HISTORICAL

RESEARCH
BY : Aarya Mali & Taiba Ansari
INTRODUCTION :
 History usually refers simply to an account of the past of
human societies.
 History is meaningful and an organized record of past
events.
 It is nearly a list of events arranged chronologically with
integration of social, cultural, economic and political forces.
MEANING :
 Historical research has been defined as the systematic and
objective location, evaluation and synthesis of evidence in
order to establish facts and draw conclusions about past
events.

 It involves a critical inquiry of a previous age with the aim of

reconstructing a faithful representation of the past.

 In historical research, the investigator studies documents

and other sources that contain facts concerning the research
theme with the objective of achieving better understanding
of present policies, practices, problems and institutions.
Characteristics :
 (i) identifying a research topic that addresses past events, 
 (ii) review of primary and 129 secondary data, 
 (iii) systematic collection and objective evaluation of data
related to past occurrences with the help of techniques of
criticism for historical searches and evaluation of the information
and
 (iv) synthesis and explanation of findings in order to test
hypotheses concerning causes, effects or trends of these events
that may help to explain present events and anticipate future
events. Historical studies attempt to provide information and
understanding of past historical, legal and policy events. The
historical method consists of the techniques and guidelines by
which historians use historical sources and other evidences to
research and then to write history.
NEED :
 To make people aware of what has happened in the past.
 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.
 Historical analysis enhances our understanding of, and
widens our perspective and teaches what and how to
investigate, and may show the value of entertaining new
and possibly strange ideas.
STEPS IN HISTORICAL RESEARCH :

 The essential steps involved in conducting a historical

research are as follow -
 A. Identify a topic/subject and define the
problems/questions to be investigated. 
 B. Search for sources of data. 
 C. Evaluate the historical sources. 
 D. Analyze, synthesize and summarize interpreting the data
/ information.
  E. Write the research report
A. Identify a topic/subject and define the
problems/questions to be investigated.
In order to identify a significant research problem, four
questions should be asked: 
 (i) Where do the events take place? 

 (ii) Who are the persons involved? 

 (iii) When do the events occur? 

 (iv) What kinds of human activity are involved?

B. Search for sources of data.

 Historical research is not empirical, it does not include

direct observation of events or persons. Here, the
researcher interprets past events on the basis of traces
they have left. He uses the evidence of past acts and
thoughts. 
 Thus, through he/she does not use his/her own observation
but on other people’s observations.
  The researcher’s job here is to test the truthfulness of the
reports of other people’s observations. 
 Sources of Historical Data These sources are broadly
classified into two types: 
1. Primary Sources:
 Eyewitness accounts of events

 Can be oral or written testimony

 Found in public records & legal documents, minutes of meetings,

corporate records, recordings, letters, diaries, journals, drawings.

 Located in university archives, libraries or privately run collections

such as local historical society.

2. Secondary Sources:
 Can be oral or written

 Secondhand accounts of events

 Found in textbooks, encyclopedias, journal articles, newspapers,

biographies and other media such as films or tape recordings.

C. Evaluate the historical sources. 
 The evaluation of data is done by 2 methods:
1. External criticism: Through external criticism, the historian checks
the validity of the document and determine whether it is admissible as
an evidence. For this purpose, he asks many questions. 1. Why was the
document produced? 2. When was the document produced? 3. Who
was the author of the document? 4. Is the language author’s? etc

2. Internal criticism: After external criticism, the historian tries to find

out the accuracy or worth of the document. Following questions come
to his mind: 1. Was the writer competent, unbiased, honest and
actually acquainted with the fact? 2. Was he subject to fear, pressure
or vanity? 3. How long after the event did he make a record of his
testimony? Was he able to remember what happened actually?
D. Analyze, synthesize and summarize interpreting the data / information.

 The interpretation of data is complicated in historical

research. Since history is actually a record of the chain of
related events, it becomes very difficult for a researcher to
interpret that one event in the chain was caused by the
previous event in the chain.

 The researcher must be cautious in his use of analogy in the

interpretation of data. While drawing comparison between
one historical event and any number of others, he must
carefully make use of similarities as well as of differences.
E. Write the research report

 In historical method due consideration must be given to the

historical perspective and future perspective.
 Sufficient care should be taken in the selection and organization of
the material to be presented.
 There are different methods of organising historical research
material. The following types are but suggestions: a. The
chronological. b. The topical. c. The thematic. d. The foundational.
 The method of organisation of material depends on the nature of
data gathered and efficient and effective report. The style of
writing research report should be lucid, simple, objective, designed
scholarly and intelligible for the report to be effective. It should
reflect historical accuracy, possess historical authenticity and
should be based on historical evidence obtained.
Strengths :
 It is the only research method that can be study
evidence from the past.
 It can make use of a wider range of evidence than
most other methods. 
 It provides an alternative and perhaps richer source of
information on topics that can also be studied with
other methodologies.
Weakness :
 Requires much more than digging up good material.
 Some scholars contend that history requires a
different method and interpretation because of its
elusive subject matter.
 The absence of technical terminology.