Subject Code SS1 Philippine History

Module Code 2.0 Historiography and Historical Methodology

Lesson Code 2.4 Historical Methodology
Time Limit 30 minutes

Components Tasks TA ATA(in

(in minutes)ͣ minutes)ᵇ

Target By the end of this module, the students should be 2 mins.

able to:
1. define scientific method, historical
methodology, source criticism, and its two
aspects: internal and external;

2. identify the steps involved in historical

methodology and historical criticism; and

3. practice external and internal criticism of

primary sources.

Hook The following questions may be asked to 2 mins.

stimulate idea generation:
1. Recall what you know of the scientific method.
What are the steps involved in this method?

2. How similar or different are these with the

historical method?

3. In doing historical study, which among these

sources (primary, secondary, tertiary) are valid
and reliable? Why?

4. How can we evaluate whether these sources are

valid? reliable?

Ignite Studying the world, the things around us, and 14 mins.
even the past, requires a disciplined approach and an
analytical mind to arrive at a truthful and correct
result in a systematic manner. This applies not only to
the natural sciences but also to the social sciences
such as history. We need to follow procedures and to
look for evidence from facts. This is generally
referred to as the scientific method.
As the name suggests, scientific method is an
orderly and careful process of finding answers to
questions and of discovering relationships of cause
and effect on observable reality. It follows a set of
organized steps such as: asking questions, carefully
gathering and examining evidence, and seeing if all

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the available information can be combined into a
logical answer. Whether done in a classroom or in a
research setting, these steps help to achieve focus in
answering the question (Science Buddies, 2020).
In the social sciences, particularly in history, this
framework is called historical method. As used by
professional historians, historical methodology is the
process by which evidence are gathered and ideas
about the past are formulated. Just like natural
sciences, it involves critical thinking, formulating
hypotheses based on evidence and testing them in
order to construct an account of the past (Study.com,
2020).
Simply stated, doing historical research means
using scientific method of inquiry to historical
problems. The reason is that historical method, being
a scientific one, demands professional historians to go
through stages akin to those used in experimental
research, such as stating and delimiting the problem,
and selecting the sources. In addition, they always
look for the primary sources in history (and in current
events as well). Equally important, historians train
themselves not to accept these sources at face value
but use analysis and criticism to test their validity and
reliability.
Historical methodology involves doing these
common steps:
1. Formulate the question. The question serves
as the objective or the topic around which the entire
historical research revolves. The main question can
then be broken down into specific questions or
objectives to make it simpler and easier to answer or
to achieve.
2. Look for evidences. Guided by the main
question as the topic and aided by the specific
questions, the next step is to gather data needed to find
the answers. Data consists of facts and information
obtained from a wide range of primary sources such
as interviews, artifacts, photographs, birth
certificates, marriage contract, letters or other primary
source documents.
3. Assess the evidence. It is necessary to check
if the primary materials collected are genuine and
authentic as sources. Make sure these sources are
valid, correct, relevant and useful to provide answer
to the main question.

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 4. Interrogate the evidence. To determine the
reliability, critical analysis of the information in the
source itself is important: how it reflects the events
and developments of the topic, how the present
context influences its description of the topic, and
how the information connects with other sources at
that time. Historical criticism of the sources must be
used, both external and internal criticism. This
process involves evaluating the trustworthiness of the
sources and will be discussed further below.
5. Writing the historical narrative. With the
information gathered, construct your written
narrative. Make sure content is complete, organized,
and developed based on the format and that all
research questions or objectives have been answered
or achieved.
Historical Criticism
Source criticism or information evaluation is the
process of evaluating the reliability of an information
source. As a scientific method in itself, it involves a
set of criteria originating from the historical-critical
method, but is useful in all information retrieval
(Wikimedia Commons, 2020).
The task of criticism is to “determine what
relation the materials still before us bears to the acts
of will it testifies” Its result is not equal to “exact
historical fact,” but the ability to place “the materials
in such a condition as renders possible a relatively
safe and correct judgment” (Droysen, 1893).
The mental process called historical criticism is
of two kinds: internal and external.
1. External criticism refers to the process of
determining if a source is authentic by checking its
validity (Reference, 2020). Its use serves to establish
if a document can be traced back to the purported
originator and if it is consistent with known facts. It
studies the form of the document (Tosh, 2000).
Specific things to be searched include real author,
date of publication or writing, place of publication,
and the reason for the survival of the source.
2. Internal criticism, on the other hand, checks
“the reliability of an authenticated source after it has
been subjected to external criticism.” (Reference,
2020) It is an attempt to establish the author’s
meaning and to make a judgement as to the intentions
and prejudices of the writer (Tosh, 2000). In
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particular, the following are sought out: vantage point
of the account as either eyewitness or secondhand,
reason for its writing, literal meaning, internal
consistency, and possible connotations. The two
techniques is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Internal and External Criticism (Neuman, 2003)

Let’s use the example below.

Photograph by Reddit

The photograph above is that of a Lantaka, a

common type of firearm produced and used in pre-
colonial Philippines. Suppose you are doing a
historical study on the pre-Hispanic/pre-colonial
firearms of the Philippines and you come across this
artifact, what questions will you ask to determine the

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external validity (external criticism) and reliability
(internal criticism)?
By way of external criticism, you may want to
ask: who were the makers of these weapons, how did
these survive, where were these made, and where
were these used. To critique internally, you may ask
questions like: what were these weapons made of, are
these consistent with the materials used for similar
weapons at that time, why were these made, and why
were they designed this way.
Let’s take other examples:

Excerpt from the diary of Ferdinand E. Marcos on September

22, 1972. From the Philippine Diary Project.

Photo credit: josephcalice

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 Image courtesy of Bulatlat, from an article written by Chua, et
al. (2012)

A tarpaulin in the Marcoses' World Peace Center in Batac,

Ilocos Norte bearing a staple claim in the Marcos propaganda
repertoire. Photo by Judith Camille E. Rosette

The four (4) images above show various

perspectives of one event. The first photo shows the
handwritten notes of the former President Ferdinand
E. Marcos containing some of his thoughts leading to
his declaration of martial law. The second one
captures the signature portion of Proclamation No.
1081 placing the Philippines under Martial Law on
September 21, 1972. The third image contains figures
on the human rights abuses under the Marcos
dictatorship. And the fourth one is a photo of a
propaganda tarpaulin showing that the dictator did not

Social Science 1 | Page 6 of 11

 impose death penalty to a Filipino during and after
Martial law.
With different points of view on one specific
historical event, all the more reason is there to
perform historical analysis, both external and
external, to come up with a balanced perspective of
the event. For external criticism, points to ask include:
who the writer was, his/her background, the social
context, etc. And for internal criticism questions
could be: were the things written about have factual
basis or evidence or were these simply opinions, are
there biases in the statements, etc.
An important point to consider here is the need
to carefully examine the perspective or points of view
of the authors of primary sources. The reason is that
any person creating or describing a historical event
has his own perspective or point of view. Factors that
may influence a person’s historical perspective and
interpretation include age, gender, social position,
beliefs and values (History Skills, 2020). Thus there
is a need to analyze and understand the author’s point
of view. This constitutes what is called historical
perspective which Sexias and Morton (2013) define
as “attempting to see through the eyes of people who
lived in times and circumstances far removed from
our present-day lives.” This perspective, however,
needs to be evaluated in terms of existing evidence. It
is only after a meticulous evaluation can the historical
information be adjudged as valid, hence reliable.

Navigate Activity 1: (Non-graded) 5 mins.

Assume the role of a professional historian who
chanced upon a primary source document during the
Spanish colonization of the Philippine Islands. Let us
do an exercise to apply what you have learned on
historical criticism.

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 Photograph by Philippine Star

Photograph by Pinterest-Philippines

Using external analysis, try to answer the

following questions to determine the validity of each
source:
1. When was this written?
2. Where was it written?
3. Was this originally in English?
4. Why did it survive?
5. Who was the real author?

Social Science 1 | Page 8 of 11

 By way of internal analysis, test its reliability by
finding answers to these questions:
1. Was this a firsthand document?
2. Why was it written?
3. What was its literal meaning?
4. Was there internal consistency in the content?
5. How does the document reflect the existing
condition of society at that time?
These and other similar questions are helpful in
conducting historical analysis of sources. As you
begin on your mini-family history project, it is very
important to practice using criticism of the evidences
you come across, to train your mind to always look
for primary sources, and to always analyze these
beyond face value. 7 mins.

Activity 2:
Begin your mini-family history project. Work on
the following steps:
1. Request permission first from your
interviewees (parents/grandparents/other relatives) if
they are willing to be interviewed for this project.
Explain to them that this is the application part of the
topic historiography (writing of historical narratives
using primary sources) in Social Science 1. explain
further that the objectives of the project are: a) to
provide students a hands-on experience in the writing
of historical narratives like the way professional
historians do (students work on science experiments
like what scientists do; they can also do
historiography just like historians); b) to examine the
connection of family history to local or national
events so the study of history becomes meaningful
and relevant; and c) to document memorable
historical experiences of the family so they get
preserved for posterity.
2. List down 3-5 guide questions that you will
ask them. Focus your questions about their
memorable historical experiences such as, but not
limited to: a) what historical events they experienced;
b) how life was during those times (e.g., popular
products; place they go to for recreation, popular
movie stars, etc.); c) what was the economic
condition then like what were the prices of
Social Science 1 | Page 9 of 11
 commodities that they remember; and d) what games
did children play, and other related matters. (This was
discussed in LG 2.3.). You may also consider to
include the experiences of the family in this covid-19
pandemic.

Knot As a summary, historical methodology is very 3 mins.

much similar to the scientific method, and it is in fact,
using the scientific method of inquiry into history.
There are organized steps to observe to ensure that the
objective of the research undertaking is realized.
In addition, just like trained historians, students
need to develop the discipline of always seeking out
for the primary sources. Once this is done, the next
task is to subject these sources to critical analysis
using both external and internal criticism, in order to
thresh out their validity and reliability. This ensures
that biases inherent in the ideas and interpretations of
the authors are identified so as to produce an
evidenced-based historical narrative.
a suggested time allocation set by the teacher
b actual time spent by the student (for information purposes only)

References:
Ariate, Joel F. (2019). “Of Presidents and the Death Penalty.” ABS-CBN News article posted August
14, 2019. Retrieved on August 25, 2020 from https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/08/14/19/of-
presidents-and-the-penalty-of-death.

Chua, Michael Charleston B., Cornelio, Marlon and Elumber, Adones L. (2012) “TORTYUR: Human
Rights Violations During The Marcos Regime. Retrieved on August 25, 2020 at
https://www.academia.edu/7968581/TORTYUR_Human_Rights_Violations_During_The_Marcos
_Regime.
Droysen, Johann Gustav (1893). Outline of the Principles of History (Grundriss der Historik).
Translated by E. Benjamin Andrews. New York: Howard Fertig Inc. edition, 1967. Originally
published in English in 1893. German original published in 1867, p. 20. 1893. Cited in the Journal
of Digital Humanities Vol. 3, No. 2 Summer 2014. Retrieved on August 4, 2020 at
http://journalofdigitalhumanities.org/3-2/provenance-meets-source-criticism/.

History Skills (2020). Perspective. Retrieved on August 25, 2020 at

https://www.historyskills.com/source-
criticism/analysis/perspective/#:~:text=Perspective%20is%20the%20'point%20of,how%20they%2
0interpret%20the%20past.

JoseMejitcapa (2019). (Lantaka/s) ancient firearms/cannons used in pre-colonial Philippines and

Southeast Asia... Collection of the National Museum of the Philippines [1024x998]. Retrieved on
August 26, 2020 at
https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtefactPorn/comments/6nrjin/lantakas_ancient_firearmscannons_used_i
n/?utm_source=ifttt.

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Neuman, W. L. Social Research Methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches, (5th ed.) Allyn &
Bacon, Boston, 2003. Cited in Toland, Janet and Yoong, Pak (2013). Using Historical Methods in
Information Systems: A Primer for Researchers. Australasian Journal of Information
Systems · November 2013. Retrieved at
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279943052_Using_Historical_Methods_in_Information_
Systems_A_Primer_for_Researchers.

Philippine Star (2019. “La Solidaridad” in Everyday History, February 15, 20119. Retrieved on August
26, 2020 at
https://www.facebook.com/PhilippineSTAR/photos/a.134754620011561/1273646036122408/?typ
e=3&theater.

Pinterest-Philippines (n.d.).In the La Solidaridad, Rizal found his medium for expressing his...Retrieved
on August 26, 2020 at https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/510806782713478586/;
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2F5b%2
F14%2F12%2F5b1412778b50e96e00cc444ece858b86.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pi
nterest.ph%2Fpin%2F510806782713478586%2F&tbnid=C-
GvoCuWxJlKTM&vet=12ahUKEwj33_vywrjrAhXBn54KHfz0A-
gQMygLegUIARDgAQ..i&docid=2qGvW0fRoiKRCM&w=728&h=546&q=La%20Solidaridad%
20photos&ved=2ahUKEwj33_vywrjrAhXBn54KHfz0A-gQMygLegUIARDgAQ.

Reference (2020). What is External Criticism.” Retrieved on August 25, 2020 at

https://www.reference.com/world-view/external-criticism-327750c8dc9be69f.

Republic of the Philippines (2020). Declaration of Martial Law. Retrieved on August 25, 2020 at
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/featured/declaration-of-martial-law/.

Science Buddies (2020). “Steps of the Scientific Method. Retrieved on August 24, 2020 at
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/science-fair/steps-of-the-scientific-method.

Sexia, Peter and Morton, Tom (2013). In The Big Six: Historical Thinking Concepts. Nelson
Education, Toronto, ON. Accessed on August 25, 2020 at
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288357661_The_Big_Six_Historical_Thinking_Concept
s_Peter_Seixas_Tom_Morton_Nelson_Education_Toronto_ON_2013_218_pp_ISBN_978017654
1545_Retail_Price_10313_School_Price_8250.

Study.com (2020). “Historical Methodology: Evidence and Interpretation.” Retrieved on August 24,
2020 at https://study.com/academy/lesson/historical-methodology-evidence-and-
interpretation.html.
TimeToast (2020). The Marcos Era timeline / Timetoast timelines. Accessed on August 25, 2020 at
https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/the-marcos-era.

Tosh, J. The Pursuit of History: Aims, Methods and New Directions in the Study of Modern History,
(3rd ed.) Pearson Education Limited, Harlow, 2000.

Wikimedia Commons (2020). Category: Source criticism. Edited 22 February 2020. Retrieved on
August 4, 2020 at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Source_criticism.

Prepared by: Richard C. Balais PhD Reviewed by: Cristina B. Cristobal, PhD
Position: Special Science Teacher (SST) IV Position: Special Science Teacher (SST) V
Campus: PSHS-CVisC Campus: PSHS-MC
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