JOSEPH E. CAJOTEMasters in Management Engineering

WHAT IS HISTORICAL RESEARCH?

• The systematic collection of data to describe, explain and thereby understand actions or events that occurred sometimes in the past.

• No manipulation or control of variables - differ with experimental research.

• Focuses primarily on the PAST.

PURPOSES OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH

1. To make people aware of what has happened in the

past so they may learn from past failures and successes.

2. To learn how things were done in the past to see if

they might be applicable to present-day problems and

concerns.

3. To assist in prediction.

4. To test hypothesis concerns relationships or

trends.

5. To understand present educational practices and

policies more fully.

STEPS INVOLVED IN HISTORICAL RESEARCH

1. Defining the problem or question to be investigated.

2. Locating relevant resources of historical information.

3. Summarizing and evaluating the information obtained from these sources.

4. Presenting and interpreting this information.

Researcher aim to describe, clarify, explain or correct what has been conducted before.

Researcher searching for relevant source materials.(Documents, Numerical Records, Oral Statements, Relics)

Researcher will summarize and evaluate the sources that they able to locate.

Researcher interprate the evidence obtained and then drawing the conclusions about the problem or hypothesis.

STEPS INVOLVED IN HISTORICAL RESEARCH

1. Defining the problem or question to be

investigated.

Researcher claim to describe, clarify, explain or correct what has been conducted before.

Problems should be clearly and concisely stated, be manageable, have a defensible rationale, and investigate a hypothesized relationship among variables.

It is better to study in depth a well-defined problem that is perhaps more narrow than one would like than to pursue a more broadly stated problem that cannot be sharply defined or fully resolved.

2. Locating relevant resources of historical

information.

Categories of Sources:

a) Documents

-Written or printed materials that have been produced in one form or another sometime in the past.

Examples: Annual Reports, Artwork, Books, Diaries, Newspaper, Notebook.

c) Oral statements

-Include any form of statement spoken by someone.

Examples: Stories, Myths, Tales, Legends, Songs.

b) Numerical records

-Include any type of numerical data in printed or handwritten form.

Examples: Test Scores, Attendance Figures, Census Reports, School Budgets.

d) Relics

-Any object whose physical or visual characteristics can provide some information about the past.

Examples: Furniture, Artwork, Clothing, Buildings, Monuments, Equipment.

a) Primary Sources A sources prepared by

an individual who was participant in or a direct witness to the event that is being described.

b) Secondary Sources A document prepared by

an individual who want a direct witness to an event but obtained description of the event from someone else.

Examples of Primary Sources

A photograph of convocation ceremony of 1984.

Minutes of a school board meeting in 1980, taken by secretary of the board.

An essay written during World War 2 by students.

Examples of Secondary Sources

A magazine article summarizing Aristotle's views on education.

A book describing schooling in England during 1700s.

A textbook on educational research.

Primary vs

Secondary Sources:

3. Summarizing and evaluating the information obtained from

these sources.

Determining the relevancy of the particular material to the question or problem being investigated.

Recording the full bibliographic data of the source.

Organizing the data collected under categories related to the problem being studied.

Summarizing pertinent information (important facts, quotations, and questions).

External Criticism Refers to the geniuses of the

documents a researcher uses in a historical study.

Has to do with the authenticity of a document

Internal Criticism Refer to the accuracy of the contents of

a document. Internal criticism has to do with what

the document says.

Content Analysis

is a primary method of data analysis in historical research.

Who wrote this document? For what purpose was the document written? When was the document written? Is the date on the document accurate? Where was the document written? Do different forms or versions of the

document exist?

• Was the author present at the event he or she is describing?

• Was the author a participant in or an observer of the event?

• Was the author competent to describe the event?

• Does the language of the document suggest a bias of any sort?

• Do other version of the event exist?

4. Presenting and interpreting this information.

ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH

Advantages

Permits the investigation of topics that could be studies in no other way.

The only research method that can study evidence from the past.

Disadvantages

Controlling for many of the threats to internal validity is not possible in historical research.

Many of the treats to internal validity are likely to exist in historicla studies.

Reference: • How to Design and Evaluate

Research in Education 7th Edition(2009)– Jack R. Fraenkel

• San Francisco State University

– Norman E. Wallen• San Francisco State

University