Knowra Source criticism Source criticism Source criticism evaluates sources for reliability, perspective, context, and evidential support. It examines how a source was produced and what claims it can substantiate.
Provenance : The documented origin, ownership, and history of an object, document, or record. Tracing a source’s origin and custody can expose gaps, alterations, or uncertain authorship.
Primary source : A source produced by a participant, witness, or institution connected to the subject under study. Its closeness to an event offers evidence, but does not guarantee accuracy.
Diplomatics : The study of documents’ form, production, transmission, and authenticity. Its analysis of documentary features helps establish whether records are genuine and how they were made.
Textual criticism : The study of textual variants and transmission to reconstruct or interpret a text. It focuses on how texts changed in transmission, while source criticism assesses broader evidential value.
External criticism : The examination of a source’s authenticity, date, authorship, and material form. It tests whether a source is genuine before its claims are interpreted.
Secondary source : A work that analyzes, interprets, or synthesizes evidence about a subject. Its arguments require assessment of both its evidence and its use of earlier research.
Paleography : The study of historical handwriting and scripts, including their development and decipherment. Reading a document’s script can help assess its date, origin, and transmission.
Fact-checking : The process of verifying the accuracy of specific factual claims against evidence. It tests claims directly; source criticism also examines origins, perspective, and context.
Internal criticism : The examination of a source’s meaning, credibility, perspective, and consistency. It tests what a source’s contents can support once its authenticity is considered.
Historical evidence : Information used to support claims about the past, drawn from documents, objects, testimony, or other traces. Criticism determines how far a source can function as evidence for a historical claim.
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