Defining Historical

Research
Historical Research
• Comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians
use primary sources and other evidence, including the
evidence of archaeology, to research and then to write histories
in the form of accounts of the past.

Example:
1. From Chalkboard to Whiteboard: A Historical Study of
Teaching Instruction
2. A study of evolution of print journalism in the Philippines
through a study of collections of newspapers
 Purposes of Historical Research
• To describe and examine events of the past to understand the
present and anticipate potential future effects.
• To reach insights or conclusions about past persons or occurrences.
• Entails more than simply compiling and presenting factual
information; it also requires interpretation of the information
• To help people learn from past failures and successes
• Confirmation or rejection of relational hypotheses
• To revise existing understandings often politically charged ones
• Histories are powerful because they both create and reinforce
collective identities.
Without a history
• It is difficult to know who one is, where one comes from
or where one is headed.
• It is difficult to belong or have direction.
Characteristics of Historical Research
1. The unique characteristic of historical research is that it
focuses exclusively on the past.
2. Not a mere accumulation of facts and data or even a
portrayal of past events. Flowing, vibrant report of the past
which involves an analysis and explanation of these
occurrences with the objective of recapturing the nuances,
personalities and ideas that influenced these events.
3. Conducting historical research involves the process of
collecting and reading the research material collected and
writing the manuscript from the data collected.
Characteristics of Historical Research
4. It deals with discovery of data that already exists and
does not involve creation of data using structured
tools
5. It is analytical in that it uses logical induction
6. It has a variety of foci such as issues, events,
movements and concepts.
7. It records and evaluates the accomplishments of
individuals, agencies or institutions.
Advantages of Historical Research
• The main advantage is that it permits the investigation
of topics that could be studied in no other way. It is the
only research method that can study evidence from the
past.
• The historical method is well suited for trend analysis.
• The research is not physically involved in the situation
under study.
• No danger of experimenter-subject interaction.
• Documents are located by the researcher, data is
gathered and conclusions are drawn out of sight.
Disadvantages of Historical Research
• Controlling for many of the threats to internal validity is not possible
in historical research
• The researcher cannot control for threats to internal validity
• Limitations are imposed due to the content analysis
• Researchers cannot ensure representation of the sample
• There is bias in interpreting historical sources
• Interpreting sources is very time consuming
• Availability of sources of historical materials may be problematic
• There is lack of control over external variables
Steps in Historical Research
1. Identifying a topic/subject and defining the problem or
hypothesis to be investigated
2. Searching for sources of data and other relevant source
materials
3. Summarizing and evaluating the sources the researcher is
able to locate
4. Analyzing, synthesizing and interpreting the evidence
obtained and then drawing conclusions about the problem or
hypothesis.

Mostly qualitative.**