The Nature

and Scope of
History as a
Social
Science
History is defined in two
ways:
1. As a process, history includes the past as it
happened, and which is being created

Hence, “early history”, “contemporary history”,

“the making of history” and “history in the making”

History as a process pertains to the origin, growth

and development of social institutions, events,
social movement and other things concerning man
History is defined in two
ways:
2. History is a social science
- it is the study on the inquiry that the
historian makes about these broad social processes
in their cultural, temporal and spatial context.
How is history different from
other social science discipline?

History deals with the evolution or the

progress and change in those
specific concerns through time
 Definition of History
 derived from the Greek noun ἱστορία
ἱστορία (historia) = learning; inquiry

 “the past of mankind”

 Geschichte = the German word for history

Geschehen = to happen

- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

 Definition of History

History - chronological record of significant events, the

study of past events.

-Webster’s Vest Pocket Dictionary(Springfield:

Merriam Webster, Inc., Publishers), p. 149
KASAYSAYAN IN THE
LANGUAGE AND PERSPECTIVE
OF FILIPINO

KASAYSAYAN
• saysay (narrative or salaysay)
• saysay (relevance, importance)
• If relevant, for whom?
• Zeus Salazar definition: Salaysay na may saysay para
sa sinasalaysayang grupo ng tao (Relevant
stories/narrative of the people).
“If you talk to a man in a language
he understands, that goes to his
head. If you talk to him in his
language, that goes to his heart.”

-Nelson Mandela
History as Reconstruction

– the historian is many times removed from the events

under investigation

– historians rely on surviving records

 History Defined by E.H. Carr

– the inquiry conducted by the historian and the series of past events
into which he inquires
– is the continuous process of interaction between the historian and
his facts, an unending dialogue between the present and the past
– History means interpretation
– History is what the historian makes
– History is the re-enactment in the historian's mind of the thought whose
history he is studying. -Collingwood

– History is the historian's experience.

-Oakeshott

– History is “a selective system” not only of cognitive, but of causal,

orientations to reality. -Parsons
– “Only a part of what was observed in the
past was remembered by those who
observed it; only a part of what was
remembered was recorded; only a part of
what was recorded has survived; only a part
of what has survived has come to the
historian’s attention; only a part of what
has come to their attention is credible; only
a part of what is credible has been grasped,
and only a part of what has been grasped
can be expounded or narrated by the
historian.”
- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History
Historians have to verify sources, to
date them, locate their place of origin
and identify their intended functions

Historical Method
 Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

 The process of critically

examining and analyzing the
records and survivals of the
past
“Each generation of historians
develops its own perspectives, and
that our understanding of the past is
constantly reshaped by the historian
and the world he or she inhabits”
-Howell & Prevenier
 Historical Sources

 These are objects from the past or testimonies concerning the past on
which historians depend in order to create their own depiction of that
past.
- Howell and Prevenier, From Reliable Sources an
Introduction to Historical Method

 Tangible remains of the past - Anthony

Brundage, Going to Sources
Historical Sources
 materials used for the writing of
history.
They are classified into two:
1. Primary Sources
2. Secondary Sources
Another type of classification are:
1. written and non-written,
2. published or unpublished,
3. textual, oral or visual sources
Written Sources

1. Published materials
 Books, magazines, journals,
 Travelogue
 transcription of speech

2. Manuscript [any handwritten or

typed record that has not been
printed]
 Archival materials
 Memoirs, diary
Non- written Sources
Oral history
Artifact
Ruins
Fossils
Art works
Videorecordings
Audiorecordings
What are Primary Sources?
Testimony of an eyewitness

A primary source must have

been produced by a
contemporary of the event it
narrates
-Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History
 materials produced by people or
groups directly involved in the event or
topic being studied.
they are either participants or
witnesses.
these sources range from eyewitness
accounts, diaries, letters, legal
documents, and official documents
(government or private) and even
photographs
Four Main Categories of Primary Sources

1. Written sources
2. Images
3. Artifacts
4. Oral testimony
What are Secondary Sources?

A 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 sources in them.
- http://www.princeton.edu/~refdesk/primary2.html
Examples of secondary sources:

History textbook

Printed materials (serials,

periodicals which interprets
previous research)
(c) Google Image
Adam and Eve
Painter :Titian
Date: Ca. 1550
“ The historian without his fact
is rootless and futile; the facts
without their historian are
dead and meaningless”

- E. H. Carr
What is Historical Criticism?

What is Historical Criticism?

In order for a source to be used as evidence in history,
basic matters about its form and content must be settled

1. External Criticism
2. Internal Criticism
What is External Criticism?

The problem of authenticity

To spot fabricated, forged, faked documents

To distinguish a hoax or misrepresentation

 Tests of Authenticity

1. Determine the date of the document to see whether they are

anachronistic
e.g. pencils did not exist before the 16th Century

2. Determine the author

e.g. handwriting, signature, seal

- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

 Tests of Authenticity
3. Anachronistic style
e.g. idiom, ortography, punctuation

4. Anachronistic reference to events

e.g. too early, too late, too remote

5. Provenance or custody
- determines its genuineness
- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History
6. Semantics – determining the meaning of a text or
word

7. Hermeneutics – determining ambiguities

-Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

What is Internal Criticism

The Problem of Credibility

Relevant particulars in the document – is it credible?
Verisimilar – as close as what really happened from a
critical examination of best available sources

- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding

History
Tests of Credibility

1. Identification of the author

e.g. to determine his reliability; mental
processes, personal attitudes

2. Determination of the approximate date

3. Ability to tell the truth
- nearness to the event, competence of witness,
degree of attention
4. Willingness to tell the truth
- to determine if the author consciously or
unconsciously tells falsehoods
5. Corroboration
i.e. historical facts – particulars which rest upon the
independent testimony of two or more reliable witnesses

- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

Three Major Components to
Effective Historical Thinking

1. Sensitivity to Multiple Causation

2. Sensitivity to Context

3. Awareness of the interplay of continuity and change in

human affairs
“All historians, whatever their professional status, have
ethical obligations to be humane, accurate, selfaware and
judicious.”

- Ludmilla Jordanova
Acknowledgment/References:

– Ma. Florina Orillos-Juan, Ph.D. Department of History, De

la Salle University Manila

– Gottschalk, L.(1969). Understanding History: A Primer of

Historical Method. New York: A.A. Knopf.
– Howell, M. & Walter, P.(2001).From Reliable Sources:An
Introduction to Historical Methods.Ithaca, New
York:Cornell University Press.