English:How Historians Investigate the Past
How Historians Investigate the Past
Introduction
History is more than a list of dates. It is an investigation of people, places, choices, objects, and events from the past. Historians ask questions and use evidence to build explanations about what happened, why it happened, how people experienced it, and what changed over time.
In this aiMOOC, you will learn how to work like a history detective. You will examine primary sources, compare them with secondary sources, test claims against different pieces of evidence, notice perspective and bias, and explain what the evidence can and cannot tell you.
A useful first question is: How do we know? Historians rarely have every piece of evidence they would like. Some evidence was lost, some was never recorded, and some sources disagree. Good historical investigation therefore means asking careful questions and being ready to change an explanation when better evidence appears.
Learning Goals
By the end of this course, you should be able to explain what historians do, identify several kinds of historical sources, distinguish primary from secondary sources, ask useful questions about a source, compare evidence from more than one source, build a simple timeline, explain the difference between evidence and inference, and support a historical conclusion with reasons.
History as an Investigation
Historians begin with a question. A question gives an investigation a clear purpose. "What did children do at school 100 years ago?" is more useful than "Tell me everything about old schools" because it tells you what evidence to look for.
A historian may then search in archives, libraries, museums, historic places, newspapers, photograph collections, maps, recordings, databases, and archaeological reports. The historian records where each source came from so that other people can check the evidence.
Think like a historian: Imagine that you find an old school photograph. Before deciding what it proves, ask who made it, when it was made, where it was made, what is visible, what is missing, and whether other evidence supports your first idea.
A Simple Investigation Cycle
A useful cycle for Grades 5–6 is:
- Ask a question: Decide what you want to find out.
- Find sources: Gather evidence that may help answer the question.
- Check the sources: Ask who created them, when, why, and how trustworthy they are for your question.
- Compare evidence: Look for agreement, disagreement, and missing information.
- Build an explanation: Use evidence to answer the question.
- Revise if needed: Change your explanation when stronger or new evidence appears.
This process is not always a straight line. A new source can lead to a new question, and a new question can send the historian back to search for more evidence.
Sources: Clues from the Past
A historical source is something that can provide evidence about the past. Sources may be written, visual, spoken, physical, or digital. A letter, coin, building, tool, photograph, map, diary, government record, song recording, interview, newspaper, and video can all become historical sources when they are used to answer a historical question.
The source itself does not automatically tell you the full story. A source is a clue that must be examined in context.
Primary Sources
A primary source comes from the time or situation being studied. Examples include diaries, letters, photographs, official records, objects, maps, recordings, and eyewitness accounts created during the period under investigation.
The page above is from the Domesday Book, a medieval record. A historian might use such a record as evidence about landholding, settlements, names, or administration in eleventh-century England. The record is valuable, but it still needs questions: Who ordered it? What was recorded? What might not have been recorded?
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A historical photograph can be a primary source. It can show details such as clothing, tools, buildings, machines, landscape, and people. However, a photograph only shows what was inside the camera frame at one moment. It does not automatically explain what happened before or after.
Secondary Sources
A secondary source is created later to explain, analyze, or interpret evidence about the past. History textbooks, documentaries, museum explanations, biographies, and many history articles are secondary sources when they are discussing an earlier period.
Secondary sources can be extremely useful because their authors may compare many primary sources, explain context, and discuss different interpretations. However, historians still ask who created the secondary source, what evidence it used, how recent it is, and whether its claims are supported.
Important idea: "Primary" does not mean "always true," and "secondary" does not mean "less useful." A diary can contain mistakes. A carefully researched history book can correct those mistakes by comparing the diary with other evidence.
The Research Question Matters
Whether a source is primary or secondary can sometimes depend on the question. A school textbook written in 1990 would usually be a secondary source for studying ancient Egypt, but it could be a primary source for investigating how children were taught history in 1990.
This is a more advanced idea, but it shows why historians always connect a source to a specific question.
Asking Questions About a Source
Historians do not simply accept a source. They investigate it. A useful source-checking routine is Creator, Time, Place, Purpose, Evidence, Limits.
Creator
Ask: Who created this source? What might that person or group have known? Were they present at the event, or did they learn about it from someone else?
Knowing the creator does not automatically tell you whether a source is reliable, but it helps you understand the creator's position and access to information.
Time and Place
Ask: When and where was the source created? A record made during an event may preserve details that were later forgotten. A memory recorded many years later may contain valuable personal experience, but memory can also change over time.
An old map can show how people represented places in a certain period.
When studying a map, ask what area it shows, who might have used it, what symbols appear, which places are emphasized, and what knowledge was available to the mapmaker.
Purpose and Audience
Ask: Why was this source created, and who was expected to see or use it? A private diary, a public speech, an advertisement, and a government report may describe the same event in very different ways because they were made for different purposes.
Purpose does not make a source useless. Instead, it helps you interpret what the source can tell you.
Evidence and Limits
Ask: What information does the source directly provide? What does it not tell you? Every source has limits.
For example, one person's letter may give excellent evidence about that person's feelings, but it cannot by itself prove what everyone in a whole town believed. A photograph may show a crowd, but it may not explain why the crowd gathered.
Perspective and Bias
Perspective means a point of view shaped by a person's experiences, role, knowledge, values, and situation. Different people can experience the same event differently.
Bias means a tendency that can influence how information is selected, described, or judged. Bias can be deliberate or unintentional. Historians look for bias, but they do not simply throw away every biased source. A biased source can still reveal what its creator believed, wanted, feared, or tried to persuade others to accept.
Newspapers are useful historical sources because they can show what was reported to readers at the time. Historians compare different newspapers and other records because one newspaper may select certain stories, words, or viewpoints.
Try it: If two newspapers describe the same event differently, do not immediately assume that one must be completely false. First compare the facts they agree on, the details they choose, their language, their audience, and other independent evidence.
Corroboration: Comparing Sources
Corroboration means checking information by comparing it with other evidence. If several independent sources support the same detail, confidence in that detail may increase. If sources disagree, the disagreement becomes a new puzzle.
Historians might ask:
- Do the sources agree about the date, place, people, or action?
- Were the sources independent, or did one copy information from another?
- Which source was closer to the event?
- Could each creator observe what they claimed to know?
- What information appears in one source but not another?
- Is there physical or archaeological evidence that supports or challenges the written evidence?
Corroboration is not a simple vote. Three copied stories do not necessarily outweigh one strong independent record. Historians examine the quality and relationship of the evidence.
Evidence, Claim, and Reasoning
A strong historical explanation has three connected parts:
Evidence is information from sources.
Claim is the answer you give to the historical question.
Reasoning explains how the evidence supports your claim.
Example: If school records from several years show a longer school day, and student diaries describe spending more hours in class, you might claim that school time increased during that period. Your reasoning should explain why those different sources support the claim and what limits remain.
Archives, Libraries, and Museums
An archive keeps records that are valuable for long-term use. Archives may preserve letters, photographs, maps, government files, sound recordings, films, and digital records. Libraries and museums also preserve important sources, although their collections and purposes may differ.
Researchers usually follow rules when handling original materials. They may wash and dry their hands, use clean work spaces, support fragile books, avoid food and drink, and follow staff instructions. Some objects require special handling by trained staff.
Digital archives make many sources easier to reach, but historians still record where a digital copy came from. A copied image without a title, date, collection name, or source link can be difficult to check.
Archaeology and Material Evidence
Historians often learn from the work of archaeologists. Archaeologists study past human life by investigating material remains such as buildings, pottery, tools, food remains, burials, and changes in the landscape.
An archaeological excavation is carefully recorded. The location and layer in which an object is found can be as important as the object itself. Removing an object without recording its context can destroy information.
Artifacts and Context
An artifact is an object made or changed by people. A broken pot, coin, button, tool, toy, or piece of jewelry may give clues about technology, work, trade, food, status, belief, or daily life.
The Rosetta Stone is a famous artifact with versions of a text in different scripts. It helped scholars understand Egyptian hieroglyphs because the inscriptions could be compared. The object shows how one artifact can connect language, government, writing, and historical investigation.
Context means the surroundings and circumstances that help explain evidence. For an artifact, context can include where it was found, what layer it came from, and what other objects were nearby. For a document, context can include the time, place, audience, and events surrounding its creation.
Oral History
Oral history uses planned interviews to record people's memories and experiences. An oral history interview can preserve voices and experiences that may not appear in official documents.
A good interviewer prepares open questions, listens carefully, records the date and participants, and asks permission before recording or sharing personal information. Historians compare oral testimony with other evidence because memory is valuable but not perfect.
An open question such as "What do you remember about your first day at this school?" usually produces richer evidence than a yes-or-no question.
Chronology, Change, and Cause
Chronology means arranging events in time order. Historians use timelines to see sequence, duration, overlap, and change.
A timeline can help you ask better questions. Did event A happen before event B? How long did a change take? Which developments happened at the same time?
Historians also study change and continuity. Some things change quickly, some slowly, and some remain similar for long periods. They also investigate cause and consequence. Major events usually have more than one cause, and one event can have many consequences.
A good historical explanation avoids the mistake of saying that one cause explains everything when the evidence shows several connected causes.
Fact, Inference, and Interpretation
A fact from a source is something the source directly shows or states. An inference is a conclusion you draw from evidence. An interpretation is a broader explanation of what the evidence means.
Suppose a photograph shows children wearing coats outside a school. "The children are wearing coats" is a direct observation. "The day was cold" is a reasonable inference, but you would want more evidence, such as weather records. "The school had strict winter clothing rules" would require even more evidence.
Separating observation from inference helps prevent guesses from turning into unsupported claims.
When Sources Disagree
Sources often disagree because people saw different parts of an event, remembered details differently, had different goals, used different information, or wrote at different times.
When sources disagree, historians can:
- Identify the exact point of disagreement.
- Check who created each source and how close they were to the event.
- Compare dates, places, purposes, and audiences.
- Look for independent evidence.
- Explain uncertainty instead of pretending the evidence is clearer than it is.
Sometimes the most accurate conclusion is: "The available evidence does not allow us to know for certain." Admitting uncertainty is a strength when the evidence is incomplete.
Digital History and Online Sources
Online collections can make historical evidence easier to explore, but not every website is equally trustworthy. Before using an online historical source, check who provides it, whether the original item is identified, whether dates and collection information are included, and whether the site explains where its claims come from.
A useful digital image should ideally include information such as the creator, date, title or description, collection, and stable source page. Historians call this information provenance or source information.
Do not assume that the first search result is the best evidence. A museum, archive, library, university, or well-documented collection is usually easier to verify than an image copied without a source.
A Mini Case Study: Investigating an Old School
Imagine your class wants to answer the question: How did school life in our community change between 1950 and today?
You could gather old class photographs, school rules, report cards, timetables, local newspapers, yearbooks, building plans, and interviews with former students or teachers. Each source answers different questions.
A photograph might show classroom furniture. A timetable might show which subjects were taught. A school rule book might show expected behavior. An interview might show how a student experienced those rules. A newspaper might report a school event. Comparing all of these helps you build a fuller explanation.
A strong final answer would not simply list the sources. It would explain patterns of change and continuity and use specific evidence to support each claim.
Responsible Historical Investigation
Historical sources may involve real people, painful events, sacred objects, graves, private information, or communities whose voices have been ignored in older records. Responsible investigators treat people and evidence with care.
When interviewing someone, ask for permission to record and explain how the recording will be used. When visiting a museum, archive, historic site, or archaeological place, follow rules about touching, photographing, collecting, and sharing. Never remove an object from an archaeological site.
Good history also tries to include more than one perspective when the evidence allows it. Ask whose voice is present, whose voice is missing, and what other evidence might help fill the gap.
Interactive Tasks
Quiz: Test Your Knowledge
What is the best first step in a historical investigation? (Ask a clear question) (!Choose an answer before searching) (!Use only one source) (!Ignore missing evidence)
Which item is most likely a primary source for studying school life in 1950? (A student diary written in 1950) (!A textbook published in 2025) (!A modern documentary about schools) (!A website summary written this year)
What does corroboration mean in history? (Comparing evidence from different sources) (!Copying one source into another) (!Choosing the oldest source automatically) (!Counting how many pages a source has)
Why should a historian ask who created a source? (To understand the creator's knowledge and perspective) (!To prove the source is always true) (!To avoid checking other evidence) (!To decide whether the handwriting is neat)
What is an artifact? (An object made or changed by people) (!A list of future predictions) (!A modern opinion with no evidence) (!A rule for writing a bibliography)
What does context help a historian understand? (The circumstances surrounding a source) (!Only the size of a source) (!Only the spelling in a source) (!Whether a source has a colorful cover)
What should you do when two reliable sources disagree? (Investigate the reason for the disagreement) (!Pretend the disagreement is not there) (!Always choose the longer source) (!Always choose the newest source)
Which statement about bias is most accurate? (Bias can influence how information is presented) (!Bias makes every source completely useless) (!Only modern sources can contain bias) (!Primary sources can never contain bias)
Which is an inference rather than a direct observation? (The day was cold because children wore coats) (!Three children are visible in the photograph) (!A bicycle appears beside the building) (!The sign contains the word School)
Why do historians record where a source came from? (So the evidence can be checked) (!So no one else can find it) (!So the source becomes a primary source) (!So the source cannot be questioned)
Memory Game
| Primary source | Evidence created during the time or situation being studied |
| Corroboration | Comparing information with other evidence |
| Artifact | Object made or changed by people |
| Context | Surrounding circumstances that help explain evidence |
| Perspective | Point of view shaped by a person's situation and experience |
| Chronology | Arrangement of events in time order |
Drag and Drop
| Match the correct terms. | Topic |
|---|---|
| Who created the source | Creator |
| Why the source was made | Purpose |
| What happened around the source | Context |
| Checking another independent source | Corroboration |
| What the source cannot show | Limits |
Match each investigation question with the correct source-checking idea.
Crossword Puzzle
| Evidence | What historians use to support a claim |
| Archive | A place or system that preserves valuable records |
| Artifact | An object made or changed by people |
| Context | The surroundings and circumstances of a source |
| Chronology | The arrangement of events in time order |
| Corroboration | Comparing information with other evidence |
LearningApps
Cloze Text
Open-Ended Tasks
Easy
- Source Detective: Choose one old photograph from your family, school, museum, or trusted digital collection. Write five observations and three questions without guessing beyond the evidence.
- Primary or Secondary: Find four examples of historical sources and create a small poster that explains which are primary or secondary for one clearly stated research question.
- Mini Timeline: Build a timeline with six events from the history of your school, town, family, or another approved topic and add one source for each event.
- Artifact Sketch: Draw or photograph an everyday object that future historians might study and label five clues it could give about life today.
Standard
- Compare Two Accounts: Find two accounts of the same past event from reliable sources, list where they agree and disagree, and suggest one reason for a difference.
- Oral History Interview: With permission, interview an adult about a past school or community experience. Prepare open questions, record notes carefully, and explain one strength and one limit of memory as evidence.
- Local History Walk: Visit a safe local historic place with an adult or class, observe buildings, signs, memorials, or landscape features, and create a photo or sketch report explaining what they may reveal.
- Museum Evidence Board: Choose three museum objects from a physical or digital museum collection and create an evidence board showing what each object can tell you and what remains uncertain.
Advanced
- Corroboration Challenge: Investigate one historical claim using at least three independent sources, rank the evidence by usefulness for your question, and defend your ranking.
- History Newsroom: Produce a short video or audio report about a past event using a primary source, a secondary source, and a clear explanation of where uncertainty remains.
- Changing Interpretations: Compare two secondary sources about the same topic, identify one difference in emphasis or interpretation, and explain which evidence each author uses.
- Microhistory Project: Investigate one small topic such as a street, school club, local building, object, or family tradition and create a short illustrated report that separates evidence, inference, and unanswered questions.
Learning Assessment
- Historical Inquiry Assessment: Form a focused historical question about a familiar local or school topic and explain why the question can be investigated with evidence.
- Source Evaluation Assessment: Evaluate one primary source by discussing its creator, date, purpose, context, usefulness, and limits for a given question.
- Corroboration Assessment: Compare three sources that address the same topic and write a supported conclusion that explains both agreements and disagreements.
- Evidence and Inference Assessment: Analyze a historical image by separating direct observations from inferences and naming additional evidence needed to test those inferences.
- Change and Continuity Assessment: Use a timeline and at least two sources to explain one important change and one continuity across a chosen period.
- Responsible History Assessment: Design rules for a class oral-history or local-history project that protect people, preserve source information, and make the investigation checkable.
Evidence of Learning
Knowledge: You can explain primary and secondary sources, context, perspective, bias, corroboration, chronology, artifacts, evidence, inference, and interpretation in your own words.
Skills: You can ask focused historical questions, observe sources carefully, record source information, compare evidence, identify limits, build timelines, and explain how evidence supports a claim.
Products: Useful evidence may include a source-analysis sheet, timeline, interview notes, artifact study, comparison chart, evidence board, illustrated report, or short history video.
Transfer: You can use the same habits when you see a historical claim in a textbook, museum display, website, social media post, documentary, family story, or local memorial: ask where the claim comes from, check evidence, compare sources, and notice uncertainty.
OERs on the Topic
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