The main methods of historical research abstract. Methodology of historical research

The positivists believed that scientific methods were the same for natural and humanities. The neo-Kantians opposed the method of history to the method of the natural sciences. In fact, everything is more complicated: there is general scientific methods, applicable in all sciences, and there are specific methods particular science or complex of sciences. Most thoroughly in the domestic historical literature on the use of common scientific methods told I. Kovalchenko in his book about the methods of historical research. We will not characterize these methods in detail from a philosophical point of view, but only show the specifics of their application in historical science.

Logical and historical method. In history, synchrony is used - the study of an object in space as a system, their structure and functions (logical method) and the study of objects in time - diachrony (historical method). Both methods can act in pure form and in unity. As a result, we study the subject in space and time. Boolean Method provided by a systematic approach and structural and functional analysis.

The historical method implements the principle of historicism, which was discussed above. The development process is studied through the analysis of the state of the object in different time slices. First an analysis of structure and function, then a historical analysis. You can't break these two methods.

I. Kovalchenko gives an example. If we use only the historical method, we can conclude that in agriculture Russia at the beginning of the 20th century was dominated by semi-serf relations. But if we add a logical analysis - system-structural - it turns out that bourgeois relations dominated.

Ascent from the concrete to the abstract and from the abstract to the concrete. I. Kovalchenko considers this method to be the most important and decisive. The concrete is the object of knowledge in all its richness and diversity of its inherent features. Abstraction is a mental distraction from some features and properties of the concrete, while it should reflect the essential aspects of reality.

The ascent from the concrete to the abstract is carried out in three ways. Through abstraction (certain properties are considered in isolation from other properties of the object, or a set of features of the object is distinguished and it is possible to build essential-content and formal-quantitative models).

The second technique is abstraction by means of identifying the non-identical: the object is assigned such states and characteristics that it does not possess. It is used for various kinds of classifications and typology.

The third technique is idealization - an object is formed with certain ideal properties. They are inherent in the object, but not sufficiently expressed. This makes it possible to carry out deductive-integral modeling. Abstraction helps to better understand the essence of the object.

But in order to understand the essence of concrete phenomena, the second stage is necessary - the ascent from the abstract to the concrete. Specific theoretical knowledge appears in the form scientific concepts, laws, theories. The merit of developing such a method belongs to K. Marx ("Capital"). This method is complicated and, according to I. Kovalchenko, is not widely used.

System approach and system analysis. System - as already noted, an integral set of elements of reality, the interaction of which leads to the emergence of new integrative qualities that are not inherent in its constituent elements. Each system has a structure, structure and functions. System components -- subsystems and elements. Public systems have complex structure which the historian must study. A systematic approach helps to understand the laws of functioning public systems. The leading method is structural-functional analysis.

Foreign science has accumulated extensive experience in the application system analysis in history. Domestic researchers note the following shortcomings in the application of new methods. The interaction of the system with the environment is often ignored. the basis of all public structures the structures turn out to be subconscious-mental, possessing high stability; as a result, the structure turns out to be unchanged. Finally, the hierarchy of structures is denied, and society turns out to be an unordered set of closed and unchanging structures. The inclination towards synchronous study in statics often leads to the rejection of dynamic diachronic analysis.

Induction - deduction. Induction is a study from the singular to the general. Deduction - from the general to the particular, the singular. The historian investigates the facts and arrives at a generalized concept and, conversely, applies the concepts known to him to explain the facts. Every fact has elements in common. It is first merged with single fact, then highlighted as such. F. Bacon considered induction to be the main method, since deductive reasoning is often erroneous. Historians in the 19th century used mainly the inductive method. Some are still suspicious of deductive method. D. Elton believes that the use of theories not based on the empirical material of sources can be detrimental to science. However, this extreme view is not shared by most historians. To penetrate into the essence of phenomena, it is necessary to use concepts and theories, including those from related sciences. Induction and deduction are organically linked and complement each other.

Analysis and synthesis. Also widely used by historians. Analysis is the isolation of individual aspects of an object, the decomposition of the whole into separate elements. The historian cannot cover as a whole the period or object of study he is studying. Having studied individual aspects, factors, the historian must combine the elements of knowledge obtained about individual aspects of historical reality, and the concepts obtained in the course of the analysis are combined into a single whole. Moreover, the synthesis in history is not a simple mechanical addition of individual elements, it gives a qualitative leap in understanding the object of study.

The idea of "historical synthesis" was developed by A. Burr. He created the "Journal of Historical Synthesis" at the beginning of the 20th century and the International Center for Synthesis, bringing together historians, sociologists and representatives of the natural and mathematical sciences a number of countries. He advocated a cultural-historical synthesis, for the fusion of history and sociology, the use of the achievements of psychology and anthropology. Approximately a hundred monographs by various historians were published in the series “The Evolution of Mankind. Collective Synthesis. The focus is on social and mental life. But priority is given to psychology. A. Burr, in fact, prepared the emergence of the "Annals School", but the latter, after the Second World War, went further than him in search of a synthesis.

Each philosophical trend offered its own basis for synthesis, but so far the factors were shuffled in a positivist spirit. Recently, the idea of a synthesis based on culture in the postmodern sense has emerged. We must wait for specific historical works in this direction.

One thing is clear, analysis and synthesis are inextricably linked. Successes in analysis will not be significant if they are not in synthesis. Synthesis will give a new impetus to analysis, and that, in turn, will lead to a new synthesis. There are successes in achieving a synthesis, but they are of a partial and short-term nature, sometimes material, sometimes ideal factors are put forward as determining ones, but there is no unity among historians. The larger the subject of study, the more difficult it is to obtain a synthesis.

Modeling. This is the most common form scientific activity. All sciences use models to obtain information about the phenomenon being modeled, test hypotheses, and develop a theory. This technique is also used by historians. Modeling of a historical phenomenon is carried out by means of logical design - mental models of a content-functional plan are created. Modeling is associated with some simplification, idealization and abstraction. It allows you to check the representativeness of information sources, the reliability of facts, test hypotheses and theories. This method is used at all stages of the study. An example of a study of the community can be given. When creating its model, data from sociology, law, psychology are used, mentality is taken into account. This already means the application of an interdisciplinary approach. At the same time, it must be remembered that it is impossible to simply transfer a model from another discipline, it must be reconstructed taking into account conceptual constructions.

Exist mathematical modeling. Methods of nonlinear dynamics, mathematical theory of chaos, catastrophe theory are used. Building statistical models will be discussed in the section on mathematical methods in history.

Intuition. It is well known that scientists often use intuition when solving scientific problems. This unexpected solution is then tested scientifically. In history, at the end of the 19th century, V. Dilthey, referring history to the sciences of the spirit, considered the historian's intuition as the main method of understanding historical events. But this point of view was not shared by many historians, since it destroyed history as a science, preaching extreme subjectivism. What kind of truth could one speak of, relying only on the intuition of historians very different in erudition and abilities. Objective research methods were needed.

But this does not mean that intuition does not play a serious role in scientific research. For a historian, it is based on a deep knowledge of his subject, broad erudition, and the ability to timely apply this or that method. Without knowledge, no intuition will “work”. But, of course, talent is needed for “insight” to come. This speeds up the work of the historian, helps to create outstanding works.

History as a subject and a science is based on historical methodology. If in many other scientific disciplines there are two main ones, namely observation and experiment, then only the first method is available for history. Even despite the fact that every true scientist tries to minimize the impact on the object of observation, he still interprets what he sees in his own way. Depending on the methodological approaches used by scientists, the world receives various interpretations the same event, various teachings, schools, and so on.

Allocate following methods historical research:
- brain teaser,
- general scientific,

special,
- interdisciplinary.

historical research
In practice, historians have to use research based on logical and general scientific methods. The logical ones include analogy and comparison, modeling and generalization, and others.

Synthesis implies the reunion of an event or object from smaller components, that is, the movement from simple to complex is used here. The complete opposite of synthesis is analysis, in which one has to move from the complex to the simple.

No less important are such research methods in history as induction and deduction. The latter makes it possible to develop a theory based on the systematization of empirical knowledge about the object under study, deriving numerous consequences. Induction, on the other hand, translates everything from the particular to the general, often probabilistic, position.

Scientists also use analgia and comparison. The first makes it possible to see a certain similarity between different objects that have a large number of relationships, properties, and other things, and comparison is a judgment about the signs of difference and similarity between objects. Comparison is extremely important for qualitative and quantitative characteristics, classification, evaluation and other things.

The methods of historical research are especially distinguished by modeling, which only allows one to assume a connection between objects in order to reveal their location in the system, and generalization - a method that highlights common features that make it possible to make an even more abstract version of an event or some other process.

General scientific methods of historical research
In this case, the above methods are supplemented by empirical methods of cognition, that is, experiment, observation and measurement, as well as theoretical ways research such as mathematical methods, transitions from the abstract to the concrete and vice versa, and others.

Special Methods of Historical Research
One of the most important in this area is the comparative historical method, which not only highlights the underlying problems of phenomena, but also points out similarities and features in historical processes, points out the trends of certain events.

At one time, the theory of K. Marx was especially widespread, and it was opposed to which the civilizational method acted.

Interdisciplinary research methods in history
Like any other science, history is interconnected with other disciplines that help to learn the unknown in order to explain certain historical events. For example, using the techniques of psychoanalysis, historians have been able to interpret the behavior of historical figures. Very important is the interaction between geography and history, which resulted in the cartographic method of research. Linguistics made it possible to learn a lot about early history based on the synthesis of the approaches of history and linguistics. There are also very close links between history and sociology, mathematics, and so on.

Research is a separate section of cartography, which is of great historical and economic importance. With its help, you can not only determine the place of residence of individual tribes, indicate the movement of tribes, etc., but also find out the location of minerals and other important objects.

Obviously, history is closely interconnected with other sciences, which greatly facilitate research and make it possible to obtain more complete and extensive information about the object under study.

History is cognizable, but in order to reveal the process of development, to comprehend the features of each of the periods, to overcome one-sidedness and subjectivism, it is necessary to have a perfect scientific methodology, to have accurate tools. In the study of historical reality in history, as in any other science, scientists are guided by both the general criteria of scientific research and their own methods of historical research.

The scientific method is understood as a set of various methods and processes of scientific knowledge, with the help of which they come to the knowledge of truths. The basis for developing methods is scientific theory. In turn, the methods provide the acquisition of new knowledge, develop and enrich the theory. Often the establishment of some facts or the introduction of new methods of research is the reason for the abandonment of the old theory.

Most often in historical science, two groups of methods are used:

general scientific;

specially historical.

General scientific methods

General scientific methods are divided into two subgroups, these are:

methods empirical research : observation, measurement, experiment;

methods theoretical research : typology, idealization, method

thought experiment, formalization, modeling, induction, deduction, systems approach, as well as mathematical, axiomatic, historical, logical and other methods. The methods of theoretical research include a number of modern methods, such as: system-structural and functional analysis, information-entropy method, algorithmization and etc.

In cognitive activity, methods are in dialectical unity, interrelationships, complement each other, which makes it possible to ensure the objectivity and truth of the cognitive process.

So, for example, methods classification and typology make it possible to single out classes and groups of similar historical objects, as well as their various types. This selection, as a rule, occurs on the basis of one or more features and therefore does not cover all of their diversity. The exception is the classifications carried out by multivariate statistical analysis , in which historical objects are included in a certain group based on the use of a whole set of their features.

In the process of scientific research, it becomes necessary to apply idealization, a special form of mental activity, when in the process of studying a problem, objects with certain ideal properties are mentally formed. This absoluteness of the properties of an ideal object is transferred to reality, and on this basis the laws of functioning and development of historical objects are determined, their qualitative and formal-quantitative models are built.

Induction is a logical technique for deriving general judgments on the basis of a number of particular observations. It serves as a means of obtaining conjectural judgments-hypotheses, which are then tested and substantiated. In the course of induction, when in a number of particular cases the repetition of properties or relations of historical objects is manifested, a chain of individual judgments is built, which is confirmed by this repetition. If there are no facts contradicting the scheme, then such a chain becomes the basis for a more general conclusion (inductive hypothesis).

Induction is closely related to deductive method . They are usually used in combination. The basis of deduction is the transition from general provisions to particular ones and the derivation of the particular and the individual from the general. It is constantly resorted to in the process of cognitive activity. By means of deduction, any general provision (law) is applied to a particular fact. It is actively used in the substantiation of put forward hypotheses. Single historical facts can be considered explained if they are included in a certain system of concepts from which they can be obtained by deductive means. The deductive method underlies the formation of scientific theories. With its help, the schematization and idealization of the structure of practical activity is carried out.

If the inductive method is necessary in the accumulation of material, then the deductive method is necessary in cognitive process theoretical character. By applying the method of deduction to the accumulated material, one can obtain new knowledge that goes beyond the boundaries of established empirical facts.

Of great importance in historical science is the method modeling - study of objects of knowledge based on their models that reproduce or reflect these objects. The basis of the method is the theory of similarity. By the nature of the models, subject and sign (information) modeling is distinguished.

Object Modeling called research on models that reproduce the geometric, physical, dynamic or functional characteristics of the original object. The basis for such an operation is an analogy.

At iconic modeling schemes, formulas, tables, etc. act as models. Its most important type is considered to be mathematical modeling, reproduced by expressive and deductive means of mathematics and logic.

Model- this is a system created or chosen by the researcher, which reproduces with a certain accuracy the ascent from the abstract to the concrete, and then the transition from the concrete to the abstract is carried out. In this case, the specification can be arbitrarily detailed. As a result, the general and special that is inherent in the studied objects, phenomena and processes is deeply revealed.

Such an approach is possible when the theoretical level of knowledge of historical objects makes it possible to construct their abstract essential-content model. This possibility is not always available. But the study of many historical phenomena has fully reached this level. And then the most effective may be mathematical modeling.

Mathematical methods at the level of modeling can also be used in the formation of a system of quantitative indicators. This is important both for checking the reliability and accuracy of quantitative and descriptive information from historical sources and assessing their representativeness, and for solving other information and source studies problems.

The general scientific method has been widely used in historical research. systemic approach. It is based on the study of objects as systems, which makes it possible to reveal their essential nature and principles of functioning and development. The method involves the creation of a number of simplified models that imitate or replace (in a certain respect) the original system. Such models should allow an adequate return transition to the original modeled object without loss of information essential for its understanding.

The systematic approach does not exist in the form of a strict methodological concept: it performs heuristic functions, remaining a set of cognitive principles, the main meaning of which is the appropriate orientation of specific studies. Therefore, this approach requires the use of various general scientific methods, including such as ascent from the abstract to the concrete, logical, deductive, and quantitative methods.

Specific methods of system research are structural and functional analyzes aimed at studying the structure of systems and identifying their functions. Comprehensive knowledge of any system requires consideration of its structure and functions in organic unity, i.e. structural-functional analysis.

General scientific methods as such are necessary at the theoretical level of historical science. As applied to specific historical situations, they are used to develop special historical methods for which they serve as a logical basis.

The methods of other sciences, such as psychology, demography, sociology, geography, mathematics, and statistics, are widely used in history.

Special Historical Methods.

Special-historical methods are a different combination of general scientific methods adapted to the characteristics of the historical objects under study. The special-historical methods include:

Ideographic- description of historical events and phenomena;

Retrospective - sequential penetration into the past in order to identify the cause of the event;

Historical comparative- comparison of historical objects in space, in time;

Historical and typological - classification of historical phenomena, events and objects;

Historical and systemic - revealing the internal mechanisms of development and

functioning of historical phenomena, objects;

Historical and genetic - analysis of the dynamics of historical processes.

Through historical and genetic method, historical phenomena are studied in the process of their development - from birth to death or state of the art. By its logical nature, this method is analytical-inductive (ascent from specific phenomena and facts to general conclusions), and in terms of the form of information expression, it is descriptive. It gives a "biography" of a historical object (state, nation, etc.). The historical-genetic method is aimed at analyzing the dynamics of historical processes. Allows you to identify their causal relationships and patterns historical development. This method is used at the first stage of historical research, when information is extracted from sources, it is systematized and processed.

Weaknesses of the historical-genetic method: the reduced role of the theoretical analysis of the collected historical facts, the lack of a clear logical basis and the developed categorical apparatus. This means that it is impossible to bring together studies carried out with its help and create on their basis a complete picture of historical reality. Consequently, the method is actually not suitable for the study of a number of historical phenomena and processes, for example, mass ones. It must be used in combination with other special-historical methods.

Historical comparative method consists in comparing historical objects in space and time and in identifying similarities and differences between them. The method is focused on the consideration of historical objects in certain time slices and involves the use of various techniques to compare the essence of heterogeneous historical phenomena. Therefore, when applying it, the main attention is concentrated on the statistical position of objects in space and time and in identifying similarities and differences between them. Through the historical-comparative method, the researcher receives additional information about little-studied historical objects.

Via historical-typological method reveal common features in the spatial groups of historical events and phenomena and single out homogeneous stages in their continuous-temporal development. Typology aims to systematize and arrange objects according to their inherent common features, the division of their collections into qualitatively defined types (stages). Typology in form is a kind of classification, but in fact it is one of the methods of qualitative analysis.

At present, the practice of scientific and historical research is becoming more and more widespread. historical-system method. This is due to attempts to reveal the internal mechanisms of their functioning and development. The fact is that all historical events have their own cause and are functionally interconnected, i.e. are systemic. Even in simple historical systems there are diverse functions determined both by the structure of the system and its place in the hierarchy of systems. To conduct a system analysis, it is necessary to isolate the system that interests us from the hierarchy of historical realities. This complex process is called decomposition(selection) of the system. When it is implemented, system-forming (systemic) features are revealed, usually several of them. These signs are interconnected, determine the structure of the system, express its integrity and stability. Having carried out the procedure of decomposition of the system, the researcher performs its structural analysis, which consists in determining the links between the elements of the system, as well as their main features. Its result is direct knowledge of the historical system itself.

Diachronic method is typical for structural-diachronic research, when the problem of discovering the features of the construction in time of processes of various nature is solved. Its specificity is revealed through comparison with the synchronistic approach. Terms "diachrony"(simultaneity) and "synchrony" (simultaneity) characterize the sequence of development of historical phenomena in a certain area of reality (diachrony) and the state of these phenomena at a certain point in time (synchrony). Diachronic (multi-temporal) analysis is aimed at studying the essential-temporal changes in historical reality.

Reception retrospective knowledge consists in sequential penetration into the past in order to identify the cause of the event.

A significant role in historical research is played by psychological motives, which manifest themselves in two cases: on the one hand, the subject of research (historian) inevitably enters into emotional relationship with their object, on the other hand, the characters of history with their feelings, emotions, passions participate in economic, social, political, religious and other relations, obeying certain psychological laws. Therefore, the emergence of a whole trend in historiography, which considers the psychological aspects of the historical process and uses psychological methods for historical explanation, turned out to be quite natural. This direction is called psychohistory , traditionally associated with the publication in the first half of the 20th century. works of the Austrian doctor, neuropathologist and psychiatrist Z. Freud.

Methodology is an integral part scientific knowledge

Any discipline, in order to have the status of a scientific one, simply inevitably must acquire a clear system and methodology of knowledge. Otherwise, in the absence of a methodological apparatus, it cannot, strictly speaking, be considered a science. A striking example of such a statement is the existence of a number of alternative views (like homeopathy). The historical discipline, taking shape as a science, of course, also over time acquired its own scientific apparatus and acquired methods of historical research.

Peculiarities

Interestingly, the methods of research in history are not always historical in isolation, sometimes they are borrowed from other sciences. So, a lot was taken from sociology, geography, philosophy, ethnography, etc. However, history has one important feature that is unique to it. This is the only scientific discipline whose object and subject of study do not exist in real time, which makes it difficult to study them, significantly reduces the possibilities of its methodological apparatus, and also adds inconvenience to the researcher, who inevitably projects onto the logic and motivation of past eras. own experience and beliefs.

Diversity historical methods knowledge

Methods of historical research can be classified in different ways. However, these methods formulated by historians are divided mainly into the following: logical knowledge, general scientific methods, special, interdisciplinary.
Logical or philosophical methods of historical research are the most elementary elements of common sense in the study of the subject: generalization, analysis, comparison, analogy.

General scientific methods

These are the methods of historical research that do not belong to history alone, but extend in general to the methods of scientific knowledge, such may be the following: a scientific experiment, measurement, hypothesis building, and so on.

Special Methods

They are the main and characteristic of a particular story. There are also a lot of them, but the following are distinguished as the main ones. Ideographic (narrative), which consists in the maximum exact description facts (of course, the description of reality and facts has its place in any study, but in history it has a completely special character). Retrospective method, which consists in tracking the chronicle preceding the event of interest in order to identify its causes. Closely related to it is the historical-genetic method aimed at studying the early development of an event of interest. Historical comparative method is based on the search for common and different phenomena in distant time and geographical periods, that is, on the identification of patterns. The logical follower of the previous method is the historical-typological method, which is based on the found patterns of phenomena, events, cultures, creates their classification for a simpler subsequent analysis. Chronological method involves a strict presentation of the factual material in the correct sequence.

Interdisciplinary Methods

Methods of historical research include interdisciplinary ones. For example, quantitative, borrowed from mathematics. Or socio-psychological. And geography did not just give history a cartographic method of research based on close work with maps. The purpose of the latter is to identify patterns and causes of historical events. A special discipline was born - historical geography, which studies the influence of geographical and climatic features to the course of history.

Thus, the methods of historical research are the most important basis for history as a science.

With all the diversity research approaches there are some general research principles, such as consistency, objectivity, historicism.

The methodology of historical research is the technique by which methodology is implemented in historical research.

In Italy, during the Renaissance, the scientific apparatus of research began to take shape, and the system of footnotes was first introduced.

During the processing of a specific historical material the researcher needs to use various research methods. The word "method" in Greek means "way, way". Scientific research methods are methods of obtaining scientific information in order to establish regular connections, relationships, dependencies and build scientific theories. Research methods are the most dynamic element of science.

Any scientific and cognitive process consists of three components: the object of cognition - the past, the cognizing subject - the historian and the method of cognition. Through the method, the scientist learns the problem, event, era under study. The scope and depth of new knowledge depend primarily on the effectiveness of the methods used. Of course, each method can be applied correctly or incorrectly, i.e. the method itself does not guarantee the acquisition of new knowledge, but without it no knowledge is possible. Therefore, one of key indicators the level of development of historical science are the methods of research, their diversity and cognitive effectiveness.

There are many classifications of scientific research methods.

One of the most common classifications involves dividing them into three groups: general scientific, special and private scientific:

general scientific methods used in all sciences. Basically, these are methods and techniques formal logic, such as: analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, hypothesis, analogy, modeling, dialectics, etc.;
special methods used in many sciences. The most common ones include: functional approach, systemic approach, structural approach, sociological and statistical methods. The use of these methods makes it possible to reconstruct the picture of the past more deeply and more reliably, to systematize historical knowledge;
private scientific methods have not universal, but applied value and are used only in a specific science.

In historical science, one of the most authoritative in Russian historiography is the classification proposed in the 1980s. Academician I.D. Kovalchenko. The author has been fruitfully studying this problem for more than 30 years. His monograph "Methods of historical research" is a major work, in which for the first time in Russian literature a systematic presentation of the main methods historical knowledge. Moreover, this is done in organic connection with the analysis of the main problems of the methodology of history: the role of theory and methodology in scientific knowledge, the place of history in the system of sciences, historical source and historical fact, the structure and levels of historical research, methods of historical science, etc. Among the main methods of historical knowledge Kovalchenko I.D. relates:

historical and genetic;
historical and comparative;
historical and typological;
historical-systemic.

Let's consider each of these methods separately.

Historical-genetic method is one of the most common in historical research. Its essence lies in the consistent disclosure of the properties, functions and changes of the studied reality in the process of its historical movement. This method allows you to get as close as possible to reproducing real history object of study. At the same time, the historical phenomenon is reflected in the most specific form. Cognition proceeds sequentially from the individual to the particular, and then to the general and universal. By nature, the genetic method is analytical-inductive, and by the form of information expression it is descriptive. The genetic method makes it possible to show causal relationships, patterns of historical spillage in their immediacy, and historical events and personalities to characterize in their individuality and imagery.

Historical comparative method has also long been used in historical research. It is based on comparisons - an important method of scientific knowledge. No scientific study is complete without comparison. The objective basis for comparison is that the past is a repetitive, internally conditioned process. Many phenomena are identical or similar internally.

its essence and differ only in the spatial or temporal variation of forms. And the same or similar forms can express different content. Therefore, in the process of comparison, an opportunity opens up for explaining historical facts, revealing their essence.

This feature of the comparative method was first embodied by the ancient Greek historian Plutarch in his "biographies". A. Toynbee sought to open as much as possible more laws applicable to any society, and sought to compare everything. It turned out that Peter I was the twin of Akhenaten, the era of Bismarck was a repetition of the era of Sparta from the time of King Cleomenes. The condition for the productive application of the comparative-historical method is the analysis of single-order events and processes.

1. Initial stage comparative analysis is an analogy. It involves not analysis, but the transfer of representations from object to object. (Bismarck and Garibaldi played an outstanding role in unifying their countries).
2. Identification of the essential-substantial characteristics of the studied.
3. Acceptance of typology (Prussian and American type of development of capitalism in agriculture).

The comparative method is also used as a means of developing and verifying hypotheses. Based on it, it is possible retro alternative vistics. History as a retro-telling implies the ability to move in time in two directions: from the present and its problems (and at the same time the experience accumulated by this time) to the past, and from the beginning of an event to its finale. This brings into history the search for causality, an element of stability and strength that should not be underestimated: the final point is set, and in his work the historian starts from it. This does not eliminate the risk of delusional constructions, but at least it is minimized. The history of an event is actually a social experiment that has taken place. It can be observed by circumstantial evidence, hypotheses can be built, tested. The historian can offer all sorts of interpretations French Revolution, but in any case all his explanations have a common invariant to which they must be reduced: the revolution itself. So the flight of fancy has to be restrained. In this case, the comparative method is used as a means of developing and verifying hypotheses. Otherwise, this technique is called retro-alternativism. To imagine a different development of history is the only way to find the causes of real history. Raymond Aron called for rational weighing possible reasons of certain events by comparing what was possible: “If I say that Bismarck’s decision caused the war of 1866 ... then I mean that without the decision of the Chancellor, the war would not have started (or at least wouldn't have started at that moment)" 1 . The actual causality is revealed only by comparison with what was in the possibility. Any historian, in order to explain what was, asks the question of what could have been. To carry out such a gradation, we take one of these antecedents, mentally assume it to be non-existent or modified, and try to reconstruct or imagine what would happen in this case. If you have to admit that the phenomenon under study would be different in the absence of this factor (or if it were not so), we conclude that this antecedent is one of the causes of some part of the phenomenon-effect, namely that part of it. parts in which we had to assume changes. Thus, logical research includes the following operations: 1) division of the phenomenon-consequence; 2) establishing a gradation of antecedents and highlighting the antecedent whose influence we have to evaluate; 3) constructing an unreal course of events; 4) comparison between speculative and real events.

If, examining the causes of the French Revolution, we want to weigh the significance of various economic (the crisis of the French economy at the end of the 18th century, the poor harvest of 1788), social (the rise of the bourgeoisie, the reaction of the nobility), political (the financial crisis of the monarchy, the resignation of Turgot) , then there can be no other solution but to consider all these different causes one by one, assuming that they could be different, and try to imagine the course of events that might follow in this case. As M. Weber says, in order to "unravel real causal relationships, we create unreal ones." Such an "imaginary experience" is for the historian the only way not only to identify the causes, but also to unravel, weigh them^ as expressed by M. Weber and R. Aron, that is, to establish their hierarchy.

Historical-typological method, like all other methods, has its own objective basis. It consists in the fact that in the socio-historical process, on the one hand, they differ, on the other hand, the individual, special, general and universal are closely interconnected. Therefore, an important task of understanding historical phenomena, revealing their essence, is to identify the one that was inherent in the diversity of certain combinations of the individual (single). The past in all its manifestations is a continuous dynamic process. It is not a simple sequential course of events, but the change of some qualitative states by others, has its own significantly different stages, the selection of these stages is also

important task in the study of historical development. The first step in the historian's work is the compilation of a chronology. The second step is periodization. The historian cuts history into periods, replaces the continuity of time with some semantic structure. The relations of discontinuity and continuity are revealed: continuity takes place within periods, discontinuity - between periods.

Particular varieties of the historical-typological method are: the method of periodization (allows you to identify a number of stages in the development of various social, social phenomena) and the structural-diachronic method (aimed at studying historical processes at different times, allows you to identify the duration, frequency of various events).

Historical-system method allows you to understand internal mechanisms functioning of social systems. A systematic approach is one of the main methods used in historical science, since society (and indeed individual person) is a highly organized system. The basis for the application of this method in history is the unity in the socio-historical development of the individual, particular and general. Really and concretely, this unity appears in historical systems. different levels. The functioning and development of societies includes and synthesizes those main components that make up historical reality. These components include separate unique events (say, the birth of Napoleon), historical situations (for example, the French Revolution) and processes (the impact of the ideas and events of the French Revolution on Europe). Obviously, all these events and processes are not only causally conditioned and have cause-and-effect relationships, but are also functionally interconnected. The task of system analysis, which includes structural and functional methods, is to give a whole complex picture of the past.

The concept of a system, like any other cognitive means, describes some ideal object. From his point of view external properties this ideal object acts as a set of elements between which certain relations and connections are established. Thanks to them, a set of elements turns into a coherent whole. In turn, the properties of the system turn out to be not just the sum of the properties of its individual elements, but are determined by the presence and specificity of the connection and relationships between them. The presence of connections and relationships between elements and the integrative connections generated by them, the integral properties of the system provide a relatively independent isolated existence, functioning and development of the system.

The system as a relatively isolated integrity opposes the environment, the environment. In fact, the concept of the environment is implicit (if there is no environment, then there will be no system) is contained in the concept of the system as a whole, the system is relatively isolated from the rest of the world, which acts as an environment.

The next step in a meaningful description of the properties of the system is to fix its hierarchical structure. This system property is inextricably linked with the potential divisibility of the elements of the system and the presence of a variety of connections and relationships for each system. The fact of the potential divisibility of the elements of the system means that the elements of the system can be considered as special systems.

Essential properties of the system:

from point of view internal structure any system has an appropriate orderliness, organization and structure;
the functioning of the system is subject to certain laws inherent in this system; in each this moment the system is in some state; a successive set of states constitutes its behavior.

The internal structure of the system is described using the following concepts: "set"; "element"; "attitude"; "property"; "connection"; "channels of connection"; "interaction"; "integrity"; "subsystem"; "organization"; "structure"; "leading part of the system"; "subsystem; decision maker; hierarchical structure of the system.

The specific properties of the system are characterized through the following features: "isolation"; "interaction"; "integration"; "differentiation"; "centralization"; "decentralization"; " Feedback»; "equilibrium"; "control"; "self-regulation"; "self management"; "competition".

The behavior of the system is defined through such concepts as: "environment"; "activity"; "functioning"; "change"; "adaptation"; "growth"; "evolution"; "development"; "genesis"; "education".

In modern research, many methods are used to extract information from sources, process it, systematize and construct theories and historical concepts. Sometimes the same method (or variations of it) is described in different authors under different names. An example is the descriptive-narrative - ideographic - descriptive - narrative method.

Descriptive-narrative method (ideographic) - the scientific method used in all socio-historical and natural sciences and standing in the first place in terms of breadth of application. Assumes a number of requirements:

a clear idea of the chosen subject of study;
description sequence;
systematization, grouping or classification, characteristics of the material (qualitative, quantitative) in accordance with the research task.

Among other scientific methods, the descriptive-narrative method is the starting one. To a large extent, it determines the success of work using other methods, which usually "view" the same material in new aspects.

The well-known German scientist L. von Ranke (1795-1886) acted as a prominent representative of the narrative in historical science. began to study history and published a number of works that had a resounding success. Among them is the "History of the Romanesque and Germanic peoples"," Sovereigns and peoples Southern Europe in the 16th-17th centuries", "The Popes, their Church and State in the 16th and 17th centuries", 12 books on Prussian history.

In works of a source study nature are often used:

conditionally documentary and grammatical-diplomatic methods, those. methods of dividing the text into constituent elements are used to study office work and office documents;
textual methods. So, for example, logical text analysis allows interpreting various "dark" places, identifying contradictions in a document, existing gaps, etc. The use of these methods makes it possible to identify missing (destroyed) documents, to reconstruct various events;
historical and political analysis allows you to compare information from various sources, recreate the circumstances political struggle that gave rise to the documents, to specify the composition of the participants who adopted this or that act.

Historiographic studies often use:

Chronological method- focusing on the analysis of the movement on scientific thoughts, the change of concept, views and ideas in chronological order, which allows you to reveal the patterns of accumulation and deepening of historiographic knowledge.

Problem-chronological method involves the division of broad topics into a number of narrow problems, each of which is considered in chronological order. This method is used both when studying the material (at the first stage of analysis, together with the methods of systematization and classification), and when compiling and presenting it within the text of a work on history.

Periodization Method- is aimed at highlighting individual stages in the development of historical science in order to discover the leading directions of scientific thought, to identify new elements in its structure.

Method of retrospective (return) analysis allows you to study the process of movement of thought of historians from the present to the past in order to identify elements of knowledge that has been strictly preserved in our days, to verify the conclusions of previous historical research and the data of modern science. This method is closely related to the method of "survivals", i.e. a method of reconstructing objects that have gone into the past according to the remains that have survived and have come down to the modern historian of the era. The researcher of primitive society E. Taylor (1832-1917) used ethnographic material.

Perspective analysis method determines promising directions, topics for future research based on an analysis of what has been achieved modern science level and when using knowledge of the patterns of development of historiography.

Modeling- this is the reproduction of the characteristics of some object on another object, specially created for its study. The second of the objects is called the model of the first. Modeling is based on a certain correspondence (but not identity) between the original and its model. There are 3 types of models: analytical, statistical, simulation. Models are resorted to in case of a lack of sources or, conversely, sources of satiety. For example, a model of an ancient Greek polis was created in the computer center of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Methods of mathematical statistics. Statistics arose in the second half of the 17th century. in England. In historical science statistical methods began to be used in the 19th century. Events subject to statistical processing, must be homogeneous; quantitative and qualitative features should be studied in unity.

There are two types of statistical analysis:

1) descriptive statistics;
2) sample statistics(used in the absence complete information and gives a probabilistic conclusion).

Among the many statistical methods, one can single out: correlation analysis(establishes a relationship between two variables, a change in one of them depends not only on the second, but also on chance) and entropy analysis (entropy is a measure of the diversity of the system) - allows you to track social ties in small (up to 20 units) groups that are not subject to probabilistic statistical patterns. For example, Academician I.D. Kovalchenko subjected mathematical processing tables of zemstvo household censuses of the post-reform period in Russia and revealed the degree of stratification among estates and communities.

Method of terminological analysis. The terminological apparatus of sources borrows its subject content from life. The connection between a change in language and a change in public relations. A brilliant application of this method can be found in

F. Engels "Frankish Dialect" 1 , where, having analyzed the movement of consonant letters in cognate words, he established the boundaries of German dialects and drew conclusions about the nature of the migration of tribes.

A variation is toponymic analysis - geographical names. Anthroponymic analysis - name-formation and name-creativity.

Content analysis- a method of quantitative processing of large arrays of documents, developed in American sociology. Its application makes it possible to identify the frequency of occurrence in the text of characteristics that are of interest to the researcher. Based on them, one can judge the intentions of the author of the text and the possible reactions of the addressee. The units are a word or a theme (expressed through modifier words). Content analysis involves at least 3 stages of research:

splitting the text into semantic units;
counting the frequency of their use;
interpretation of the results of text analysis.

Content analysis can be used in the analysis of periodical

press, questionnaires, complaints, personal (judicial, etc.) files, biographies, census sheets or lists in order to identify any trends by counting the frequency of recurring characteristics.

In particular, D.A. Gutnov applied the method of content analysis in the analysis of one of the works of P.N. Milyukov. The researcher identified the most common text units in the famous "Essays on the History of Russian Culture" by P.N. Milyukov, constructing graphics based on them. Recently, statistical methods have been actively used to construct collective portrait historians of the post-war generation.

Media analysis algorithm:

1) the degree of objectivity of the source;
2) the number and volume of publications (dynamics by years, percentage);
3) authors of the publication (readers, journalists, military, political workers, etc.);
4) the frequency of occurring value judgments;
5) the tone of publications (neutral informational, panegyric, positive, critical, negatively emotionally colored);
6) the frequency of use of artistic, graphic and photographic materials (photographs, cartoons);
7) ideological goals of the publication;
8) dominant themes.

Semiotics(from Greek - sign) - method of structural analysis sign systems, the discipline concerned with the comparative study of sign systems.

The foundations of semiotics were developed in the early 1960s. in the USSR Yu.M. Lotman, V.A. Uspensky, B.A. Uspensky, Yu.I. Levin, B.M. Gasparov, who founded the Moscow-Tartus semiotic school. A history and semiotics laboratory was opened at the University of Tartu, which was active until the early 1990s. Lotman's ideas have found application in linguistics, philology, cybernetics, information systems, art theory, etc. The starting point of semiotics is the notion that the text is a space in which the semiotic character literary work implemented as an artifact. For the semiotic analysis of a historical source, it is necessary to reconstruct the code used by the creator of the text and establish their correlation with the codes used by the researcher. The problem is that the fact conveyed by the author of the source is the result of choosing from the mass of surrounding events an event that, in his opinion, has a meaning. The use of this technique is effective in the analysis of various rituals: from household to state 1 . As an example of the application of the semiotic method, one can cite the study of Lotman Yu.M. “Conversations about Russian culture. Life and traditions of the Russian nobility (XVIII - early XIX centuries)", in which the author considers such significant rituals of noble life as a ball, matchmaking, marriage, divorce, duel, Russian dandyism, etc.

Modern research uses methods such as: method of discursive analysis(analysis of text phrases and its vocabulary through discursive markers); dense description method(not a simple description, but an interpretation of various interpretations of ordinary events); narrative story method"(consideration of familiar things as incomprehensible, unknown); case study method (study of a unique object or extreme event).

The rapid penetration of interview materials into historical research as a source led to the formation of Oral History. Working with interview texts required historians to develop new methods.

construction method. It lies in the fact that the researcher is working on the possible more autobiographies from the point of view of the problem he studied. Reading autobiographies, the researcher gives them a certain interpretation, based on some general scientific theory. The elements of autobiographical descriptions become for him "bricks" from which he constructs a picture of the phenomena under study. Autobiographies provide facts for building a general picture, which are related to each other according to the consequences or hypotheses that follow from the general theory.

Method of examples (illustrative). This method is a variation of the previous one. It consists in illustrating and confirming certain theses or hypotheses with examples selected from autobiographies. Using the method of illustrations, the researcher looks for confirmation of his ideas in them.

Typological analysis- is to identify certain types personalities, behaviors, schemes and patterns of life in the studied social groups Oh. To do this, autobiographical material is subjected to a certain cataloging and classification, usually with the help of theoretical concepts, and all the richness of reality described in biographies is reduced to several types.

Statistical processing. This type of analysis is aimed at establishing the dependence various characteristics authors of autobiographies and their positions and aspirations, as well as the dependence of these characteristics on various properties of social groups. Such measurements are useful, in particular, in cases where the researcher compares the results of the study of autobiographies with the results obtained by other methods.

Methods used in local studies:

excursion method: departure to the studied area, acquaintance with architecture, landscape. Locus - a place - is not a territory, but a community of people engaged in a specific activity, united by a connecting factor. In the original sense, a tour is scientific lecture, bearing a motor (mobile) character, in which the element of literature is reduced to a minimum. The main place in it is occupied by the sensations of the excursionist, and the information is commentary;
the method of complete immersion in the past involves a long stay in the region in order to penetrate the atmosphere of the place and better understand the people inhabiting it. This approach is very close in terms of views to the psychological hermeneutics of W. Dilthey. It is possible to reveal the individuality of the city as an integral organism, to reveal its core, to determine the realities of the current state. On the basis of this, a whole state is formed (the term was introduced by the local historian N.P. Antsiferov).
identification of "cultural nests". It is based on a principle put forward in the 1920s. N.K. Piksanov about the relationship between the capital and the province in the history of Russian spiritual culture. In a generalizing article by E.I. Dsrgacheva-Skop and V.N. Alekseev, the concept of "cultural nest" was defined as "a way of describing the interaction of all directions cultural life provinces in their heyday...". Structural parts of the "cultural nest": landscape and cultural environment, economic, social system, culture. Provincial "nests" influence the capital through "cultural heroes" - bright personalities, leaders acting as innovators (urban planner, book publisher, innovator in medicine or pedagogy, philanthropist or philanthropist);
topographic anatomy- research through names that are carriers of information about the life of the city;
anthropogeography - the study of the prehistory of the place where the object is located; logic line analysis: place - city - community 3 .

Methods used in historical and psychological research.

Method psychological analysis or a comparative psychological method is a comparative approach from identifying the reasons that prompted an individual to certain actions, to the psychology of entire social groups and the masses as a whole. To understand the individual motives of a particular position of a person, it is not enough traditional characteristics. It is required to identify the specifics of thinking and the moral and psychological character of a person, which determine

which determined the perception of reality and determined the views and activities of the individual. The study affects the psychology of all parties historical process, general group characteristics and individual characteristics are compared.

Method of socio-psychological interpretation - suggests a description psychological characteristics in order to identify the socio-psychological conditionality of people's behavior.

The method of psychological design (experiencing) - interpretation of historical texts through recreation inner world their author, penetration into the historical atmosphere in which they were.

For example, Senyavskaya E.S. proposed this method for studying the image of the enemy in the conditions of a "boundary situation" (the term of Heidegger M., Jaspers K.), meaning by it the restoration of certain historical types behavior, thinking and perception 1 .

Researcher M. Hastings, while writing the book "Overlord", tried to mentally make a jump at that distant time, even took part in the teachings of the English Navy.

Methods used in archaeological research: magnetic exploration, radioisotope and thermoluminescent dating, spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray spectral analysis, etc. Knowledge of anatomy (Gerasimov's method) is used to recreate the appearance of a person from bone remains. Girts Prince. "Intense Description": In Search of an Interpretive Theory of Culture // Anthology of Cultural Studies. TL. Interpretations of culture. SPb., 1997. pp. 171-203. Schmidt S.O. Historical local history: questions of teaching and studying. Tver, 1991; Gamayunov S.A. local history: problems of methodology // Questions of history. M., 1996. No. 9. S. 158-163.

2 Senyavskaya E.S. The history of the wars of Russia of the XX century in the human dimension. Problems of military-historical anthropology and psychology. M., 2012.S. 22.

Anthology of Cultural Studies. TL. Interpretations of culture. SPb., 1997. pp. 499-535, 603-653; Levi-Strauss K. Structural Anthropology. M., 1985; Guide to the methodology of cultural and anthropological research / Comp. E.A.Orlova. M., 1991.