Questions tagged [methodology]

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How different schools of historiography characterise a colony?

The title pretty much resembles the question - I'd like to compare what criteria different schools of historiography (including national and historical) use to determine whether a country/territory is ...
cyau's user avatar
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10 votes
4 answers
2k views

How useful are mythological king lists and geneologies for historians? [closed]

(some sources distinguish between mythology and legends; for the purpose of this question, I'm asking about narrations about human beings. For example stories of everyday human beings, genealogies of ...
SwiftPushkar's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
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What are usual textbooks, used in history programs in the Anglosphere, on historiographical 'methods' (of presentation)? [closed]

Question. What are usual undergraduate and/or graduate textbooks on historiographical method used in contemporary history programs at large universities in the Anglosphere? Remarks. Being a ...
guest's user avatar
  • 213
4 votes
1 answer
328 views

How is historical "average calorie consumption" data from eighty years ago estimated?

I read an article in a German news magazine today about the German post-war "hunger winters" of 1946-48. The article cites very detailed statistics about average calorie consumption in Germany in ...
Pekka's user avatar
  • 143
23 votes
2 answers
9k views

How do historians verify historical claims?

What are some common methods to verify historical claims?
Amr Farouk's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
7k views

How can one reliably date a carved stone item or structure?

This is what I've read in an article (won't share it here out of fear of attracting several downvotes just for posting a link of that kind) that raises some questions: Carbon dating is carried out on ...
Nikhil VJ's user avatar
  • 309
6 votes
3 answers
311 views

Counterfactual reasoning and analogical reasoning

This is a question on the historical method, or historiography. If it does not belong here, please kindly remove it and redirect me to a more appropriate place, thanks! I'm currently researching on ...
Plastic Astronaut's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
494 views

How can scholarly non-historians locate and properly use scholarly histories?

Non-historian scholars regularly have a need for dependable accounts of particular moments in the past. How can a non-historian locate and then best use scholarly histories?
Samuel Russell's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
359 views

Has the strength of the historical-archaeological method ever been tested experimentally?

Historians routinely draw quite far-reaching conclusions about all aspects of society from archaeological artifacts and textual documents that – naturally – represent only a minuscule fraction of all ...
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10 votes
2 answers
452 views

How many proofs does History require?

There's a well-known story about Andrey Kolmogorov. As a student his first choice of major was not Mathematics but History, and he wrote a serious paper on taxation of Russian serfs. He notices that ...
Michael's user avatar
  • 4,610
5 votes
1 answer
109 views

Are "I, II, III, ..." versions of archaeological versioning of layers unique to Troy?

When reading about archaeological research on Troy, one can see that archeologists distinguish between different discrete numbered layers (Troy I => Troy IX). Is that a standard approach in ...
DVK's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
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Adapting clothes, weapons, tools and customs from other nations in the middle ages - judging plausability [closed]

Background Im into historical reenactment and and a member of a "knights brotherhood" (couldnt find a percise translation of the term "bractwo rycerskie"). We are trying to recreate the material ...
K.L.'s user avatar
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18 votes
11 answers
10k views

Intersection Between Computer Science and History?

I am a computer science undergrad with a great interest in history. Lately I have been asking myself if there are general aspects or specialities of computer science which lend themselves to the ...