2. Evidence and inference

Question 1

What three forms can evidence take? Give an example for each.

Answer 1

1. Written, e.g. books
2. Physical e.g. objects, photos, fossils
3. Spoken e.g. an interview

Question 2

What is a primary source?

Answer 2

A source that is made/written AT THE TIME an event happened

Question 3

What is a secondary source?

Answer 3

A source made/written AFTER an event, by someone who wasn’t there.

Historians use primary sources to create secondary sources

Question 4

Give three examples of primary sources

Answer 4

Diary, letter, newspaper
Photograph, paintings
Building remains
Recordings

Question 5

Give three examples of secondary sources

Answer 5

School text books, history books
TV programmes, films, plays
Novels, stories
The internet

Question 6

What are the advantages of primary sources?

Answer 6

1. First-hand experience of events
2. Described in more detail by people with an understanding of the situation

Question 7

What are the disadvantages of primary sources?

Answer 7

1. May be biased or incomplete
2. Can be hard to obtain
3. May be written in a different language with risk of mistranslation
4. May be misinterpreted

Question 8

What are the advantages of secondary sources?

Answer 8

1. More likely to be objective, or include expert perspectives/insights
2. More likely to be complete, e.g. if based on several primary sources
3. Usually easier to obtain and more efficient to use

Question 9

What are the disadvantages of secondary sources?

Answer 9

1. May be incomplete - no way of knowing what primary sources have been missed out, or if anything has been added
2. Still a risk of misinterpretation - two people may interpret the same primary sources differently

Question 10

What is a “source” in history?

Answer 10

= a piece of historical evidence

Question 11

What is meant by “Inference”?

Answer 11

Using evidence to discover facts and form a conclusion