STARTING POINT 2.

Old sketches and drawings that may indicate the

conditions of life of societies in the past

3. Old maps that may reveal how space and geography were
The historical method refers to the strategies and standards used to emphasize trade routes, structural buildup, etc.
historians use to investigate and write history using primary
sources and other data. In the philosophy of history, the 4. Cartoons for political expression or propaganda
question of the nature, and perhaps the possibility, of sound
historical technique is addressed as an epistemological 5. Material evidence of the prehistoric past like cave
issue. Under the areas of external critique, internal criticism, drawings, old syllabaries and ancient writings
and synthesis, the following outlines the rules typically
employed by historians in their work.

6. Statistical tables, graphs and charts

The historian, on the other hand, must rely on a variety of

sources that aren't found in books. He needs to rely heavily
on museums when it comes to archaeological, epigraphical, 7. Oral history or recordings by electronic means of accounts
or numismatical resources. These are the materials from of eyewitnesses or participants, the recordings ate then
which he drew. His sources are more likely to be meaningful transcribed and used for research
if he delimits people, place, time, and function with greater
precision.

8. Published and published primary documents, eyewitness

accounts and other written sources.
Our history is studied and documented using historical
sources. Historians, on the other hand, employed a variety of
techniques and theories to correctly research history and
draw from the sources what they believe is a suitable
Secondary Sources
manner of writing history to improve and spread national
identity. Secondary sources, according to Gottschalk, are
"testimony of anybody who is not an eyewitness-
that is, of someone who was not there at the
In history, a source is an object from the past or testimony incident of which he relates." This category
about the past on which historians rely to build their own includes books, essays, and scholarly
picture of the past. publications that have interpreted primary
sources or utilised them to address certain
historical topics.
It's a physical reminder of the past (Groeneveld, 2017).
Secondary sources were developed by people
who did not see or participate in the events or
Primary Sources circumstances you're studying firsthand.
Bibliographies, nonfiction writings including
Primary sources are documents created by individuals or
biographies, periodicals, newspapers,
groups who were directly involved in the everiasse under
investigation. These individuals are either participants in the magazines, journals, history books, works of
incident or eyewitnesses to it. Eyewitness reports, diaries, critique and interpretation, commentaries and
letters, legal papers, official documents (government or treaties, textbooks, video documentaries, and
private), and even pictures are among the sources.
multimedia reports are examples of secondary
sources.

Examples of Primary Sources

1. Photographs that may reflect social conditions of Secondary sources were developed by people
historical realities and everyday life.
who did not see or participate in the events or Correspondence, financial ledgers, client
circumstances you're studying firsthand. information, board meeting minutes, and
Secondary sources for a historical research research and development files are examples of
endeavor are usually scholarly books and unpublished company documents that provide
articles. insight into the past (Pappas, 2012).

Primary sources are interpreted and analyzed by

secondary sources. These sources are
separated from the event by one or more stages. 3. Oral Traditions/Oral Histories. Oral histories
Images, quotations, and images from primary and oral traditions are another approach to learn
sources may appear in secondary sources. about the past from those who lived through
Examples of Secondary Sources. historical events directly. Oral histories, which
consist of spoken words, have recently acquired
prominence as primary sources. Historians and
others learn about regular people's lives through
1. 1.Annotated bibliographies (for example, Dr. listening to oral stories and narratives. Oral
Jose Rizal's annotation on Antonio Morga's histories give valuable historical facts about
Succesos de las Islas Filipinas) people, particularly minority groups, who were
either omitted from mainstream media or did
2. Biographical works
not leave written primary materials behind
3. Magazines, newspapers, and journals (Pappas, 2012).
Literature reviews and review articles (e.g. movie
reviews, book reviews)
4. Visual Documents and Artifacts. Photographs,
videos, paintings, and other kinds of artwork are
Types of Primary Sources examples of visual documentation. Visual
documents can give proof of changes
throughout time since they capture moments in
time. Visual records chronicle a culture's
1. Published Documents. Some primary sources
conventions, tastes, styles, special events, work,
are documents that have been published. They
and leisure at certain times in history (Pappas,
were made for a big audience and widely
2012).
disseminated. Books, periodicals, newspapers,
government documents, non-government
reports, and other types of literature, as well as
ads, maps, pamphlets, posters, legislation, and External and Internal Criticism
court rulings, are all examples of published
Many diaries, memoirs, reposts, and
documents (Pappas, 2012).
testimonials are produced to elevate the writer's
status, stature, or relevance, thus researchers
cannot take historical facts at face value. As a
2. Unpublished Documents. Unpublished result of this potential, historical data must be
documents of various sorts have been kept and checked for validity and accuracy. Such an
can be utilized as primary sources. Personal assessment is carried out through criticism,
letters, diaries, journals, wills, deeds, family questioning, and research in order to establish
Bibles with family histories, school report cards, data accuracy, bias, omissions, and consistency
and a variety of other sources are among them. (Historical Research Methods, n. d.).
 - Sometimes called as the higher criticism

Criticism hasn't always had a favorable

reputation. Historical criticism rose to
prominence at a time when so-called Higher - The meaning and trustworthiness of the
Criticism of the Scriptures was gaining traction, contents of the document
and the latter's shady reputation in circles where
the Bible was still revered as the Inspired Word
cast a pall over the former's value as a Value and worth of its contents, its literal
constructive science or inquiry into the truth. meaning and the reliability of its statements
themselves
The following diagram illustrates the distinction
between internal and external criticism in the
examination of historical source material.
-Sometimes referred to as higher criticism -The
External criticism is the element of the historical meaning and trustworthiness of the document's
method that assesses whether or not a source contents -The value and worth of its contents, its
is genuine. The goal is to identify created, forged, literal meaning, and the reliability of its
or falsified papers and to tell the difference statements themselves -Can be carried out
between a hoax and a misrepresentation. positively or negatively, with the first being an
approach to discovering the true meaning of the
text and the second being an approach to
finding reasons for disbelieving what the text
says.
- In a historical investigation, it refers to the
authenticity of the documents used by the
researcher.
Credibility is an issue. Is the paper reliable in
- also known as lower critique It examines terms of relevant details?
whether the evidence under evaluation is
genuine. The researcher verifies the source's
authenticity or validity. Is it what it seems to be Verisimilar-as close to the truth as possible
or what it promises to be? Is it admissible in based on a rigorous analysis of the best of the
court? best accessible. No

Internal Criticism is the portion of the historical

method that evaluates if the facts in the text are
historically accurate. The document does not
have to be proven authentic; even forgeries or
documents with abridged facts may include
available information. This is the issue of
trustworthiness. Relevant details in the paper, as
near as possible to what actually occurred
based on a rigorous analysis of the best
available sources.