GE8(11808);2024-2025_SUMMER
READING TASK: HISTORICAL DATA &
ANALYSIS
Metalanguage
This chapter talks about (lesson 1) the history as a discipline and as a
narrative. It discusses the limitation of historical knowledge, history as
the subjective process of recreation, and historical method and
historiography. It (lesson 2) presents the sources of historical data, the
written and non-written sources of history, as well as the
differentiation of primary and secondary sources of information or
data. It (lesson 3) discusses historical criticisms, namely, external and
internal criticisms. These are important aspects in ascertaining the
authenticity and reliability of primary sources upon which narratives
are crafted.
Please proceed immediately to the “Essential Knowledge” part since
the first to third lessons are also definition of essential terms.
Essential Knowledge
To perform the aforesaid big picture (chapter learning outcomes) for
the first week of the course, the learners need to fully understand the
following essential knowledge that will be laid down in the succeeding
pages. Please note that, as a student of history, you are not limited to
exclusively refer to this module only. Thus, you are expected to utilize
other books, research articles and other resources that are
available in the university’s library e.g. elibrary, search.proquest.com
etc.
1. History- It is derived from the Greek word historia which means
learning by inquiry.
- The systematic accounting of a set of natural
phenomena, that is, taking into consideration the chronological
arrangement of the account.
- It is referred usually for accounts of phenomena,
especially human affairs in chronological
order.
2. Factual history - It presents the basic and plain information to the
reader with emphasis only of ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’ and ‘where’ of
history.
3. Speculative history - It goes beyond dates, places, persons, events
because it attempts to explain the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of
events.
- It discusses the causes and effects of such happenings which
resulted to another face of change.
4. Historians - Individuals who write about
history.
- They undertake arduous historical research to come up with a
meaningful and organized rebuilding of the
past.
5. Historiography- The practice of historical
writing.
- The traditional method in doing historical research that focus on
gathering of documents from different libraries and archives to form
a pool of evidence needed in making a descriptive or analytical
narrative.
6. Verisimilitude- The truth, authenticity, plausibility about a perished
past.
7. Historical Method - The process of critically examining and
analysing the records and survivals of the
past.
8. Historiography - The imaginative reconstruction of the past from
the data derived by
that process.
9. Historical Analysis - The process of selecting the subject to
investigate.
- Collecting probable sources of information on the
subject.
- Examining the sources, genuineness in the collected partial
data.
- Extract credible ‘particulars’ from the sources (or parts of
sources).
10. Historical Data - The source from artefacts that have been left by
the past.
11. Historical Sources - The materials from which the historians
construct meaning.
12. Relics or ‘Remains’ - The existence which offers researchers a
clue about the past.
13. Testimonies of Witnesses -The oral or written details which, may
have been to serve as records.
14. Narrative or Literature - Chronicles or tracts presented in
narrative form, written to impart a message whose motives for their
composition vary widely.
15. Scientific Tract - Typically composed in order to inform
contemporaries or succeeding
generations.
16. Diplomatic Sources - Understood to be those which
document/record an existing legal situation or create a new one.
- A kind of historical source that professional historians considered as
the purest, the ‘best’ source.
17. Social Documents -Information pertaining to economic, social,
political, or judicial significance.
- They are records kept by
bureaucracies.
18. Material Evidence - One of the most important unwritten
evidences.
- This includes artistic creations such as pottery, jewelry, dwellings,
graves, churches, and roads.
19. Oral Evidence - The tales and sagas of ancient peoples and the
folk songs or popular rituals. During the present age, interview is
another major form of oral evidence.
20. Primary Sources - The original and first-hand account of an event
or period that are usually written or made during or close to the event
or period.
21. Secondary Sources - The materials made by people long after the
events being described had taken place to provide valuable
interpretations of historical events.
22. Historical Criticism - It examines the origins of earliest text to
appreciate the underlying circumstances upon which the text came to
be.
- To determine the authenticity of the
material.
- To weigh the testimony of the truth.
23. Internal Criticism - It examines the trustworthiness of the
testimonies, as well as, the probability of the statements to be
true.
24. External Criticism - It determines the authenticity of the source.
25. Content Analysis - A systematic evaluation of the primary source
be it a text, painting, caricature, and/or speech that in the
process students could develop readings and present an argument
based on their own understanding of the evidences.
