8

Research I
Quarter 2 - Module 2:
Historical Research

AIRs - LM
 Target

Most Essential Learning Competency:

Identify the processes in the conduct of Historical research

Specifically, you should be able to:

a. enumerate the meaning of history and historical research;
b. classify the different historical data according to nature and
characteristics; and
c. Answer all the activities from the module correctly.

Jumpstart

Graphic Organizer
Instruction
Make a graphic organizer on the meanings, uses, importance, advantages or
disadvantages of Historical research (10 points)

HISTORICAL
RESERACH
 Explore

Definition of History
The origin of the word history means the search for knowledge and the
truth, a searching to find out. “History is any integrated narrative or
description of the past events or facts written in a spirit of critical inquiry for
the whole truth.” Nevins. (Good and Scates, p.170) Any narrative of the past
events, say the election of a President, is not history if it is written without
any critical inquiry into the whole truth. A newspaper report about any
session of Congress cannot be history if there is no critical analysis about
the whole truth.

Meaning of Historical Research

Historical research or historical method of research is a process of selecting

the area or topic to write the history about, collecting the data, sifting the
authentic from non-authentic, and then making an interpretative narrative
about or critical inquiry into the whole truth of the events. Historical
research describes what occurred in the past and then makes a critical
inquiry into the truth of what occurred.

Historical research must be interpretative, that is, it describes the present

situations in terms of past events. For example, why are we using English as
a medium of instruction in our schools today? The reason is that the
Americans imposed English as a medium of instruction in our schools when
they colonized the Philippines and the practice persisted up to this day.

There are four activities in historical research:

a. Choosing and defining the problem;
b. Collecting the data;
c. Critically analyszing the data; and
d. Writing the research report.

Choosing the problem

In choosing his historical research problem, the researcher must
consider his resources, availability of data, time constraint, and his
professional a competence. The researcher must be able to finance his
research project if no outside funding is available. He must also be sure that
adequate data are accessible and must be able to finish the project within a
reasonable period of time. He must also be sure that he has enough
competence and effort to carry the project into its completion.
The writing of a textbook I history is possible, but for graduate student,
perhaps the problem must be delimited. Maybe making a research on the
history of a town, barrio, factory, school, or on institutions such as the
“compadre” system, land tenancy, agrarian reform, a church in a school
locality, etc. will do.

Collection of Historical Data

The second major activity in historical research is the collection of data.
There are many sources from which historical data may be gathered. These
sources are summarized from those enumerated by Good and Scates with
some modifications and additions. (Good and Sactes, pp 179-188) The list
follows

A. Written sources
1. Official and public documents
a. Legislative acts such as constitutions, laws, statutes,
resolutions, charter, and records, decision letter of instructions,
decrees (presidential or royal), speeches, and records of cabinet
deliberations;
b. Records of proceedings and orders, circulars, bulletins,
decisions, reports, and other communications of executive
departments and lower administrative bodies such as boards,
committees, and commissions;
c. Records of court trials, deliberations and decisions;
d. Registrations of population (census), births, deaths, cars and
other vehicle, lands, buildings, and cattle;
e. Contracts, treaties, executive agreements, and other foreign
relations exchanges; and
f. School records such as registration, grades, and graduation of
students, orders and reports of school officials, decisions of
deliberative bodies such as school board or board of trustees,
school surveys, courses of study any other instructional
materials, textbooks, lecture notes, catalogues, prospectuses,
and advertisements, diplomas certificates.
2. Books and master’s theses and doctoral dissertations.
3. Newspaper and periodicals with new items, new notices, articles, and
advertisement, chronicles, and annals
4. Personal materials
5. Hand written materials, including papyri, bricks bearing cuneiform
writing, vellum or parchment manuscripts, and modern documents

B. Orally transmitted materials, such as folklore, legends, ballads, myth,

sagas, epics, tales, anecdotes, and tradition

C. Artistic production such as historical paintings, portraits, scenic or

portrait sculpture, chiselled stones, coin types, stamped coins, figures in
ancient coins, woven tapestries, vases, and sculptures.
D. Tape recordings, including radio and television, documentaries, movies,
films, pictorials, slides, microfilms, and transparencies.

E. Relics and remains

a. Physical: historical sites, roads, aqueducts, pyramids, fortifications,
buildings ruined or whole, furniture, pottery, implements, and toold,
weapons or arm, human remains, clothing remains, clothing, food,
dwellings, utensil, machinery, monuments, means of communication
and transportation, skeletons, fossils, etched stones, tables, and
walls, plans of buildings, or pictures of all sort.
b. Non-physical: language, social institutions, products of the mind,
business, records, literature, manner, custom and ceremonies.

Primary and secondary sources of data. As much as possible, historical

information must come from primary or first-hand sources. This is not
always possible, however, and the historical researcher may rely, and
heavily at that, upon data gathered from secondary sources.

“Primary sources, that only solid bases of historical work, are the
original documents or remains, the first witnesses to a fact” (Good, cited by
Good and Scates p 184) For instance, the stenographic notes of a court trial
and the newspaper reporter’s account of the trial are primary sources.
However, any document about the same case written by someone who had
not personally witnessed the event in a secondary source.

All physical objects, including their photographs, and cultural

institutions and practices are primary sources themselves and al accounts
written about them by those who had actually seen and experienced them
are primary sources. All writings by people who have never experienced nor
observed personally the objects and have based their writings upon
information gathered the objevts and have based their writings upon
information gathered from those who have knowledge of the events are
secondary sources.

For facts gathered through the questionnaire and the interview, all data
supplied by respondent and interviewee who have actually experienced and
observed the events upon which the data have been based are primary data
but data supplied by respondents and interviewees based on hearsay are
secondary data. It follows that the theses and dissertations based on those
data become secondary sources.

Deepen

I. TRUE or FALSE
 Write TRUE if the statement is correct, otherwise FALSE. (10
points)
__________ 1. Folkore, legend, and ballads are examples of Artistic
production.
__________ 2. Historical research describes what was
__________ 3. Dissertation and theses are considered as primary and
original data since it is a noble work.
__________ 4. Historical research follows a process in collecting the data
about an event occurred in the area about the topic.
__________ 5. Relics and remains is divided into 3 types (Physical, Non-
Physical and Language)
__________ 6. Primary sources is the only bases of historical work
__________ 7. Registrations of populations or census are subjective data
in a Historical research.
__________ 8. Hearsay are considered secondary data
__________ 9. Radio and televisions are classified as non-authentic data
__________ 10. Stenographic noted of a court trial and the newspaper
reporter’s account of the trial are primary sources

Gauge

II. CLASSIFYING
Classify the given historical data according to its nature or
characteristics. Write only the CAPITAL LETTER on the line before the
number. (30 points)

A. artistic production C. relics and remains E. written sources

B. orally transmitted materials D. tape recordings

______1. Record of _____11. pottery _____21. autobiographies

courts _____12. machinery _____22. manuscripts
______2. paintings _____13. Chiselled stones _____23. census
______3. portraits _____14. coins _____24. anecdotes
______4. treaties _____15. literature _____25. slides
______5. pyramids _____16. films _____26. Foreign relations exchange
______6. furniture _____17. pictorials _____27. Human remains
______7. radio _____18. vases _____28. myths
______8. folklore _____19. legend _____29. sagas
______9. legend _____20. ballads _____30. Executive agreements
_____10. television