Historical Methods and Approaches Historian as Detective To Explain the World as It Exists

Historical Methods and Historical Methods and ApproachesApproaches

Historian as DetectiveHistorian as Detective

To Explain the World as It ExistsTo Explain the World as It Exists

Statue of Sherlock Holmes in Statue of Sherlock Holmes in Edinburgh, ScotlandEdinburgh, Scotland

How to Write a History PaperHow to Write a History Paper

http://cm.dce.harvard.edu/1999/01/82005/L11/screen_H264LargeTalkingHead-16x9.shtml

Ssu-Ma Ch’ien, Ssu-Ma Ch’ien, The Historical The Historical RecordsRecords

Ssu-Ma Ch’ien, the second century B.C. biographer of Confucius, Ssu-Ma Ch’ien, the second century B.C. biographer of Confucius, wrote that Confucius “was free from four things. He had: wrote that Confucius “was free from four things. He had:

‘‘no foregone conclusions, no foregone conclusions,

no arbitrary predeterminations,no arbitrary predeterminations,

no obstinacy, and no obstinacy, and

no egoism.’ ”no egoism.’ ”

Criteria for Formulating and Testing Hypotheses

Three criteria:

correspondence

coherence

conceptual elegance

Correspondence

Correspondence to the available, relevant source testimony.

− Our explanations should try to explain all the source testimony that relates to a topic.

− We should not suppress any relevant source testimony or dismiss source testimony as irrelevant only because it does not fit our hypothesis.

− To formulate explanations that do not correspond to the source testimony ultimately defeats our purpose to explain the world as it exists.

CoherenceCoherence

Coherence means a logical, well-focused internally consistent argument.

It would be incoherent to try to do the opposite; that is, to formulate illogical, self-contradictory arguments

Conceptual elegance

− The absolute minimum of abstract constructs and unstated assumptions within the hypothesis to explain the available source testimony.

− − If we were to look for the most complicated explanations, then there would be no end to the complications we could imagine. And someone could always “top” us by coming up with a more complicated explanation

Levels of reading a textLevels of reading a text

− We can read a text on a surface level of what it says to us personally. We may identify with one or another of the characters if it’s novel. We may have value judgments about the actions of individuals or communities described in it.

− − We could also read it on the level of aesthetic appreciation—the writing style of the author, the emplotment, the tightly wrought symbolism, etc. This is the level on which literary criticism operates.

− − A third level is in terms of what the text tells us about the time in which it was written and the attitudes of its author. On this level the text could be used as a historical source.

Which comes first? The facts or the interpretation?

The historian Walter T. K. Nugent has remarked:

“Most people believe that history really consists of a large number of solid facts, which certain more-or-less biased people have accumulated and arranged in some kind of order, usually chronological. They think that to learn history means to memorize the ‘important’ facts and to avoid as far as possible the biases of the arrangers. First come the facts, and then, as a kind of necessary evil, the interpretation”

Which Comes First? The Facts or the Interpretation?

− The facts and interpretation develop together, each dependent on the other.

− Facts and interpretation do not exist independently of one another.

− The so-called basic facts only become “facts” as the result of being part of an interpretation.

This is not a pipe.This is not a pipe.

Which comes first? The facts or the interpretation?

“The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620”

All our knowledge of the historical All our knowledge of the historical past comes from some sourcepast comes from some source

Popper’s theory of refutation

− The philosopher of science Karl Popper argues that one should try to refute hypotheses rather than confirm them.

− The reason for this is that we often tend to become enamored of our hypotheses and try to “prove” them correct.

− We tend to find evidence to support a hypothesis, but often at the expense of ignoring any evidence that refutes it.

− Thomas Jefferson: “The moment a person forms a theory his [or her] imagination sees in every object only the traits which favor that theory.”


−

Geocentric universeGeocentric universe

http://bcs.whfreeman.com/universe7e/content/ch04/0403001.html


− After you have looked for all the evidence that supports your hypothesis

− look especially hard for any evidence that refutes or detracts from it

− then analyze both types of evidence to see which is stronger


Apply to paper writing:Apply to paper writing:

−Begin by putting down what you want to say.

− The next step is to try to refute what you just wrote down. − Examine it as a critical reader would, looking for

contradictions, over-looked evidence, unnecessary constructs, and so forth.

− Then revise, revise, and revise again.

− Go back and forth between you as writer wanting to make statements and you as reader analyzing those statements

for accuracy.

A page from A page from the 9th draft the 9th draft of Tolstoi’s of Tolstoi’s War and War and PeacePeace

Testimony and Its Use as Evidence

− Testimony is the statement of the source or the artifact itself.

− − Evidence is testimony that is being used for or against a hypothesis or argument.

In other words, testimony with an interpretive spin put on it is what we call evidence.

Testimony and its use as evidence

JOHN HARVARDFOUNDER

1638

General Court of Massachusetts General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony RecordsBay Colony Records

"At a Court holden September 8th, 1636 and continued by "At a Court holden September 8th, 1636 and continued by adjournment to the 28th of the 8th month (October, 1636)... the adjournment to the 28th of the 8th month (October, 1636)... the Court agreed to give £400 towards a School or College, whereofCourt agreed to give £400 towards a School or College, whereof

£200 to be paid next year...." £200 to be paid next year...."

Anonymous pamphlet from 1643Anonymous pamphlet from 1643

“it pleased God to stir up the heart of one Mr. Harvard (a Godly Gentleman and a lover of Learning, there living amongst us) to give the one halfe of his Estate (it being in all about 1700l.) toward the erecting of a Colledge, and all his Library: after him another gave 300l. others after them cast in more, and the publique hand of the State added the rest: the Colledge was, by common consent, appointed to be at Cambridge, (a place very pleasant and accommodate) and is called (according to the name of the first founder) Harvard Colledge.”

Charter for Harvard College (1650)Charter for Harvard College (1650)

Will the “Real” Past Please Stand Up?

− The personal past: the past that each of us remembers because we experienced it directly. It is part of our respective memories. Your personal past is different from my personal past because I have not experienced what you have experienced.

− − The historical past: the past that is not part of either of our memories because it occurred before we were born or existed outside our sense perceptions. By definition we cannot study the historical past, because it no longer exists—it is gone, past.

Principle of Independent Confirmation

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s “unwritten rule” in All the President’s Men that they would not publish anything without confirmation from an independent source.

− − For most of the historical past, we have no eyewitness accounts at all. Sometimes we have only one account, not by an eyewitness, but by someone who lived hundreds of years after the event or person they are describing.

− Even with an eyewitness account, we have to be cautious

− estimate that 50% of eyewitness identifications in court are mistaken

Sources and Studies

Primary sources contain direct testimony about something.

− documents are primary sources for official decisions

− eyewitness accounts are primary sources for what the eyewitness saw or heard

−diaries and memoirs are primary sources for the author’s perceptions and thoughts

Sources and Studies

A secondary source may contain or quote direct testimony about something but it is not the primary source itself.

− For example, a biography of Mark Twain may contain quotations from his book Life on the Mississippi, but

it is not Life on the Mississippi.

− The book Life on the Mississippi is the primary source;

− The biography, insofar as it contains quotations from Life on the Mississippi, is a secondary source for those

quotations and is allowed to be used for information about what is in the primary

source when one does not have access to the primary source.

Primary sourcePrimary source Secondary Secondary workwork

What to Look For When You Are Reading

1. “Who says so?” That is, does the author betray a conscious or unconscious bias that affects their judgment and presentation of the evidence?

2. “How do they know?” On what basis does the author make his or her assertions? Do they back up their arguments with appropriate evidence?

3. “What’s missing?” Is the author telling you everything you need to know to analyze the author’s arguments?

What to Look For When You Are Reading

4. “Did somebody change the subject?” Does the conclusion follow logically from the argument and evidence presented?

5. “Does it make sense?” Is the argument coherent, consistent, and logical? Is there a simpler explanation that would explain the evidence equally as well or better?

A. Confrontation with the Subject Matter

1. Economic—that is, having to do with the satisfaction of the material needs of people

2. Intellectual—that is, pertaining to the training and refinement of the mind, specifically in the areas of culture, interests, tastes,

skills, arts, etc.

3. Political—that is, concerned with government, the state, or the running of a polity

4. Social—that is, having to do with human beings living together as a group in a situation in which their dealings with one another affect their common welfare

Relationship between Intellectual, Relationship between Intellectual, Social, Political and Economic Social, Political and Economic

ComponentsComponents

B. On Explanation (six basic types)1. teleological—in terms of purpose (the Black Death was sent to punish

us for our sins);

2. classification—when an event has been shown to be of some class of events already familiar to us (the Black Death was an outbreak of bubonic plague);

3. generalization—classed as an instance of some general law (science) (when a contagion is introduced into a community, the rate of mortality will be directly proportional to the virulence of the contagion and inversely proportional to the level of resistance of the members of that community)

B. On Explanation (six basic types)

4. description—describing of the intermediate steps involved (read-write history) (a ship from Kaffa traveled to Southern Italy in December 1347 and brought bubonic plague with it).

5. referential—some reference to a possible cause (rats caused the Black Death of the 14th century).

6. analytical—the testimony we have from contemporaries describing the symptoms of the victims corresponds closely to the symptoms those with bubonic plague present (analytical history)

C. Formulation of Questions for Historical Study

1. Badly Formed Questions:

“Why was bubonic plague able to kill so many people in Europe between 1348 and 1350?” [leading question: assumes that bubonic plague was the cause of death]

“What was the cause of the Black Death?” [implies there was only one cause]

“Did rats bring about the Black Death?” [implies a yes or no answer, when rats may have been a necessary but not sufficient cause]


1. Badly Formed Questions (continued):

“Why were Europeans so stupid as to allow filth and garbage to act as a breeding ground for rats, and thus spread Black Death?” [biased point of view (anachronistic)]

“What if the Black Death had never occurred?” [too abstract, not testable by reality-based criteria]


(continued)2. Well-Formed Question:

“How well do the symptoms of the victims of the Black Death as described by contemporaries coincide with the disease we know as bubonic plague?” [note that posing the question this way allows the possibility for a negative result—i.e., they do not coincide well]

Sample Thesis statementSample Thesis statement

““In May of 1940, when Neville Chamberlain resigned and In May of 1940, when Neville Chamberlain resigned and Winston Churchill became prime minister of England, Winston Churchill became prime minister of England, British policy shifted toward one of greater resolve not to British policy shifted toward one of greater resolve not to reach an accommodation with Nazi Germany but to defend reach an accommodation with Nazi Germany but to defend against a possible German invasion.”against a possible German invasion.”

““In May of 1940, when Neville Chamberlain resigned In May of 1940, when Neville Chamberlain resigned and Winston Churchill became prime minister of and Winston Churchill became prime minister of

England, British policy shifted toward one of greater England, British policy shifted toward one of greater resolve not to reach an accommodation with Nazi resolve not to reach an accommodation with Nazi Germany but to defend against a possible German Germany but to defend against a possible German

invasion.”invasion.”

All behind you, WinstonAll behind you, Winston

FIVE-PARAGRAPH MONSTER

WORLD WAR II IN EUROPE

Vocabulary: hypothesis; thesis; topic; introduction; body paragraph; conclusion



Where to begin: The introduction

− Write a general statement about your subject.

− Write two or three more sentences about your subject, each sentence leading to your thesis statement.

− Write your thesis statement. The topics should be discernible.



Question: What are the three topics in the thesis statement ?



Write the first topic sentence in your first body paragraph.

− Provide supporting historical evidence.

Write the second topic sentence in your second body paragraph.


Write the third topic sentence in your third body paragraph.




Conclusion: A restatement of your introduction.



What if the historical evidence contradicts your thesis?

How do you tackle a revision?

What if the assignment is longer than three body paragraphs?

D. Basic Relationships among the Historian, Evidence, and Whatever the

HistorianClaims It Is Evidence For

1. Past-Based, Past-Oriented—historian claims to study the past to find out what happened in the past

2. Source-Based, Past-Oriented—historian claims to study presently existing sources to find out what happened in the past

3. Past-Based, Source-Oriented—historian claims to study the past to explain why the presently existing sources are the way they are

4. Source-Based, Source-Oriented—historian claims to study the presently existing sources to provide possible explanations for why the sources are the way they are

Example of Past-Based, Past-Example of Past-Based, Past-Oriented (Correspondence)Oriented (Correspondence)

““Nil Sorskii, a monk associated with the Kirillo-Belozersk Nil Sorskii, a monk associated with the Kirillo-Belozersk Monastery raised the question of the secularization of church Monastery raised the question of the secularization of church and monastic lands at the 1503 Church Council in Moscow.and monastic lands at the 1503 Church Council in Moscow.””

Example of Past-Based, Past-Example of Past-Based, Past-Oriented (Coherence)Oriented (Coherence)

““Just as the question of the secularization of church and monastic Just as the question of the secularization of church and monastic lands was raised in western Europe in the early 16lands was raised in western Europe in the early 16thth century, so century, so too it was raised in Muscovy.too it was raised in Muscovy.””

Source-Based, Past-Oriented Source-Based, Past-Oriented (Constructionist)(Constructionist)

We know that Nil Sorskii, a monk associated with the Kirill-We know that Nil Sorskii, a monk associated with the Kirill-Belozersk Monastery raised the question of the secularization of Belozersk Monastery raised the question of the secularization of church and monastic lands at the 1503 church council in Moscow church and monastic lands at the 1503 church council in Moscow because the because the Letter concerning the Animosities between the Letter concerning the Animosities between the Monks of the Kirillo-Belozersk and Trinity Monasteries Monks of the Kirillo-Belozersk and Trinity Monasteries tells us tells us so.so.””

Non-Source-Based, Past-Oriented Non-Source-Based, Past-Oriented (Marxist)(Marxist)

““Monks like Nil Sorskii who were not from the nobility favored Monks like Nil Sorskii who were not from the nobility favored the secularization of church and monastic lands in 16the secularization of church and monastic lands in 16 thth-century -century Muscovy to aid the peasantry regain the lands they lost to the Muscovy to aid the peasantry regain the lands they lost to the monasteries.monasteries.””

Source-Based, Source-OrientedSource-Based, Source-Oriented

““No source that can be dated to the time of the 1503 Church No source that can be dated to the time of the 1503 Church Council in Moscow mentions secularization of church or Council in Moscow mentions secularization of church or monastic lands. These are mainly documentary sources. The monastic lands. These are mainly documentary sources. The sources that mention such a question being raised at the council sources that mention such a question being raised at the council are polemical sources and can be dated no earlier than 50 to 60 are polemical sources and can be dated no earlier than 50 to 60 years after the council. One of these, the years after the council. One of these, the Debate with IosifDebate with Iosif says says that Grand Prince Ivan III ordered Nil and Iosif to come to that Grand Prince Ivan III ordered Nil and Iosif to come to Moscow because he wanted to take away lands from churches Moscow because he wanted to take away lands from churches and monasteries. Another source, the and monasteries. Another source, the Letter concerning the Letter concerning the Animosities between the Monks of the Kirillo-Belozersk and Animosities between the Monks of the Kirillo-Belozersk and Trinity MonasteriesTrinity Monasteries, dated to the 1560s, states that Nil wanted to , dated to the 1560s, states that Nil wanted to take lands away from monasteries. A third source, take lands away from monasteries. A third source, Another Another WordWord, states that Nil’s wish was that monasteries not have lands, , states that Nil’s wish was that monasteries not have lands, but does not state whether he raised that question at the council.but does not state whether he raised that question at the council.””

Critical ThinkingCritical Thinking

U.S. Postal Service ad from 1996:U.S. Postal Service ad from 1996:

““In 1940, one-pound loaf of bread cost 8 cents, and in 1995 cost 79 In 1940, one-pound loaf of bread cost 8 cents, and in 1995 cost 79 cents; a half-gallon of milk went from 25 cents to $1.43 in the same cents; a half-gallon of milk went from 25 cents to $1.43 in the same period; and a first-class postage stamp went from 3 cents to 32 cents. period; and a first-class postage stamp went from 3 cents to 32 cents. Which, bottom line, means that first-class postage stamps remain Which, bottom line, means that first-class postage stamps remain well below the rate of inflation.well below the rate of inflation.””

But does it? Do the math.But does it? Do the math.

from: Leland Gregory, from: Leland Gregory, Stupid History: Tales of Stupidity, Strangeness, and Myth-Stupid History: Tales of Stupidity, Strangeness, and Myth-conceptions throughout the Ages conceptions throughout the Ages (Kansas City: Andrews McMeel, 2007), 183.(Kansas City: Andrews McMeel, 2007), 183.

The EndThe End

Documents

Historical Methods and Approaches Historian as Detective To Explain the World as It Exists