REVIEWER IN SOCSS1a

REVIEWER IN SOCSS1a
HISTORY – derived from the Greek word HISTORIA which means “knowledge acquired through inquiry or
investigation.”
- Now means “the past of mankind”
LOUIS GOTTSCHALK – born on Feb. 21, 1899, the sixth of eight children of Morris and Anna Gottschalk,
Jewish immigrants to Brooklyn from Poland.
PRIMARY SOURCE – is the testimony of an eyewitness, or a witness by any other of senses, or of a

mechanical device like the Dictaphone.
SECONDARY SOURCE – is the testimony of anyone who is not an eyewitness – that is, of one who was not
present of the events of which he tells.
ORIGINAL SOURCES – to describe a source, unpolished, untranslated, as it issued from the hands of the
authors.
- A source that gives the earliest available information.
PRIMARY SOURCES – needs to be original in either of these two ways. They need to be original only in the
sense of underived or first – hand as to their testimony.
THE DOCUMENT – document becomes synonymous with source, whether written or not, official or not,
primary or not.
HUMAN DOCUMENT – has been derived as “an account of individual experience which reveals the
individual’s actions as a human agent and as participant in social life.”
PERSONAL DOCUMENT – has been defined as “any self-revealing record that intentionally or unintentionally
yields information regarding the structure, dynamics and functioning if the authors mental life.”
TESTS OF AUTHENTICALLY – to distinguish a hoax or a misrepresentation from a genuine document, the

historian has to use tests that are common also in police and legal detection.
HISTORICAL FACT – in the process of analysis, the historian should constantly keep in mind the relevant
particulars within the document rather than the document as a whole.
- A historical “fact” thus may be defined as a particular derived directly or indirectly from historical
documents and regarded as credible after careful testing in accordance with the historical method.
 Every historical subject has four aspects:
1. The Biographical
2. Geographical
3. Chronological
4. The Occupational or Functional
THE PERSONAL EQUATION – the ability and the willingness of a witness to give dependable testimony are
determined by a number of factors in his personally and social situation that together are sometimes called his
“personal equation.”
ABILITY TO TELL THE TRUTH
REASONING IN A CIRCLE – from premise back to premise again.
EGOCENTRISM – it is to be expected that even the modest observer will tell what the himself heard and what
he himself did as if those details were the most important things that were sold and done.
(WITNESS’S) NEARNESS TO THE EVENT – nearness is here used in both a geographical and chronological
sense.
 THREE STEPS IN HISTORICAL TESTIMONY:

- Observation
- Recollection
- Recording
COMPETENCE – depends upon the degree of expertise, state of mental and physical health, age education,
memory, narrative skills, etc.
DEGREE OF ATTENTION – is also important factor in the ability to tell the truth. The common human inability
to see things clearly and whole makes even the best of witnesses suspect.
LEADING QUESTIONS – such questions, by implying the expected answer, make it difficult to tell the whole
truth. Such questions are especially liable to be misleading if they have to be answered by “Yes” or “No.”
WILLINGNESS TO TELL THE TRUTH
INTEREST(ED WITNESS) – certain kinds of propaganda are perhaps the worst examples of deliberate
perversion of truth out of a desire to benefit a course.
BIAS – often the benefit to be derived from a perversion of truth is subtle and may not be realized by the
witness himself. STUDIUM (bias for) – if the witness’s bias is favorable to the subject of his testimony. ODIUM
OR INA (bias against) – if it is unfavorable.
DESIRE TO PLEASE OR TO DISPLEASE – may lead to the coloring or the avoidance of the truth.
LITERARY STYLE – sometimes dictates the sacrifice of the truth. The anecdote is especially suspect.
LAWS AND CONVENTIONS – sometimes oblige witnesses to deport from strict veracity.
INEXACT DATING – of historical documents because of the conventions and formalities involved.
EXPECTATION OR ANTICIPATION – frequently leads a witness astray. A certain lack of precision is found in
such witness because their eyes and ears are closed to fair observation…

REVIEWER IN SOCSS1a

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

REVIEWER IN SOCSS1a

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

REVIEWER IN SOCSS1a

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

REVIEWER IN SOCSS1a

- Now means “the past of mankind”

PRIMARY SOURCE – is the testimony of an eyewitness, or a witness by any other of senses, or of a

- A source that gives the earliest available information.

TESTS OF AUTHENTICALLY – to distinguish a hoax or a misrepresentation from a genuine document, the

ABILITY TO TELL THE TRUTH

REASONING IN A CIRCLE – from premise back to premise again.

 THREE STEPS IN HISTORICAL TESTIMONY:

WILLINGNESS TO TELL THE TRUTH

You might also like