This presentation introduces undergraduate students to the rudiments of the Research Methods in History and International Studies

1. RESEARCH METHODS
In history and int’l studies

2. DEFINITIONS
 Research
 Research simply means “looking something up”.
 Like when you google the internet to find out ‘something.
 But that is far below the level of research required of you as a
Long Essay student.
 You are required to gather large amounts of information about a
subject for the purpose of writing a fairly long essay.
 “Research is a formal process of verifying knowledge”.
 In other words, research is meant to
 Discover
 Interpret
 Develop new ways of discovering and interpreting, and
 Develop solutions to problems

3. DEFINITIONS (Cont.)
 Historical Research: Systematic and disciplined
investigation of the past (persons, issues, events, etc.) to
understand and interpret historical phenomena.
 Involves collection, analysis, and interpretation of various
types of evidence and sources to construct a comprehensive
and accurate understanding of historical contexts,
developments, and dynamics.
 Aims to uncover the causes, consequences, and significance
of past events, as well as the social, political, economic, and
cultural factors that shaped them.
 Involves interpreting evidence to construct narratives and
explanations of the past; organizing events and developments
into chronological sequences and periods to establish
temporal order, identify patterns, and analyze historical
change over time.

4. DEFINITIONS (Cont.)
Research Methods Vs Research Methodology
Research Methods: Specific techniques, tools, and
procedures used to collect, analyze, and interpret data
in a research study. They are the practical approaches
employed to address research questions or objectives.
 Do vary depending on the nature of the study, discipline, and
the type of data being collected.
Research Methodology: Broader framework or the
overall strategy that guides the entire research process.
 Encompasses the theoretical underpinnings, principles, and
assumptions that shape the research study.
 Outlines overall approach to be followed, the rationale
behind chosen methods, and logical sequence of research
activities.
 Provides the overall structure and direction for conducting
research.

5. Characteristics of HR
1. Involves the careful study and analysis of data about
past events.
2. A critical investigation of events, their development,
experiences of past.
3. The purpose is to gain a clearer understanding of the
impact of past on present and future events related to life
process.
4. Involves the review of written materials but may
include oral documentation as well.
5. Describes what occurred in the past.
6. Depends upon data observed by others, rather than the
rather than the investigator(s).

6. CHOOSING THE RESEARCH TOPIC
 Topic: theme, issue, subject matter, area, focus
 Research topic: a set of associated facts and ideas
that have a common theme. [Explain]
 Form of the research topic. The research topic is in
the form of a noun phrase (a set of words without a
finite verb). As your language teacher taught you, in a
noun phrase, the most important words are nouns.
 Common examples of topics:
 “A Political History of Nigeria”;
 “The Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire”;
 “British Rule in India”.

7. CHOOSING (Cont.)
 The research topic IS NOT in the form of a sentence:
you are not going to see a topic like “This is the
History of British Rule in India”.
 Where occasionally you see a sentence or a question in
a topic, it is usually a quotation, and is followed after
a colon by a normal topic, in the form of a noun
phrase. For instance, you can see a topic like:
“‘Ipalibo’s Ambition was His Undoing’”: The Ordeal
of an Enigmatic Governor”.
 The sentence in the topic would refer to a well known
assertion by a prominent person or author about the
ordeal of the imaginary Governor Ipalibo.

8. CHOOSING (Cont.)
 Besides titles that have quotations, large amount of historical works
have sub-titles.
 Where sub-title exists, it is likely that the main title is vague, that is, it does not
make the subject of the book clear at face value.
 The purpose of the sub-title is to make clear the subject of the work.
Usually, the sub-title is separated from the main one by a colon.
 On a book cover, different fonts and colours, rather than a colon, are used to
distinguish the main title from the sub-title.
 Examples of topics with sub-titles are as follows:
 A. Afigbo, “The Warrant Chiefs: Indirect Rule in South-Eastern Nigeria, 1900-
1929”;
 O. Ikime, “Niger Delta Rivalry: Urhobo-Itsekiri Relations, 1900-1935”; and
 R. Adeleye, “Power and Diplomacy in Northern Nigeria: The Sokoto Caliphate
and its Enemies, 1804-1906”.
 Historical works (except on historiography) deal with persons, issues and
events within clearly defined periods of time. Thus, they have base and
terminal years.
 These are often indicated in the topics, as in the three examples above.

9. CHOOSING (Cont.)
Choice of base and terminal years not made arbitrarily.
 Both are supposed to be landmark or epochal years in the history of
the person, issue, place or event being studied.
Thus, a history of Nigeria that has 1966, 1967 or 1970 as a
base or terminal year makes immediate sense.
 Difficult to justify 1968 as base/terminal year in Naija’s general history.
A landmark year in the history of a country may be taken as
a landmark year in the history of provinces/states or
communities within the country.
 For instance, 1970, which is a landmark year in the history of the
Nigeria, may also be taken as a landmark year in the history of any
community in Nigeria, especially south-eastern Nigeria.
 But different communities have other landmark years which are
different from those of the entire country.
 In P-Harcourt and Ibadan histories, for eg, 1968 is a landmark year: federal
forces captured PH in 1968; farmers rose in revolt in Ibadan in 1968.

10. CHOOSING (Cont.)
 Matters to consider when choosing research topic
 Originality: Writing something new – achieved by writing on a
subject no other researcher has written about or by using new
sources and new approaches to write on a subject previously
written about.
 Availability of Sources: History is not fiction. Historians use
evidence to write history.
 The historian’s terminology for evidence is sources.
 Without sources, no candidate can write a Long Essay that will
meet the standards of the discipline.
 It is important for you to ensure that you will get adequate
sources for the topic that fascinates you.
 If the sources are scanty or you cannot have access to them, find
another topic.

11. CHOOSING (Cont.)
 Time: Long Essay written within a specified period of time.
 The research is expected to start during the long vacation preceding
the final year (say from the month of August) and the report is
expected to be submitted before the final examinations (about the
month of June of the following year).
 Basically, the candidate has roughly ten months to do the Long Essay.
 Given the necessity to complete the Long Essay within the stipulated
time, the question of time should influence the choice of topic.
 Candidate expected to find a topic whose sources can be found in few
months of the project and which s/he can digest properly without
much loss of time.
 Thus, if you like a topic but cannot find the relevant sources
that you can digest, and complete the writing within ten
months, change the topic.

12. CHOOSING (Cont.)
 Money: Needed for research—Especially for fieldwork purposes.
 Travelling to places where sources are located; to stay in hotels if no
relation or friend lives there; to photocopy documents and take pictures;
and other related fieldwork activities.
 If a topic fascinates you but you lack the money to meet the necessary
research expenses, find another topic.
 Space: The Long Essay has minimum and maximum limits; the
stipulation varies from university to university.
 In History departments in Nigeria, it is usually between 35 and 50 pages,
roughly between 14,000 and 25,000 words.
 There are topics which cannot yield a minimum of 14,000 words. There are
also topics that cannot be adequately treated in 25,000 words.
 Thus, in choosing your research topic, you need to pick a topic whose scope
can produce an essay that is neither too short nor too long.

13. CHOOSING (Cont.)
Ethical Considerations: Addressing ethical concerns in (historical)
research are also considered in choosing research topics.
 EXPLAIN from the NOTE on ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS.

14. Sources in Historical Research
Sources: evidence: proof, confirmation, data, substantiation,
material facts.
 Typically, HR relies on two key kinds of sources:
Primary and Secondary.
 Primary Sources: These are original, firsthand materials that
provide direct evidence or information about a particular historical
period, event, or topic. These sources are created by individuals
who directly witnessed or participated in the events being studied.
 Secondary Sources: These are historical research works that
interpret, analyze, or comment on primary sources or events. They
are created by individuals who did not directly witness or
participate in the events being studied.

15. Sources in HR (Cont.)
PRIMARY SOURCES SECONDARY SOURCES
1. Contemporaneous with the event; closely
related in time to the event. Thus, a primary
source is defined as evidence collected from
eyewitnesses or participants in the event
being studied. These include reports by and
interview records of those who witnessed the
event.
Examples: Oral sources, Archival documents,
Minutes of meetings, battle commands, Letters &
Memoirs, Official documents and records, Posters,
Circulars, Pictures, Newspaper & Magazine
articles, text messages & emails, objects and
Archaeological finds, Audio/Video recordings,
Statistical data, and Unpublished manuscripts.
1. Reports written a generation
or more after the event. They
are based either on primary
sources or other secondary
sources. In other words, NOT
closely related in time to the
event.
Examples: Books (written a
generation or more after event),
journal and Review articles,
Lectures, Internet materials,
Conference proceedings, Theses,
Dissertations and Long Essays.
(Auto)Biographies, Encyclopedias.

16. Sources in HR
PRIMARY SOURCES
SECONDARY SOURCES
SECONDARY SOURCES
2. Primary sources are raw. They are
meant to solve the everyday
problems or problems of the time
they are written: e.g. minutes of
meetings, proposals for a new
constitution, and battle commands.
2. Secondary sources are
interpretations. Written basically
to advance academic knowledge—
to educate the general public or
experts deeply about an issue.
Some sources stand astride the distinctions made above. They may be primary
sources in terms of time and secondary sources in terms of intention. Such sources
include old books. For instance, an academic study published in the late 16th
century about the Reformation. In the 21st century, that book would be a primary
source in terms of its distance in time (as it would reflect the values and style of
the 16th century) and a secondary source on the basis of the fact that it is an
interpretation written about two generations after the main events of
Reformation. Other sources that stand astride the distinctions made above include
commissions of inquiry reports, and media commentaries and analyses. Some
scholars place their lists of old books and media sources under different headings
in bibliographies.

17. On Oral Sources
 Oral sources: oral testimonies obtained through formal interviews.
 A distinction is made here between oral tradition and oral history.
 Oral Tradition: Oral testimonies about traditional societies which have
been passed orally from generation to generation till the time it is
recorded by the researcher.
 Has been found very useful in the reconstruction of the history of pre-
colonial Africa (esp. for societies that produced no written documents) .
 Many scholars query the validity of oral tradition, arguing that human
memory is highly fallible; that it is deficient in dating, chronology, and
detail; and that many of its accounts are metaphysical (myths and legends).
 Many scholars have tried to defend it, and have developed many
techniques meant to extract as much value from it as possible.
 Leading scholars that defend oral tradition include Jan Vansina and Ebiegberi
Joe Alagoa.

18. On Oral sources (Cont.)
 Oral History: Oral testimonies about contemporary societies, issues and
events.
 Involves: collecting, recording, and preserving spoken accounts of
individuals who have firsthand knowledge or experiences of historical
events, periods, or cultures. It is a valuable tool for capturing personal
perspectives, memories, and narratives that may not be found in
traditional written sources.
 Used to supplement the written sources of the period.
 Defined as follows in history manuals:
 “The systematic collection of living people’s testimony about their own
experiences”.
 “The study of the recent past by means of the life histories or personal
recollections where informants speak about their own experiences”.