HISTORICAL RESEARCH

UNIT – 3
Quote of the Day
Objectives of Todays Lecture

• Describe the concepts of history and historical research;

• Apply scientific method in historical research;
• Distinguish primary sources from secondary sources of
data;
• Distinguish internal criticism from external criticism in
the process of data analysis; and
• Conduct historical research in the area of educational
planning and management
What is History

• Knowing something from the past

• We need to weigh history in context
• Social, political, economic or psychological
• Past conditions influence present - Transformation
Why we Study Past

• To explore and to study the change and transformation

from which society had undergone
• GB Shaw said, “The past if it can be located contains the
key to the present”
• The Past Teaches Us About the Present
• It positions us to see patterns that might otherwise be
invisible in the present
• How past events have relevance in your life now
What is Historical Research

• It is procedure supplementary to observation in which

researcher seeks to test Authenticity of available data
• It involves Analysis of events that occurred in remote or
recent past
• Synthesis of Evidence to establish facts and Draw
Conclusions about past events
• Critical Inquiry in Reconstructing representation of
past
Purpose of Historical Research

• To make people aware of what has happened in the past

to learn from failures
• To test hypothesis concerning relationship or trends and
to assist in prediction
• To relate the changing dynamics from past to present in
terms of creating meaning
• Not to repeat the mistakes which happened in past
(Learn from mistakes)
Examples of Historical Research

• How were students educated in subcontinent?

• How working conditions of teachers have changed since
1900?
• What could have been instructional techniques in a class
room 100 years ago?
• What were the major discipline problems in schools of
1920 compared to schools of today?
• Conditions of schools are better now than they were in
1950.
Scope of Historical Research

• History embraces human development thus can be taken

as reference
• History is not only in military campaigns, it exists in
societal development
• Culture, institutions, law, religion, art, travel,
engineering, medicine, economy, education are few
examples
Characteristics of Historical Research

• Critical search for truth in past vs present

• Conceptualize, contextualize the history to explain
• Its not mere accumulation of facts and data
• It is a flowing vibrant report of past events
• It deals with discovery of data
• It uses logical reasoning in the presence of facts to
create new knowledge
Problem Formulation - Historical Research

• Define the problem. It must comprise of past, present

and final situation with acceptable solution to problem
• Analyze the problem from different lenses (Literature)
• Isolate and represent the knowledge required to resolve
the issue
• Choose the best problem solving methodology and apply
it to practical situation
Sources of Data - Historical Research

Primary Source

Secondary Source
Primary Sources - Historical Research

• First hand account of event or time in history that has

yet to be interpreted by a person
• These are pieces of writing, movies, songs that were
written by people who lived during the particular time
period
• Example is that “Magna Carta” was written in England
during the middle ages to solve a problem of that era
• What are some examples which you can think of ???
Secondary Sources - Historical Research

• Scholarly books or articles based on primary source of

data
• These are created by the people who did not necessarily
live at the time being examined
• Textbook can be one example of this type of data source
about the past
• What are some examples which you can think of ???
Difference between Primary and Secondary
Sources
Primary Sources
Original and first hand record or account An account of past created after the
or artifact that has survived from past
It has direct involvement with the event
being investigated
For having direct physical relationship,
the possibility of error is very little
Primary sources have no dependency
over secondary sources
Researchers are reliable on primary
sources
Secondary Sources
event or created from primary source
It has no direct involvement with event
being investigated
Possible that secondary source have
errors due to passage of information
over a time
Secondary sources are totally dependent
on primary sources
Researchers cannot rely on secondary
source
Criticism of Data - Historical Research

External Involves finding out

if the source
Criticism material is genuine

Internal Concerned with the

accuracy and
Criticism meaning of the data
External Criticism - Validity

• Authenticity of the data source being consulted

• Credibility of author
• How soon after the event, document was written
• Selection of bias
• Age of the document or the source
• At least two sources with the same information may be
selected
Internal Criticism - Reliability

• Meaning of the data to your study

• Trustworthiness with the source

• Well awareness of positive and negative criticism

• Understanding contemporary issues

Steps in Historical Research

• Identify the research topic

• Formulate research question and/or hypothesis
• Literature review and data collection
• Evaluation of data and materials
• Synthesis of information and critique
• Report preparation
Strengths of Historical Research

• It is the only research method that can study evidence

from the past
• It can make use of wider range than most of other
methods
• Provide an alternate and rich source of information on
topics related to education
Limitations of Historical Research

• Ensuring validity and reliability as of other methods may

not be effectively ensured
• There is a possibility of bias
• More efforts are needed to dig out the materials
• May give only fractional view of the past
• Absence of current trends and terminologies
• Generalizations are mostly not agreed to present
Importance in Education Field

• It enables educationists to find out solutions to

temporary problems having roots in past
• Throw light on present trends and predict future trends
• Enable re-evaluation of data to select hypothesis,
theories and generalizations which were done
• Enable us to understand, how and why educational
theories and practices were developed
Scope in Education Field

• General education history of specific period

• History of national educational policies
• History of role of teacher
• History of specific types of education
• History of admission process in professional paradigms
• Biographies of major educational contributors
• Comparative history of education and its systems
Thank You Very Much