HISTORICAL AND

DOCUMENTARY RESEARCH

SUBMITTED BY : HAMID AZAM

SUBMITTED TO : DR. NAZIR HAIDER
SHAH
 INTRODUCTOIN
• The word history comes from the greek word “HISTORIA”, which means Knowledge acquired
through research.
• History is a meaningful record of man's achievements, it is not merely a list of chronological
events, but truthful integrated account of the relation this between persons, events, times and
places.
• According to travers, history is not just a reconstruction of the past. It must reflect the spirit of
critical inquiry that aims to achieve a faithful representation of past events.
• The word research coined from two words the prefix “re” which means “again” and “search”
meaning to “find some thing or look for something”.
• Research is a systematic process of collecting and analyzing data in order to solve a problem.
• Man uses history to understand the past and to try-to understand the past in the light of past
events and developments.
 HISTORICAL RESEARCH
• Historical method of research is also called the documentary research as it makes use of
historical documents and other records.
• Historical research involves studying, understanding and explaining the past events.
• The systematic collection and evaluation of data to describe, explain, and understand actions or
events that occurred sometime in the past.
• An attempt is made to reconstruct what happened during the certain period of time as completely
and accurately as possible.
• The use of historical sources and techniques in the field of educational research is known as
historical research method. Historical research justifies itself when used to find out the solutions
of the present day problems on the basis of the experiences of the past.
 PURPOSE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH:
• The main and foremost purpose is to get a clear perspective on the past and present. Current
problems can only be understood on the basis of the past.
• This makes it possible to look in the past for solutions to modern problems.
• It gives us a better understanding of culture and the role that education should play in the
progress of society.
• This helps to avoid past mistakes.
• It helps us to remove educational preconception, misunderstandings of facts.
• It is very necessary and foundation for any educational reform.
• It tells us as to how the functions and roles of social institutions have progressed from time to
time.
 TYPES OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH
• Bibliographic Research
It aims to identify and honestly present important facts about the lives, personalities
and achievements of renowned educators. For example, one may study the
contributions of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in educational practice and thought.
• Legal Research
It aims to study the legal basis of educational institutions run by the different
religions and castes, relation between central and state governments with regards to
education, legal status of teachers and students, administration of private aided
schools, school finance, participation of students in the administration of universities
etc.
But legal research requires specialized legal training, and anyone without that
training cannot do this type of research.
 CONTI…
• Studying the History of Ideas.
The study of the history of ideas involves tracing the main philosophical or scientific ideas from
their origins through the various stages of their development.
It also aims to track changes in popular thinking and attitudes over a period of time. The
acquisition of a state of knowledge through the analysis of the meanings and relationships of
various basic concepts and assumptions and the synthesis of useful ideas (past and present) from
various fields into educational theory and practice has a direct effect on the formation of
curriculum objectives or content in terms of identification, teaching methods and strategies and
procedures evaluation.

• Studying the History of Institutions And Organizations

Also, studying the history of some of the leading schools, universities, and other educational
institutions presents many problems for meaningful historical research. The same general
method applies to the study of history as to the study of the life of the educator. For example,
one can study the history of growth and development of AIOU PAKISTAN.
 STEPS OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH
• Selection of Problem
• Formulation of Hypothesis
• Collection of Data.
• Criticisim of Historical Data
• Interpretation of Data
• Writing of Research Report
 SELECTION OF PROBLEM
• The selection and development of the problem for study is the first step in the
historical research. Historical inquiry begins when some event, development or
experience of the past is questioned.
• The investigator should have a clear mind about problem.
• The problem should be significant.
• It should be one which can be solved through research.
• He should formulate it in simple terms. If the problem is very vast, it should be
delimited.
• He should have familiarity with previous research in the field.
• He should see that duplicity does not take place.
 FORMULATION OF HYPOTHESIS
The hypothesis that the researcher constructs for historical research are useful in
explaining events, conditions or phenomena of the historical period in question.
Examples of hypotheses in educational historical research,
• Innovations in the secondary school examination system in the 1950s and 1960s
were based on the recommendations of the commission on secondary education
(1952-53);
 COLLECTION OF DATA.
One of the main differences between historical research and other forms of
research is that historical research must work with pre-existing data. The efforts of
the historian in the collection of data are seriously handicapped because of many
difficulties.
• He has not lived at the time and is thus removed from the events that he
investigates. Therefore he must draw his data from the experiences and
observations of others.
• The recorded experiences may be written form and outdated point of view and
do not suit present day requirements.
• The records which have been destroyed cannot be created over again. The
available records are incomplete and otherwise defective in several ways.
 1. PRIMARY SOURCE
Primary sources for the collection of data are the original documents or remains,
the first witness to the event, with only the mind of observer or eye witness coming
between the original event or the user of the source. (Good: 126) they are the eye-
witness accounts. They are reported by an actual observer of participant in an
event. (Best: 102)
• 1st hand knowledge
• Direct source
• Eye witness account
• Reports by an actual observer
 CONTI..
a) Document.
Documents are reports kept and written by actual participants in or witnesses
of an event.
Those sources are produced for the purpose of transmitting information to be
used in the future. Documents classified as primary sources are constitutions,
laws, court decisions, official minutes or records, autobiographies, letters,
diaries, contracts, permits, licences, affidavits, declarations, proclamations,
certificates, lists, bills, newspaper, books, films, pictures, paintings,
transcriptions and research reports.
All may, intentionally or unintentionally, convey direct information about an
event and are therefore considered primary data sources.
 CONTI…
b) Remains or relics.
Remains or relics are the objects associated with a person, group or period. It
includes buildings, furniture, pictures, paintings, coins and arts objects, are
examples of those relics and remains that were not deliberately intended for
use in transmitting information or as record. However, these sources may
provide clear evidence about the past. The contents of an ancient burial place,
for instance, may reveal a great deal of information about the way of life of
people their food, clothing, religious beliefs, means of livelihood and customs.

c) Oral testimony
Oral testimony is a testimony given by a witness or participant at an event.
This evidence is collected through face-to-face interviews and can be recorded
or transcribed as witnesses relate their experiences.
 2. SECONDARY SOURCES
• A secondary source is a person's story that relates to the testimony of a witness
or an actual participant in an event. Secondary sources are sources where the
person describing the event is not actually present but receives a description
from another person or source.
• The secondary source author is not on site. Best (1970) pointed out that
secondary data sources are usually of limited value because of errors that occur
when information is passed from one person to another.
• Examples of secondary sources used in historical research include: cited
material, textbooks, encyclopedias, other reproductions of material or
information, prints of paintings, or replicas of art objects.
 HISTORICAL CRITICISM

• Since historical researchers collect much of their data and information from
records and documents, they must be carefully evaluated to determine their value
for the purposes of the study at hand.
• Historian, therefore, analyses this knowledge carefully to sift the true from the
false and relevant from the irrelevant thus he gets the usable, trustworthy,
authentic and genuine data, which are known as historical evidence and which
is derived from the historical data by the process of criticism.
• This criticism is of two types, i.e. External and internal.
a) External Criticism (Authenticity)
This is called a low-level critique. External criticism establishes the authenticity
or genuineness of data. Is the relic or document a true one rather than a forgery, a
counterfeit, or a hoax? Various tests of genuineness may be employed.
For this purpose, he asks many questions.
1. Why was the document produced? 2. When was the document produced?
2. Who was the author of the document? 4. Is the language author’s?
Establishing the age or authorship of documents may require complicated tests of
signature, handwriting, script, type, spelling, language usage, documentation,
knowledge available at the time, and consistency with what is known. It may
involve physical and chemical tests of ink, paint, paper.
b) Internal Criticism (Credibility)
Also referred to as higher criticism. Once the credibility of the historical data is
established, the researcher proceeds to internal criticism. Also refers to the validity,
reliability, or value of the content of the document. And general reputation addition
internal criticism also includes factors such as author competence, good faith,
bias and general reputation. After external criticism, the historian tries to find
out the accuracy or worth of the document.
Internal criticism can be of positive nature or negative nature.
When we attempt to seek the true and real meaning of the text, it is called
positive criticism.
When we attempt to seek every possible reason for disbelieving the statement, it
is called negative criticism.
 INTERPRETATION OF DATA
• 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. Here determining cause and effect relationship too is a
difficult job. 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.
 WRITING OF RESEARCH REPORT
The report includes "a statement- of the problem, a review of literature, the basic
assumptions underlying the hypothesis, the methods employed in testing the
hypothesis, the results obtained, the conclusions reached and a bibliography.“
(Van dalen: 185)
In writing out the research report the investigator will pattern his material in some
systematic order, such as chronological, geographical, topical, or a combination of
the three. Generally experienced historians in modern days adopt topical
arrangement of material both to make the narrative interesting and to keep the
focus on major issues.
 CONTI…
• The method of organization of material depends on the nature of data gathered
and efficient and effective report, however, depends on the integrity and
scholastic ability of the researcher.
• The style of writing research report should be comprehensible, 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.
• The research report should be written in a style that is dignified as well as
objective.
 ADVANTAGES
• It permits the investigation of topics that could be studies in no other way.
• The only research method that can study only evidence from the past
• No other method provides us with an opportunity to find insights about past
events.
• Identifying key elements of past negative events can play a significant role in
preventing certain similar circumstances. In other words, it can teach a history
lesson.
• It can result in an important discovery on a global scale.
• A researcher is not involved with the event.
 DISADVANTAGES
• Controlling for many of the threats to internal validity is not possible in historical research .
• Resources may not be reliable and may represent misleading facts about the events.
• Not all past events can be studied because of the lack of evidence and source materials. It gets
more challenging to have research if the events are from a more distant past.
• Finding a reason for certain events does not mean that the same reason can lead to similar events.
Because it may have happened in a totally different circumstance in the past.
• The research may last longer, depending on the historical event and data availability.
• May require travels between various destinations.
• A researcher does not have control over the result.
THANK YOU.