EXAMINATION OF SOURCES: THE Argen D.

Rivas
EXTERNAL & INTERNAL CRITICISMS IN Bachelor of Arts in History
Polytechnic University of the
METHODS OF RESEARCH IN HISTORY*
*A DEMO FOR AMA MAKATI
Philippines – Sta. Mesa, Manila
THE CONTENT
I. Introduction
II. Examining historical source
 What is historical source? Types of sources?
Examples of sources?
 The External and Internal Criticisms
 Auxiliary sciences
III. Conclusion

Courtesy of National Archives of the Philippines

INTRODUCTION
 Research
 The process of searching for a particular human’s question about his society and environment
(Neuman, 1997) cited by Evasco, et. al. (2011).

 Historical Methodology
 Techniques and guidelines
 Locating and gathering of sources
 Examining of sources

 Historiography
 The study and writing of history
 The study of the changing interpretation of the historians
EXAMINING HISTORICAL SOURCE
 Locating historical sources
 Institutions – libraries and archives
 Through archaeological activities

 Types of sources
 Primary Source – direct or first hand evidence
 Secondary Source

 Examples of sources
 Artifacts, autobiographies, memoirs, diaries, photographs
 Biographies, government records, accounts, oral testimonies,
magazines, books, etc.

Sources of Images: National Museum of the Philippines;

Lucban Historical Society; Amazon.com
THE EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL CRITICISMS
 External Criticism – determines the authenticity of the source.
 Internal Criticism – determines the historicity of the facts contained in the document.

1. Aspects/Processes in Doing External Criticism

 Physical/surface criticism; Provenance; Originality
 Testing the genuineness of the source; localizing it (time, place, author); analyzing it

2. Aspects/Processes in Doing Internal Criticism

 Determining the value of the source
 Interpretation of the source
 Establishment of facts
SOME AUXILIARY SCIENCES IN EXAMINING
HISTORICAL SOURCE
• Paleography – deals with ancient and historical writing.
• Isography – study of handwriting, its strokes and other factors related to it.
• Epigraphy – scholarly attempt of deciphering ancient inscriptions.
• Archaeology
• Linguistics
• Numismatics
CONCLUSION
“… The historian and the facts of history are necessary to one another. The historian
without his facts is rootless and futile; the facts without their historian are dead and
meaningless.”
- E. H. Carr, What is History? (1991); Emphasis mine.

“While photographs may not lie, liars may photographed.”

- Quoted from Lewis Hine, cited by Peter Burke, Eye witnessing: The uses of images as historical evidence (2001).
REFERENCES
Cruz, Romeo. “Sources of Local History.” Asian Studies 22-24 (1984-1986).

Evasco, Eugene, et. al., eds. Saliksik: Gabay sa pananaliksik sa Agham Panlipunan, Panitikan at Sining
(Quezon City: C&E Publishing, 2011).

Gottschalk, Louis. Understanding history: a primer to historical method (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1950).

“Historical criticism.” The Catholic Historical Review, vol. 3, no. 3 (1917).

Langlois, CH. V. and C.H. Seignobos. Introduction to the study of history (New York: Henry Holt and
Company, 1898).