Abdul Waheed

• PhD Scholar
•Department of Education
•Topic: Historical Research
 What is History
•What is the first thing that comes in to our mind “when”.
• We hear the word history.
• The word History is derived from a Greek word “historia” which means inquiry.
• Knowledge acquired by investigation.
• The word history originally means the search for knowledge and truth.
What is consensus history
 Consensus history is a style of American historiography that emphasizes
the basic unity of American values and downplays conflict as superficial
influential and lacking in complexity.
 The movement was especially influential in the 1950 and 1960.
History of Education
From the creation of Hazrat Adam (A.S)
Islamic foundation of education
Philosophical foundation of education
Psychological foundation of education
Social economic foundation of education
British education policy
Development of education in Sub Continent
Daral Aloom Daoband
Ali Garh University
Nadva Tul Ulmah Lakhnow
Jamia Milia Islamia
Development of education in Pakistan
First education conference 1947
Education commission 1959
Education policy 1972
Education policy 1978
Education policy 1992
Education policy 1998 to 2010
What is historical research.
• German historian Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886) considered to be one of
the founders of modern source-based history.
• Wiersma (1986) define historical research in this way, it is a process of
critical inquiry in to past events, in order to produce an accurate
description and interpretation of those events.
• The systematic collection and evaluation of data to describe, explain, and
understand actions or events that occurred sometime in the past.
• There is no manipulation or control of variables as in experimental
research.
 An attempt is made to reconstruct what happened during a certain
period of time as completely and accurately as possible.
Historical Lenses
Celebrations historians…see the brighter side of historical events
Liberal historians…focus on conflict, stress, inconsistencies
Revisionist historians…learn more by studying what has been wrong than
what has been right
Postmodernist historians…see history through the unique lenses of social
class, race, civilization, gender, age
The Purposes of Historical Research
 To make people aware of what has happened in the
past in order to:
 Learn from past failures and successes
 Apply them to present-day problems
 Make predictions
 Test hypotheses concerning relationships or trends
 Understand present educational practices and
policies more fully.
Research questions in historical research
Who questions: Who was Martin Luther?
What questions: What really happened during the duel between
Hamilton and Burr?
When questions: When did LBJ make the decision to commit U.S.
forces in Vietnam?
Where questions: Where were the best Union forces placed at
Gettysburg?
Why questions: Why it happened and it had the influence that it
did?
Parts of most formal historical research
Identification of origin date
Evidence of localization
Recognition of authorship
Analysis of data
Identification of integrity
Research methodology
A science of studying how research is done scientifically.
 A way to systematically solve the research problem by logically adopting
various steps. The study of conducting research is research methodology
Steps Involve in Historical Research

 Defining the Problem

 Locating relevant sources
 Summarizing information obtained from historical sources
 Evaluation of historical sources
 Internal criticism
 Accuracy, trustworthiness and veracity of materials
 Is the source the result of pressure, bias or vanity?
 External criticism
 Authenticity and genuineness of data
 Is the source a forgery, a counterfeit or a hoax?
Categories of Sources
 Documents are written or printed materials that have
been produced in some form or another.
 Numerical records can be considered as a separate type
of source in and of themselves or as a subcategory of
documents.
 Oral Statements are stories or other forms of oral
expression that leave a record for future generations.
 Relics are any objects whose physical or visual
characteristics can provide some information about the
past.
Primary vs. Secondary Sources
 A primary source is one prepared by an individual who was a
participant in or a direct witness to the event being described.

 A secondary source is a document prepared by an individual

who was not a direct witness to an event, but who obtained a
description of the event from someone else.
Examples of Sources
Primary Secondary
 Diaries or journals  Secondary
 Letters  Books by historians
 Speeches  Journal articles or newspapers not
 Autobiographies published at the time
 Memoirs or reminiscences  Biographies
 Government documents  Websites, written by people who were
 Newspapers from the time not involved in the event
Sources of data collection for historical Research

Library
Antiques
 government department
 educational institutes
Museum
Historical Places
Personalities
Citizens
Embassy
Advantages and Disadvantages of Historical Research
 Advantages
 Permits investigation of topics and questions that can be
studied in no other fashion
Can make use of more categories of evidence than most
other methods (with the exception of case studies and
ethnographic studies)
 Disadvantages
 Cannot control for threats to internal validity
 Limitations are imposed due to the content
analysis
 Researchers cannot ensure representation of
the sample
Data Analysis in Historical Research
 Historical researchers use the following methods to make
sense out of large amounts of data:
◦ Theoretical model leading to a content analysis
◦ Use of patterns or themes
◦ Coding system
◦ Quantitative data to validate interpretations