HISTORICAL

METHODOL
OGY
BOQUILA, MARKLOUIE G.
TODAY'S
TOPICS
HISTORICAL METHODOLOGY
PRIMARY VS SECONDARY RESOURCES
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL CRITICISM
“
If you don't know history,
then you don't know anything.
Michael Crichton
HISTOR
Y
The sum total of what The act of analyzing
happened in the past— and writing about
every event, every action,
the past.
and every thought that a
human being has done.
In studying the past, there
must be evidences to
reconstruct it. Historians
classified these evidences
into two:
primary sources and
secondary sources.
PRIMARY
is a document or physical object which was
SOURCES
written or created during the time under
study. These sources were present during an
experience or time period and offer an
inside view of a particular event.
Written sources: documents, archival materials,
letters, government records, newspapers, parish
records, court transcripts, business ledgers
Non-written: artifacts, edifices, clothes, jewelry,
farming implements, paintings
Example of Primary Sources
• Diary of Anne Frank - Experiences of a Jewish
family during WWII
• The Constitution of Philippines - Philippine History
• A journal article reporting NEW research or findings
• Weavings and pottery - Native American history
• Plato's Republic - Women in Ancient Greece
SECONDARY SOURCE
interprets and analyzes primary sources. These sources
are one or more steps removed from the event.
Secondary sources may have pictures, quotes or graphics
of primary
PUBLICATIONS:
sources in them. Textbooks, magazine articles, histories,
criticisms, commentaries, encyclopedias.
assessment or commentary of events, people, or institutions of
the past, books, monographs, articles, dissertations, conference
papers
Example of Secondary Sources
• A journal/magazine article which interprets or
reviews previous findings
• A history textbook
• A book about the effects of WWI
HISTORICAL
METHODOLOGY
• is the process by which historians gather
evidence and formulate ideas about the past. It is
the framework through which an account of the
past is constructed.
EXTERNAL
CRITICISM
aims at checking the authenticity of the
classes will be discussion-based

primary source.
Involves finding out if the source material is genuine and if it is
possesses textual integrity (Gay, et.al., 1972)

• the historian becomes a paleographer

• the historian becomes a philologist
• The historian should have some knowledge of
numismatics and epigraphy
INTERNAL
CRITICISM
once the source is considered authentic, the internal
criticism is checked on the reliability of the source.

● How close was the author to the event being studied?

● What was the account made?
● Who was the recipient of the account?
● Is there bias to be accounted for?
● Does informed common sense make the account probable?
● Is the account corroborated by other accounts?
 HISTORY WILL ALWAYS
SHAPE THE PRESENT.

Any source material collected should be subjected to both external and internal
criticism. The authenticity of the evidence is determined by external criticism, whereas
credibility is established by internal criticism (Shafer 1980)
 • Unraveling the Past: Readings
in Philippine History,
SOURCES Camagay Maria Luisa T.
• https://libguides.princeton.edu
/c.php?g=727620&p=5195101
• https://www.slideshare.net/Pe
nnVillanueva/introduction-to-
history-
definitionissuessources-and-
methodology
• https://libguides.usc.edu/huma
nitiesresearch/historical