contents (credibility)?

The first four are known as higher criticism; the fifth, lower criticism; and, together, external criticism. The sixth and final inquiry about a source is called internal criticism. Together, this inquiry is known as source criticism.

Source: Historical Method