1. Focus on the Past: It's fundamentally concerned with understanding past events, people, institutions, and ideas. The research question always relates to something that happened in the past.
2. Reliance on Primary Sources: It prioritizes using primary sources – materials created during the time period being studied. This might include documents, artifacts, oral histories, images, etc. Analysis of these sources is central to the process.
3. Critical Evaluation of Sources: Historians don't simply accept sources at face value. They critically evaluate them, considering the author's biases, context of creation, potential for inaccuracies, and the source's reliability and validity. This involves source criticism, which helps determine authenticity and credibility.
4. Interpretation and Argumentation: Historical research involves more than just gathering facts. It's about interpreting those facts and constructing a well-supported argument about the past. This argument will be based on evidence from sources and will contribute to a greater understanding of the topic. Different historians may interpret the same evidence in different ways, leading to diverse and sometimes conflicting narratives.
5. Contextualization: Understanding the historical context is vital. Events and phenomena are studied within their specific social, political, economic, cultural, and intellectual environments. This requires considering the broader historical setting and its influences.
6. Methodology and Rigor: While there is room for creativity in interpretation, historical research employs rigorous methods. This includes careful documentation of sources, clear explanation of methodology, and transparent presentation of evidence to support claims. Historians also acknowledge limitations of their research and potential biases.
7. Objectivity (as a goal): While complete objectivity is arguably impossible, good historical research strives for impartiality. Historians attempt to present evidence fairly and avoid imposing their own present-day values or perspectives onto the past. Acknowledging biases is crucial to achieving this goal.
8. Contribution to Knowledge: The goal is not just to retell known stories, but to contribute to existing historical knowledge through new interpretations, the use of previously unexamined sources, or by challenging existing interpretations. This contribution often takes the form of scholarly articles, books, or presentations.
In short, historical research is a process of inquiry that involves careful examination of primary sources, critical analysis, contextual understanding, interpretation, and argumentation to construct a well-supported understanding of the past.