C H A P T E R 1 : I N T R O D U C T I O N T O H I S T O R Y: D E F I N I T I O N,

I SS U E S, S O U R C E S , A N D ME T H O D O L O G Y

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. T O A N A LY Z E T H E M E A N I N G O F H I S T O R Y A S A N
A C A D E M I C D I S C I P L I N E A N D B E FA M I L I A R W I T H T H E
U N D E R LY I N G P H I L O S O P H Y A N D M E T H O D O L O G Y O F T H E
DISCIPLINE..

2 . T O A P P LY T H E K N O W L E D G E I N H I S T O R I C A L
METH ODOLOGY AND PH ILOSOPHY IN ASSESSING
A N D A N A LY Z I N G E X I S T I N G H I S T O R I C A L
N A R R AT I V E S.

3 . T O E VA LU AT E P R I M A R Y S O U R C E S F O R T H E I R
C R E D I B I L I T Y, A U T H E N T I C I T Y, A N D P R O V E N A N C E .

4 . T O A N A LY Z E T H E C O N T E X T, C O N T E N T, A N D
PER SPECTIVE OF DIF F ER ENT KINDS OF P R IM ARY
S O U R C E S.
 Sources

It is from historical sources that our

history is studied and written. But in
analyzing them, several methodologies
and theories were used by historians
to properly study history and glean
from the sources what is, for them, a
proper way of writing history to
enhance and disseminate national
identity.
HISTORICAL SOURCES
1.PRIMARY SOURCES-
2. SECONDARY SOURCES
3. TERTIARY SOURCES
W H E T H E R C O ND U C TI N G R E S E A R C H I N
TH E S O C I A L S C I E N C E S, H U M A N I TI E S
( E S P E C I A L LY H I S T O RY ) , A RTS, O R
N AT U R AL S C I E N C E S, T H E AB IL I TY T O
DISTINGUISH
B E T W E E N   P R I M A RY   A ND   S EC O N D A RY
S OU R C E M AT ER I A L   I S E SS E N TI A L .
B A S I C A L LY, T H IS D IS TI N C T IO N
IL LU S T R AT E S TH E D E G R E E TO W H I C H TH E
A U T H O R O F A P I E C E I S R E M OV E D F R O M
TH E A C T UA L E V E N T B E I N G D E S C R I B E D,
IN F O R M I N G T H E R E A DE R AS T O W H E T H E R
TH E A U T H O R I S R E P O RT I N G
IM P R E SS I O N S   F I R S T HA N D   ( O R IS F I R S T
TO R E C O R D T H E S E I M M E D IAT E LY
F O L L O W I N G AN E V E N T ) , O R C O N VE Y I N G
A PRIMARY SOURCE  PROVIDES
DIRECT OR FIRSTHAND EVIDENCE
AB OUT AN EVENT, OBJECT, PERSON,
OR WORK OF ART. 
PRIMARY SOURCES  INCLUDE
HISTORICAL AND LEGAL DOCUMENTS,
EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS, RESULTS OF
EXPERIMENTS, STATISTICAL DATA,
PIECES OF CREATIVE WRITING, AUDIO
AND VIDEO RECORDINGS, SPEECHES,
AND ART OBJECTS, DIARY, LET TER,
RESEARCH STUDY.
Primary Sources
A primary source provides direct or firsthand evidence
about an event, object, person, or work of art. Primary
sources include historical and legal documents,
eyewitness accounts, results of experiments,
statistical data, pieces of creative writing, audio and
video recordings, speeches, and art objects.
Interviews, surveys, fieldwork, and Internet
communications via email, blogs, listservs, and
newsgroups are also primary sources. In the natural
and social sciences, primary sources are often
empirical studies—research where an experiment was
performed or a direct observation was made. The
results of empirical studies are typically found in
scholarly articles or papers delivered at conferences.
Primary Sources are immediate, first-hand
accounts of a topic, from people who had a
direct connection with it. Primary sources can
include:
Texts of laws and other original documents.
Newspaper reports, by reporters who
witnessed an event or who quote people who
did.
Speeches, diaries, letters and interviews -
what the people involved said or wrote.
Original research.
Datasets, survey data, such as census or
economic statistics.
Photographs, video, or audio that capture an
Secondary sources describe,
discuss, interpret, comment upon,
analyze, evaluate, summarize, and
process primary sources.
Secondary source materials can be
articles in newspapers or popular
magazines, book or movie reviews,
or articles found in scholarly
journals that discuss or evaluate
someone else's original research.
Examples of secondary sources:
Bibliographies
Biographical works
Reference books, including dictionaries,
encyclopedias, and atlases
Articles from magazines, journals, and
newspapers after the event
Literature reviews and review articles (e.g., movie
reviews, book reviews)
History books and other popular or scholarly books
Works of criticism and interpretation
Commentaries and treatises
Textbooks
Indexes and abstracts
Secondary Sources are one step removed
from primary sources, though they often
quote or otherwise use primary sources. They
can cover the same topic, but add a layer of
interpretation and analysis. Secondary
sources can include:
Most books about a topic.
Analysis or interpretation of data.
Scholarly or other articles about a topic,
especially by people not directly involved.
Documentaries (though they often include
photos or video portions that can be
considered primary sources).
Books
Most books are secondary sources, where authors reference
primary source materials and add their own analysis.
 "Lincoln at Gettysburg: the Words that Remade America"
by Gary Wills is about Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg
Address. If you are researching Abraham Lincoln, this book
would be a secondary source because Wills is offering his
views about Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address.

Books can also function as primary sources. For

example,Abraham Lincoln's letters, speeches, or
autobiography would be primary sources. To locate primary
sources in the library catalog, do a keyword search and
include "sources" in your search. The search results for
"Abraham Lincoln" and "Sources" would include include
"The Civil War: the First Year Told By Those Who Lived It", a
book that includes letters written by Abraham Lincoln.
Visual and Audio Materials
Visual materials such as maps, photographs, prints,
graphic arts, and original art forms can provide
insights into how people viewed and/or were
viewed the world in which they existed.

Films, videos, TV programs, and digital recordings

can be primary sources. Documentaries, feature
films, and TV news broadcasts can provide insights
into the fantasies, biases, political attitudes, and
material culture of the times in which they were
created. Radio broadcast recordings, oral histories,
and the recorded music of a particular era can also
serve as primary source material.
Archival Material
Manuscripts and archives are primary
sources, including business and personal
correspondence, diaries and journals, legal
and financial documents, photographs, maps,
architectural drawings, objects, oral histories,
computer tapes, and video and audio
cassettes.  Some archival materials are
published and available in print or online.
Government Documents
Government documents provide evidence of
activities, functions, and policies at all
government levels. For research that relates
to the workings of government, government
documents are primary sources.

These documents include hearings and

debates of legislative bodies; the official text
of laws, regulations and treaties; records of
government expenditures and finances; and
statistical compilations of economic,
demographic, and scientific data.
Tertiary Sources
Tertiary sources contain information that has
been compiled from primary and secondary
sources. Tertiary sources include almanacs,
chronologies, dictionaries and encyclopedias,
directories, guidebooks, indexes, abstracts,
manuals, and textbooks.
Primary Source Secondary Source
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address "Lincoln at Gettysburg: the Words That
Remade America" by Gary Wills 
The poem "Human Chain" by Seamus "His Nibs: Self-Reflexivity and the
Heaney Significance of Translation in Seamus
Heaney's Human Chain." by Michael
Parker in Irish University
Review(November 2012), pp. 327-350.
The table "Number of Offenses Known An article in the Ithacan entitled
to the Police, Universities and "Study Finds Eastern Colleges Often
Colleges" in the FBI's Uniform Crime Conceal Campus Crime"
Reports, 2012
Mackey, S., Carroll, I., Emir, B., Vance, E. (2014). Where Does It
Murphy, T., Whalen, E., & Dumenci, L. Hurt?. Discover,35(4), 28-30.
(2012). Sensory pain qualities in [an article in a magazine that includes
neuropathic pain. The Journal Of quotes from Sean Mackey, author of
Pain, 13(1), 58-63. the peer reviewed article on pain]
doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2011.10.002
[a study published in a peer reviewed
journal]
Cynthia Scheibe's doctoral dissertation An article in Parents
on the developmental differences in Magazine discussing experts' views on
children's reasoning about Santa Claus the harm of lying to children about
Santa Claus
When is a Primary Source a Secondary
Source?
Whether something is a primary or secondary
source often depends upon the topic and its
use.
A biology textbook would be considered a
secondary source if in the field of biology,
since it describes and interprets the science
but makes no original contribution to it.
On the other hand, if the topic is science
education and the history of textbooks,
textbooks could be used a primary sources to
look at how they have changed over time.
 Defining questions
When evaluating primary or secondary sources, the following
questions might be asked to help ascertain the nature and value
of material being considered:
How does the author know these details (names, dates, times)?
Was the author present at the event or soon on the scene?
Where does this information come from—personal experience,
eyewitness accounts, or reports written by others?
Are the author's conclusions based on a single piece of
evidence, or have many sources been taken into account (e.g.,
diary entries, along with third-party eyewitness accounts,
impressions of contemporaries, newspaper accounts)?
Ultimately, all source materials of whatever type must be
assessed critically and even the most scrupulous and thorough
work is viewed through the eyes of the writer/interpreter. This
must be taken into account when one is attempting to arrive at
the 'truth' of an event.
Primary Sources        Secondary Sources

  Article critiquing the

Artwork
piece of art
Book about a specific
Diary
subject
Interview Biography
Letters Dissertation
Performance Review of play
Treatise on a
Poem particular genre of
poetry
Treaty Essay on a treaty
 Primary Sources
 A primary source provides direct or firsthand
evidence about an event, object, person, or work of
art.  Primary sources provide the original materials
on which other research is based and enable
students and other researchers to get as close as
possible to what actually happened during a
particular event or time period.   Published
materials can be viewed as primary resources if
they come from the time period that is being
discussed, and were written or produced by
someone with firsthand experience of the event. 
Often primary sources reflect the individual
viewpoint of a participant or observer.  Primary
sources can be written or non-written (sound,
pictures, artifacts, etc.).  In scientific research,
primary sources present original thinking, report
Examples of primary sources:
Autobiographies and memoirs
Diaries, personal letters, and correspondence
Interviews, surveys, and fieldwork
Internet communications on email, blogs,
listservs, and newsgroups
Photographs, drawings, and posters
Works of art and literature
Books, magazine and newspaper articles and
ads published at the time
Public opinion polls
Speeches and oral histories
 Original documents (birth certificates, property
deeds, trial transcripts)
 Research data, such as census statistics
 Official and unofficial records of organizations and
government agencies
 Artifacts of all kinds, such as tools, coins, clothing,
furniture, etc.
 Audio recordings, DVDs, and video recordings
 Government documents (reports, bills,
proclamations, hearings, etc.)
 Patents
 Technical reports
 Scientific journal articles reporting experimental
research results
External criticism refers to the
genuineness of the documents a
researcher uses in a historical
study.
Internal criticism refers to the
accuracy of the contents of a
document. Whereas external
criticism has to do with the
authenticity of a
document, internal criticism has
to do with what the document says.
Why is the external criticism so important
when it comes to analyzing data?

External criticism is when historians check

the source to verify whether it's biased or
not. This process is important when
analyzing data, because we have to question
whether or not we can trust the data and
use it as a reference point.
External and Internal Criticism
Two mental processes students have to follow
External Criticism
 sometimes called lower criticism
 The genuineness of the document
 Form and appearance and more particularly to
questions authorship and textual circumstances
such as time place and purpose
The following questions have been given as covering
matters falling under external criticism:
1. Who was the author; not merely what was his
name but what were his personality, character,
position and so forth.
2.What were his general qualification as a reporter-
alertness, character, bias?
3.What were his special qualifications and
disqualifications as a reporter of the matters here
treated?
A. How was he interested in the event related?
B. How was he situated for observation of the facts?
C. Had he the necessary general and technical
knowledge for learning and reporting the events?
How soon after the events was the document
written? For on purpose the century of composition
may be sufficient ; for another , the very hour may be
essential.
5. How was the document written, from memory,
after consultation with others, after checking the
facts, or by combining earlier trial drafts?
6. How is the document relator to other documents?
A. Is it original source, wholly or in part
B. If the latter, what parts are original; what
borrowed; whence? How credible are the borrowed
materials?
C. How and how accurately is the borrowing done?
D. How is the borrowed material changed; how used?
INTERNAL CRITICISM

Sometimes called as “higher criticism”

The meaning and trustworthiness of the contents
of the documents
Value and worth of its content, its literal meaning
and reliability of the statements themselves
Maybe carried on positively or negatively; the first
being the approach of discovering the real meaning
of the text and the second that approach with a
view to find reasons for disbelieving what the
document says thus putting to questions the
author’s good faith, motive, competence, accuracy
and even his knowledge on the subject covered.
Questions to ask to assure the value and worth of
conclusions about a document.
1. Who was the author?
2. Is the connection between him and the document a
natural or plausible one?
3. Is the subject one with which he could be expected
to have degree of familiarity?
4. Could he have been in the place indicated at the
time indicated?
5. Was the information given in the document original
with him or did he copy it from someone else?
6. Are the statements made in the documents
consistent with known level of intelligence, education,
experience and individual temperament of purported
writer?
PRIMARY SOURCES (EXTERNAL
CRITICISM)
1.When written? AU
2. Where was it written? TH
3.Why did it survive? EN
4.Who was real author? TIC
PRIMARY SOURCES (INTERNAL
CRITICISM)
1. Eyewitness or Secondhand account MEA
2. Why was it written NING
3. literal meaning IN
4.Internal Consistency CON
5.Connotations TEXT
CHAPTER 2: CONTENT AND CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF SELECTED
PRIMARY SOURCES IN THE PHILIPPINES

Context Analysis- considers the time and

place the historical document was written as
well as the situation or the circumstances
during the time.

Works pertaining to events in the past are

analyzed by also taking into account the
author of the document, his/her biographical
background, role in the event, and the intent
for writing the document.
The 2 other questions to consider when doing
a context analysis are as follows:

1. How authoritative is the account/ source?

2. How is it relevant today?