Source limitations

Question 1

What are source limitations of primary sources?

Answer 1

• Often too wrapped up in their moment, so authors often miss the ‘big picture’ of their situations
• Sometimes subject to censorship

Question 2

What are source limitations of private letters, diaries and memoirs?

Answer 2

• If the document was intended for disclosure, it runs the risk of being an apology, contrived to justify or defend the author’s opinions or actions/inactions
• Such personal documents are inherently limited in their scope in that they present only one viewpoint/one interpretation of what happened
  Inevitably biased – moulded by the opinions, prejudices and cultural standpoint of the author (must be read critically)
• If the document is a result of recollections many years after the period described, the details might have become blurred with the passing of time, certain aspects consciously or subconsciously forgotten, and memoirs moulded to conform to views that have evolved since then (eg. benefit of hindsight)
• Selective in nature – what is excluded?

Question 3

What are source limitations of poems and novels?

Answer 3

• Often not solely concerned with providing a factual account – a certain degree of imagination and creative license involved, and therefore, perhaps not as useful as a factual account of history
• Inevitably ‘flavoured’ by the biases of the creator

Question 4

What are source limitations of drawings, paintings and cartoons?

Answer 4

• Produced by an artist with a definite point of view, and therefore inevitably biased, being influenced by the opinions and prejudices of the creator which are more clearly shown in a visual medium
• Limited scope – generally highlights one specific aspect of a period of history
• Artist not generally concerned with providing a factual account of a historical event or circumstance, but rather with producing a creative piece of work or expressing own opinions and emotional reactions

Question 5

What are source limitations of photographs and film?

Answer 5

• Behind every photograph or film is a creator with their own personal biases and prejudices, which may be reflected in a work, either consciously or subconsciously
• Can be manipulated by the creator to convey a certain point or impress upon the viewer his/her own conceptions. Eg: parts can be edited or cut out, certain details overemphasised, excluded/downplayed, certain details can be accentuated or focused on, photographs and films are often posed
• The creator ultimately holds the power to decide the impression expected to be conveyed by the audience upon viewing the photograph/film

Question 6

What are source limitations of newspapers?

Answer 6

• A product of the societies in which they are produced, and therefore offering only a limited perspective.
• In a dictatorship, certain details suppressed to preserve the legitimacy of the authority of the government in power (ie. Censorship of the media)
• A newspaper might be primarily an instrument of propaganda / commercial and/or political motives

Question 7

What are source limitations of statistics?

Answer 7

• Can be manipulated, for example, by a government’s wishing to corroborate claims or present themselves in a favourable light, and their accuracy must therefore be questioned
• Might represent only a limited sampling, not representative of the general population
• Always produced for a specific purpose

Question 8

What are source limitations of government records?

Answer 8

• If their disclosure was anticipated, could have been manipulated, perhaps to conceal scandalous happenings of illegal manoeuvrings, or to maintain the image of the government concerned
• Only what the government allows the public to know

Question 9

What are source limitations of

Question 10

What are source limitations of