History is a short term for describing events that happened in the past at different times and in different places. It is also a science that studies the sources of the past in order to find out about events, their sequence, causes and make an objective picture of the process. Methods and sources of studying history include annals, archaeological finds, the study of official documents, the use of logic, modeling.
What and how does history study?
In modern literature, up to 30 different definitions of the subject of history can be counted. Such a large number is provoked by the fact that this science is studied and developed by people with different worldviews, different experiences and attitudes. The same variety of views reigns among scholars regarding the explanation of the historical process.
But if different objects and processes can act as an object, then the methods remain the same. Both the subject and the methods of studying history deal with objective phenomena, for work with which you can use proven standard approaches. The whole variety of methods can be divided into three categories: general scientific, historical, designed specifically to work with the sources and concepts of this science, and special (created by scientists from other areas and borrowed by historians).
Different approaches and study methods
There are two general scientific methods - logical and historical. These two approaches to the study of phenomena complement and enrich each other; logic allows us to generalize what has been studied and draw conclusions where the historical approach is powerless.
To study the events and processes that occur, scientists use the following methods:
- chronological - all events are arranged strictly in chronological order;
- synchronous - various events and their relationship in different parts of the country and the globe at the same time are considered.
Within the chronological method, different approaches are also distinguished. The chronological-problematic approach explores what happened by epochs, within eras - by problems. Problem-chronological - on the contrary: one particular problem or side of life is taken, the development and change of which is studied in the context of the passing time.
In addition to the above, they also distinguish comparative-historical, system-structural, statistical and retrospective methods, as well as the method of periodization and sociological research.
Data Sources - The Basis of Historical Science
Methods and sources of studying history are interconnected. Facts are all. The study of sources of facts is a separate auxiliary discipline - source study. Primary and secondary sources for studying history can be distinguished and classified according to the method of transmitting information and the nature of the medium:
- written (birch bark letters, clay tablets, papyrus and books);
- material (tools, dishes, furniture, clothing, weapons, architectural structures);
- ethnographic sources;
- folklore (tales, songs, legends, traditions, ballads);
- linguistic;
- film and photo documents.
Each source requires a thorough analysis and thoughtful approach, assessment of its reliability.
Controversial issues
However, history is not only a science of facts, it is also an interpretation of facts. Therefore, the methods and sources of studying history seriously affect the results of research, the conclusions about the events that have occurred and their causes.
There are many historical documents reporting facts that various scholars interpret in different ways. There are also different opinions on the origin and purpose of the Great Wall of China : one of them is that the wall was built by the northern neighbors of China to protect the North. At the same time, the widespread theory of its appearance says that the Chinese themselves built this wall.
The historical events described in the textbooks are only one, “official” version of the story. Many historical facts allow at least two, or even more interpretations of cause and effect relationships. Different interpretations appear not only because of the inconsistency of sources, here the methods and sources of studying history, the subtleties of the translation of ancient texts, and the peculiarities of the worldview of scientists and researchers play a role.
Principles of Learning Facts
Given all this, the principles of studying historical facts are important for a historian. The principle is this tool that allows one to “stand with both feet on the ground” when studying the past. The principles and methods of studying history are similar in that there are several of the first and second:
- The principle of historicism. It requires that all events and known facts be considered only through the prism of the time to which they relate. It is impossible to study phenomena separately, on their own, since they arose from the interaction of many factors, and make sense only in context.
- The principle of objectivity. It requires studying and taking into account all known facts, not excluding anything and not throwing it back, not trying to fit the known into the “necessary” scheme or theory.
- The principle of social approach, or the principle of partisanship.
- The principle of alternative.
Observance of all principles does not guarantee reliable conclusions, moreover, another researcher, with the same data set and also observing the principles of research, can get a completely different result.