Chapter 2- Sources of
History
4 category of historical source
materials
Documents
Numerical records
Oral Statements
Relics
Documents- Written/ printed
materials produced in one form or
another sometime in the past
Numerical records- numerical data
in printed or handwritten form
Oral statements- statement made
orally by someone
Relics- objects whose physical or
visual characteristics can provide
information about the past
Primary Source
Prepare by an individual who is
participant or direct witness to the
event
First-hand information like
eyewitness reposts and original
documents, personal journals,
interviews, surveys, experiments
Original, unfiltered information
Advantage
Directlyaddress topic and provide
information that is unavailable
elsewhere
Design your own experiment
Disadvantage
May be too close to the subject,
lacking critical distance
Consuming to prepare, administer
and analyze
Secondary Source
Document prepared by an
individual who is not direct
witness to an event but obtain his
description from someone else
Filtered by someone else
perspective and maybe biased
Textbook’s author’s explanation
Advantage
Provide variety of experts
perspectives and insights
Quality of sources like scholarly
articles
More efficient than planning,
conducting and analyzing primary
sources
Disadvantage
Dig to find applicable information
Information maybe colored by the
writer’s own bias or faulty
approach
Tertiary Sources
Third hand information by
reporting ideas and details from
secondary sources
Advantage- offer quick, easy
introduction to topic
Disdavantage- oversimplify or
distort a topic
Types of Primary Sources
Autobiographies and memoirs
Diaries, personal letter,
correspondence
Interviews, surveys, fieldwork
Photographs, posters
Work of arts and literature
Autobiography- account of
person’s life written by that
person; ex: Mga Tala ng Aking
Buhay by Gregoria de Jesus
translated by Leandro Hernandez
Memoir- history/record composed
from personal observation and
experience, writers are person
who played roles or close observer
of
Diary- kept record of artist’s
activity and reflections
Personal Letter- informal
composition that concerns
personal matters sent from one
individual to another
Correspondence- body of letters
or communications, pen pal or
email buddy
Interview- one-on-one conversation
where questions are asked and
answers are given
Survey- list of questions aimed at
extracting specific data from
particular group of people, can be
specific or limited
Field research or fieldwork- collection
of information outside laboratory,
library or workplace, range of well-
defined methods
Photographs and posters-
illustrate past events as they
happen
Work of art- thing of beauty in
itself
Painting- visual art where paint or
ink is use on canvass to depict an
artist rendering of scene
Drawing- visual art where person
uses drawing instrument to mark
Paper
Literature- body of written works;
imaginative works of poetry and
prose
Speech- communication in
spoken language made by
speaker before an audience
Types of Secondary Sources
Bibliographies
Biographical Works
Periodicals
Literature Reviews and Review
Articles
Bibliographies- organized list of
sources followed by a brief note or
annotation
Biography- description of real
person’s life including factual
details and stories; Greek word bios
means life and graphia meaning
writing
Periodicals- newspaper, magazines,
journals publish periodically
Newspaper- periodical publication
about current events
Magazine and journal- publish
weekly, monthly, quarterly,
annually; print edition use better
paper and more color
Journals- written by scholars for
scholars
Magazines- produced by
professional writers and editors
Literature review- evaluative
report of information found in
literature
Review Article- summarize the
current state of understanding on
a topic
Survey articles- review articles
Academic publication- review
journals
Film review- assess film’s overall
quality to determine if it is worth
recommending
Book review- book is analyzed
based on content, style and merit
Types of Tertiary Sources
General reference like
dictionaries, encyclopedia,
almanac
Crowd sources like Wikipedia, You
Tube, Twitter, Facebook
Search sites
Repositories of Primary Source
Library-collection of source of
information and similar resources
made accessible to a defined
community
Archive- accumulation of
historical records or physical
place they are located
Museum- institution that cares for
collection of artifacts
Historical Society- dedicate in
preserving, collecting, researching
and interpreting historical
information or items
Special Collection- library unit
that materials require specialized
security
2 kinds of criticism
External Criticism- Genuineness
of the documents researcher uses
in historical study
Internal Criticism- accuracy of the
contents of a document; what the
document says
General principles in determining
reliability
1. Human source maybe relics like
fingerprint, narrative like statement
or letters. Relics are more credible
sources than narratives
2. Any given source may forged or
corrupted. Strong indications of the
originality of the source increase
reliability
3. The closer a source is to the
event to describe, the more it can
trust to give accurate historical
description of what actually happen
4. An eyewitness is more reliable
than testimony at second hand
which is more reliable than hearsay
5. If number of independent
sources contain the same message,
credibility of message is strongly
Increased
6. Tendency of a source is its
motivation for providing some kind
of bias. Tendencies should be
minimized or supplemented with
opposite motivations
7. If it can be demonstrated that
witness or sources has no direct
interest in creating bias then
credibility of message is increased
Indirect Witnesses
Most information come
People who were not present on
the scene but heard of events
from someone else
Oral Tradition
Broad Conditions Stated
1. Tradition should be supported
by unbroken series of witness
from immediate and first
reporter of the fact to living
mediate witness
2. Several parallel and independent
series of witness testifying to
the fact in question
Particular Conditions Formulated
1. tradition must report a public
event of importance ; known
directly to a great number of
persons
2. Tradition must generally be
believed for at least definite
period of time
3. During definite period, it must
Gone without protest
4. Tradition must be one of
relatively limited duration;
maximum limit of 150 years
5. Critical spirit must develop while
tradition lasted
6. Critical-minded persons surely
challenged tradition-may consider
ir false- must have no challenge
