The Historical Method

To study and understand history, we need to use rigorous methods. Otherwise, our results and analyses might not be accurate. Historians in possession of a historical document assess its value by applying the historical method. When they want to study an issue and confirm a hypothesis, they conduct their research by applying the historical approach.

Historians use written documents as their main sources of reference. Even so, not all of their sources have the same value or the same reliability. In order to make necessary decisions about their documents, historians use the historical method to analyze and understand them.

In order to go through the 4 steps of the historical method, we must describe the document, identify its publisher, audience and purpose, identify the values in the text. We also have to qualify the statements made in the document and distinguish between explicit and implicit statements.

This first step is to become familiar with the content: reading and taking informational notes. It’s important to understand the meaning of all of the words and understand the references in the document (historical persons, events, facts, currents, political, economic and social situation, etc.).

We can also take note of what we find striking, what is problematic, our reflections on the text, etc.

Once we are familiar with the text, it is time for us to examine certain aspects. First, we must confirm the authenticity of the text. To do so, we must answer the following questions:

• Who produced the document?

• What is the source of this document?

• Is it a direct or indirect source?

• When was it produced?

• Why was it produced?

• Is it an original document or a photocopy?

• Is it a handwritten or printed document?

• What medium is it on?

• Is it a translation?

• Is it a complete document, or an extract?

Once we have studied these external aspects of the text, we must turn to the text itself. To do so, we will ask ourselves questions like:

• What is its structure?

• What goals was the author pursuing?

• What type of text is it?

• Does the author express a position?

• What is the author’s argument?

To sum up: we must study the content of the text, how it is organized and presented in order to establish facts and the relationship between these facts.

Once we have become familiar with all of these aspects of the text, it is time to propose our interpretation: what is the meaning of this text? First, we must understand the meaning of the text by placing it in the context in which the document was produced. This is when we give our own interpretation and conclusions about the document.

• Now that we are familiar with the document, what can we say about it?

• What do we think of the ideas in the document?

Any historian who wishes to conduct research must apply the historical approach, just as any scientist will use the scientific approach.

Before even beginning our research, we must choose a subject and choose a question we want to answer. Our question can be a very big question, or it can be very specific. Our question will define the subject of the research.

In order to start documenting, we have to formulate a hypothesis that answers our question. This means we are attempting to predict the answer. For this purpose, we will rely on historical knowledge, depending on what we know before beginning the research. This means that the goal of our research will be to check our hypothesis, to confirm it or deny it.

Now that the initial hypothesis has been stated, we can begin researching information. We must always keep the question and the initial hypothesis in mind, regardless of the types of sources we consult.

We can find information on our subject by researching different sources: reference works, websites, specialized journals, historical atlases, etc. We want to have as many, varied sources as we can, so that our answer will be as complete and complex as possible.

Once we have all our documents, we can start analyzing them using the historical method. During this step, we must read, understand, study and validate our sources.

Some sources may be less reliable than others. This means that we must judge them based on their validity: author, origin, objectivity, etc. You should reject a source if it does not seem reliable enough. Otherwise, it could undermine our research results.

The last step is pooling all of the elements we have found and processing the information in order to verify our hypothesis.

This is also when we start writing the research text in which we explain our initial question and our personal hypothesis. We can then answer the question by citing the facts, examples and events that we found. We must prove how the facts and reliable sources either confirm or reject our hypothesis. At the end of the text, there should be no more doubt about the initial hypothesis.