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History by the Numbers: A Quantitative Approach to Teaching the Importance of Conflicting Evidence

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Title: History by the Numbers: A Quantitative Approach to Teaching the Importance of Conflicting Evidence
Language: English
Authors: Burkholder, Peter
Source: History Teacher. Nov 2020 54(1):69-106.
Availability: Society for History Education. California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90840-1601. Tel: 562-985-2573; Fax: 562-985-5431; Web site: http://www.societyforhistoryeducation.org/
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 38
Publication Date: 2020
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: History Instruction, Conflict, Evidence, Statistical Analysis, Ambiguity (Context), College Instruction, Teaching Methods, Historical Interpretation, Student Attitudes, Undergraduate Students, Research Papers (Students), Instructional Effectiveness
ISSN: 0018-2745
Abstract: Students encounter difficulties when entering into the fog of historical analysis, a place where evidence rarely lines up neatly and contradictions abound. Too often, novices conveniently ignore any sort of counterevidence that could muddy a clean explanation, thus reverting to safe truisms that sidestep key problems. Meanwhile, professional historians revel in uncertainty, understanding that it is evidentiary ambiguity and conflict that offer opportunities to ponder, to grapple, and to explain. How does one bridge the gap? How can instructors start their classes down that admittedly long, difficult road toward a more genuine understanding of past peoples and events--one that, most importantly, embraces conflicting evidence? This article reports on a unique approach to these problems, one that forced learners to come face-to-face with contradictory information. Students did not just confront incongruous evidence; they actually measured and weighed it by applying a quantitative method to textual analysis. Their findings, as well as their experiences with the technique, indicate that this unusual research approach has the potential not only to better deal with ambiguous evidence, but also to change learners' perceptions of history itself.
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2021
Access URL: https://www.societyforhistoryeducation.org/pdfs/N20_Burkholder.pdf
Accession Number: EJ1309759
Database: ERIC
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  Data: Society for History Education. California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90840-1601. Tel: 562-985-2573; Fax: 562-985-5431; Web site: http://www.societyforhistoryeducation.org/
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  Data: Students encounter difficulties when entering into the fog of historical analysis, a place where evidence rarely lines up neatly and contradictions abound. Too often, novices conveniently ignore any sort of counterevidence that could muddy a clean explanation, thus reverting to safe truisms that sidestep key problems. Meanwhile, professional historians revel in uncertainty, understanding that it is evidentiary ambiguity and conflict that offer opportunities to ponder, to grapple, and to explain. How does one bridge the gap? How can instructors start their classes down that admittedly long, difficult road toward a more genuine understanding of past peoples and events--one that, most importantly, embraces conflicting evidence? This article reports on a unique approach to these problems, one that forced learners to come face-to-face with contradictory information. Students did not just confront incongruous evidence; they actually measured and weighed it by applying a quantitative method to textual analysis. Their findings, as well as their experiences with the technique, indicate that this unusual research approach has the potential not only to better deal with ambiguous evidence, but also to change learners' perceptions of history itself.
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      – SubjectFull: Statistical Analysis
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