Non-Traditional Historical Research Methods

Introduction

Conducting research activities requires preparing and reviewing a sufficient evidence base, which particularly concerns the field of history. Various methods and analytical tools may be utilized, as well as supporting materials, including scholarly books and peer-reviewed documents. These types of sources provide a credible background to obtain a comprehensive picture of the events that were happening at that time and recreate the timeline of the occurrences. However, there are alternative ways of collecting data for historical research, which may be as effective and useful as traditional ones.

Non-standard sources play a critical role in the research and offer different perspectives on the subject of the study. According to Howells and Matson¹, such resources include a visual representation of historical evidence, such as “photographs, drawings, films, TV or paintings.” These sources can perform a supplemental function by adding alternative versions of what occurred in the past and how this relates to the present. At the same time, although alternative research methods present wider opportunities for analysis, they create challenges for historians. For instance, as Barber and Peniston-Bird² state, a photograph sometimes “exists in two version,” which requires identifying fakes timely and competently. However, non-traditional historical research methods may bring benefits and provide a greater scope of the past events while requiring a specific approach to their interpretation.

Microhistory

As an alternative way of studying a specific historical era, one can pay attention to the sphere of microhistory. As a rule, to study a particular subject as narrowly as possible, researchers adhere to the technique associated with analyzing the events from the perspective of historical figures, for instance, politicians, global leaders, artists, or economists. Nonetheless, between World War I and II, historians began to pay “their attention to the lives and struggles of ordinary people,” which, in turn, helped them obtain a comprehensive but not subjective picture³. Small details, descriptions of everyday life, and daily experiences contribute to discovering new insights into historical occasions. As a practical value of microhistory, one may highlight the possibility of viewing a specific time period from a completely new and more realistic perspective⁴. As a rule, the experiences of the elite and regular social class are distinctive, which is natural, and for quality research, historians started to consider “structural forces, mentalities, and the masses.”⁵ This approach made it possible to analyze the diverse sides of history by supplementing specific viewpoints with additional data from different sources, and this was a beneficial and valid practice.

At the same time, when arguing about the usefulness of alternative sources, one should pay attention to potential bias and subjectivity, which are unacceptable in such areas as, for instance, jurisprudence or law enforcement. While having authority and influence on the masses, powerful figures may serve information in their favor, such as in court cases, “to deceive and distort reality,” which is an opportunity to avoid deserved punishment⁶. Adler and Leydesdorff⁷ argue that “victims’ testimonies and memoirs can be invaluable sources” because their words are often subjective or even false. Therefore, historians should double-check the information they analyze since there is always a risk factor associated with evaluating data wrongly due to a shifted research focus caused by historical reference bias.

Everyday Life History

To understand the moods in the society of a particular historical period, researchers need to review major occasions along with the history of regular people’s lives. Port⁸ cites the activities performed by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, a French historian, “whose reconstruction of social life in a medieval village became a model of the genre.” Such targeted work means that by studying the struggles that the regular population had to face, historians obtain “knowledge of how things interconnect”⁹. They study the reasons and consequences of the socio-economic events and activities that were happening among the masses.

Realizing how people reacted to the reformations, wars, or government policies contributes to identifying their morals and behavioral practices. Port¹⁰ calls it “history from below,” thereby highlighting that the focus is on the feelings, experiences, and everyday actions of the population’s majority. Ordinary people eventually can give a deep and weighty insight into the historical time period and explain all the events they witnessed personally.

Ego Documents and Memoirs

Another historical source that may be referred to as a non-traditional method of historical research is the ego document. The approach may be interconnected with microhistory, but it does not study ordinary people’s lives. This type of resource reflects the information about historical events from the perspective of one person, such as a memoir or autobiography. A self-life memoir can provide the outlook of the historical and cultural background of a particular period, and according to Smith and Watson¹¹, who cite Nancy K. Miller, this term “captures a dynamic postmodernism in its movement between the “private and the public, subject and object”.” Norms and traditions of a corresponding era can be detected through the narration of an individual and indicate the general rules and activities of that time. Nevertheless, when using memoirs, the question of their methodological value and methods of using their information remains wide. This is explained by the fact that memoirs reflect primarily an author’s opinion on specific historical events rather than a credible and unbiased standpoint.

Photographs

Photographs may be used as research tools and are commonly considered an alternative method of delving into historical contexts. As a unique position, Susanti¹² suggests the idea that all captured images are “a type or typical representation rather than as a representation of an individual.” By saying this, the author means that old and new shots are similar in appearance, despite the changed photo resolutions¹³. In other words, even if a physical attribute disappears, an image will remain and can be recreated in other means of art or history¹⁴. In this case, a visual object performs its function as a source of information

Pictures are as important as written or verbal historical pieces because they can comprehensively illustrate the details of specific historical periods. One can recall a portrait of a monarch, a painting of the elite depicting their lifestyle through the surrounding place and dresses, or other plots¹⁵. However, what is more important in the context of the topic under consideration is the exploratory background of photographs¹⁶. William Henry Fox Talbot, a British inventor, states that snapshots “differ in all respects, and as widely as possible, in their origin.”¹⁷ Thereby, photographs are the resources that can ensure a more precise and detailed perception of the tendencies of a certain time period, which sometimes cannot be adequately delivered by written sources.

Joining of Written and Oral Sources

Although historical resources, as a rule, are utilized independently to reveal specific pieces of information, in some cases, researchers mix two or even more source types together. This phenomenon is called mixed media, and in addition to its relevance in modern digital times, Susanti¹⁸ states that “all media is mixed media,” thereby confirming that the contemporary information environment has significantly transformed compared to the less extensive and more unambiguous historical resources of past centuries. For instance, interviews are the case of mixed media, and they may be utilized as primary data sources. Conversations can be recorded, translated, or compressed, and this opens up the possibility for the researcher to expand the range of primary information application. An interview text, supplemented with visual tools, is the form of research presentation that is currently common. Thus, in different combinations, distinctive types of resources can be mixed to supplement each other.

Conclusion

Overall, the alternative methods of research are beneficial tools to implement in the field of history. Unlike the regular means of data collection, these approaches imply gathering the necessary information expressed in different forms. Microhistory is an area that highlights the perspectives of singular individuals on the time period when they lived. The same applies to the people’s history method since the data gathered from the general population provides more details on the economic and social norms of relevant times. Considering the source from the authorities or the elite is also essential, but together with the information from ordinary people, researchers may obtain a comprehensive and unbiased picture. Ego documents and memoirs are other supplementations to the alternative historical sources because those are the pure expression of the person’s vision of the events of a certain period.

Individual stories and narratives, written or recorded, provide an opportunity to recognize the moods and activities of the population regarding certain situations. Photographs are another critical instrument of non-traditional historical research, which carry practical significance by portraying people and subjects. Distinguishing between an image and a picture helps understand a specific representation form. Finally, the sources may also be extracted due to the mixed media approach where the written and oral methods of research are combined. Interviews can be in an audio or video format, as well as written and supplemented by photographs. For productive and wholesome research, utilizing alternative methods can be helpful and provide insight into historical occurrences in a particular time period.

Bibliography

Adler, Nanci, and Selma Leydesdorff. Tapestry of Memory. Evidence and Testimony in Life-Story Narratives. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2013.

Barber, Sara, and Corinna Peniston-Bird. History Beyond the Text. A Student’s Guide to Approaching Alternative Sources. New-York: Routledge, 2009.

Burke, Peter. Eyewitnessing: The Uses of Images as Historical Evidence. London: Reaktion Books, 2008.

Gunn, Simon, and Lucy Faire. Research Methods for History. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2011.

Howells, Richard, and Robert McGraw Matson. Using Visual Evidence. Glasgow: Hill Education, 2009.

Jordanova, Ludmilla. The Look of the Past: Visual and Material Evidence in Historical Practice. London: King’s College London, 2012.

Lüdtke, Ald, and William Templer. The History of Everyday Life. Reconstructing Historical Experiences and Ways of Life. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.

Port, Andrew I. “History from below, the History of Everyday Life, and Microhistory.” Wayne State University 3, no. 5 (2015): 108-113.

Smith, Sidonie, and Julia Watson. Reading Autobiography: A Guide for Interpreting Life Narratives. Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press, 2010.

Susanti, Anastasia Jessica Adinda. “Let the Pictures Speak about Themselves: Contribution of WJT Mitchell on Philosophy of Image.” E-Logos 27, no. 2 (2020): 18-23. doi:10.18267/j.e-logos.475

Tinkler, Penny. Using Photographs in Social and Historical Research. Manchester: The University of Manchester, 2013.

Footnotes

1. Richard Howells and Robert McGraw Matson, Using Visual Evidence (Glasgow: Hill Education, 2009), 37.
2. Sara Barber and Corinna Peniston-Bird, History Beyond the Text. A Student’s Guide to Approaching Alternative Sources (New-York: Routledge, 2009), 23.
3. Andrew I. Port, “History from below, the History of Everyday Life, and Microhistory,” Wayne State University 3, no. 5 (2015): 110.
4. Ludmilla Jordanova, The Look of the Past: Visual and Material Evidence in Historical Practice (London: King’s College London, 2012), 213.
5. Port, History from below, 110.
6. Port, History from below, 112.
7. Nanci Adler and Selma Leydesdorff, Tapestry of Memory (New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2013), 19.
8. Port, History from below, 110.
9. Ald Lüdtke and William Templer, The History of Everyday Life. Reconstructing Historical Experiences and Ways of Life (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995), 15.
10. Port, History from below, 108.
11. Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson, Reading Autobiography: A Guide for Interpreting Life Narratives (Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press, 2010), 3.
12. Anastasia Jessica Adinda Susanti, “Let the Pictures Speak about Themselves: Contribution of WJT Mitchell on Philosophy of Image,” E-Logos 27, no. 2 (2020): 22.
13. Susanti, “Let the Pictures,” 22.
14. Peter Burke, Eyewitnessing: The Uses of Images as Historical Evidence (London: Reaktion Books, 2008), 120.
15. Simon Gunn and Lucy Faire, Research Methods for History (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2011), 41.
16. Penny Tinkler, Using Photographs in Social and Historical Research (Manchester: The University of Manchester, 2013), 87.
17. Howells and Matson, Using Visual Evidence, 56.
18. Susanti, “Let the Pictures,” 21.