Historical Research

    Historical research is the process of systematically examining past events to give an account of what has happened in the past. It is also defined as a type of secondary data analysis to determine past social attitudes and community structure and how they have changed over time. This historical method of study can be applied to all fields of study because of its both quantitative and qualitative variables can be used in the collection of historical information. Historical research is not just an accumulation of facts and dates or not even a description of past events. It is a flowing, dynamic account of past events which involves an interpretation of the events in an attempt to recapture the nuances, personalities and ideas that influenced these events. One of the main goals of historical research is to communicate and understand about past events.

There are some steps have to be followed before conducting a historical research to achieve a reliable resut

1.      The recognition of a historical problem or the identification of a need for certain historical knowledge.

2.      The gathering of as much relevant information about the problem or topic as possible.

3.       If appropriate, the forming of hypothesis that tentatively explain relationships between historical factors

4.      The rigorous collection and organizations of evidence and the verification of the authenticity and veracity of information and its sources

5.       The selection , organization  and analysis of the most pertinent collected evidence and the drawing of conclusion

6.      The recording of conclusion in a meaningful narrative.

The significance of Historical Research

1.       To uncover the unknown.

2.      To answer questions.

3.       To identify the relationship that the past has to the present.

4.      To record and evaluate the accomplishments of individuals, agencies or institutions.

5.      To assist in understanding the culture in which we live.

On the short film ' Open it'

Without unnecessary visuals he gave the essence. Short and intense. Hard to believe the location was Chennai. The way the same man who gave shawl and shelter to Shakina was part of the group that murdered her dignity. I truly appreciate the way the young director told the story and that too with the father as an important character. Seen the same theme at many places, but this touched like nothing else.

When can we start living?

I know ‘open it’ is not going to let me sleep easily today. Saw the short film in the PU film festival. All the time I try to make myself believe to be safe, secure and free and when at times echoes the feelings of male friends how privileged girls are, again the truth hits me hard as various instances that I’m hoodwinking myself. I am not secure nor are my sisters, my friends or our mothers. With various conflicts and issues surrounding us, a reason enough for the wolfish eyes to engulf our self respect, am I safe at my own home...are you safe…Your sister…is she safe?
I don’t know much detail about the film except it was directed by Prince. But it spoke to my heart. My mind was shrieking out loud…protesting. I want to be safe; I want all girls to be safe…Is there someone out there who can guarantee that...I don’t want acts and rights that compensate my self-respect with money… I need a weapon sharp enough to cut the fingers that rise against the basic right of dignity of an individual. I want to live not just breathe.

How do we establish 'knowlege' ?

For better communication KNOWLADGE is a very important aspect which influences people/society. And for better knowledge on any issue, research is necessary. Firstly we should think what knowledge is, how it does build or does create and where it has existence.

Knowledge is virtue. It is philosophical aspect but in other hand we can say that it is like awareness. E.g. if someone ask to anyone of he has knowledge about anything, mostly it means whether he is aware about the know-how of that particular thing or not.

 Social life is associated with ‘mutual faith’, ’assumptions’ and ‘believe’. If any issue is going on to influence the people it adds to ‘experiences’ which may be common or different among the society. Through that a general ‘opinion’ comes out and to prove the opinion we need some facts. For this ‘research’ finding out opinions are necessary. Research can be scientific or psychological or both together. That proof/fact establishes ‘knowledge’ about particular experience/opinion.

    Hypothesis (experience/opinion/faith/believe/assumption) – research – fact/proof – knowledge

Now, it is very important that research should be ‘methodological’. It should be in majority and according to sufficient time duration to get more effective and relevant facts to prove the existence of knowledge. Because research helps to proof any thought (hypothesis). It can also establish new facts which help to make better environment/society.

e.g. - If it is common opinion among the people that more consumption of ice cream helps to lose weight. For this we can do a pre-test on what is the present condition of 20 people. Ice cream must be provided to them every day for one month in their normal physical condition and after every week their physical condition should be tested and the differences noted down. During this research, it is very important to control external inflective factors like their health. After one month research, final test and compare the facts with pre-test’s facts.

Then the hypothesis can be knowledge on basis of facts through research. Method of research can be changed according to hypothesis condition. E.g. some can be based on questionnaire; some can be based on watching their physical activities.

                                                                                                                   Nitesh

Knowledge Vs Information

From all the topics we have discussed so far in class, here is what I would like to discuss. What is knowledge? Knowledge is word we have been using from our childhood, but when asked to define we find it hard. It could be because of the vastness of its meaning or because we actually never gave it a thought. One think I have understood so far in research is that we are going to be defining a lot of words that we hear in our day to day life.

 Dictionary.com defines knowledge as:

• Acquiantance with facts, truths, or principles, as from study or investigation; general erudition: Knowledge of many things.
• Familiarity or conversance, as with a particular subject or branch of learning: A knowledge of accounting was necessary for the job.
• Acquaintance or familiarity gained by sight, experience, or report: a knowledge of human nature.
• The fact or state of knowing; the perception of fact or truth; clear and certain mental apprehension.
• Awareness, as of a fact or circumstance: He had knowledge of her good fortune.
  

Many of us confuse knowledge and information. We feel that its more or less the same. But they are completely different ideas. Information consists of facts and data organized to describe a particular situation or condition. But knowledge is used to understand what a particular situation means. Knowledge is applied to interpret the information about something and decide how to handle it.  I would like to put forward this topic for further discussion. What do you think is the difference between knowledge and information?

Raheena Abdurehim

Marxism and Media

According to Karl Marx, economy determines the social structure in any society. This theory when applied to media brings out the fact of oligarchy prevailing in the field. Media has become a culture industry with the content production done by a minority. Here the rich not the intellectuals fill the base and the superstructure is of labour class who receives the base-interpreted version of events.Democratic participation is less in such content manufacturing.

But Marxism no longer is based on such a single ideology, as Louis Althusser and Antonio Gramsci points out. Taking a different angle to Marx' socio-economic point of view, these Neo-Marxists say that no institution can exercise one single ideology on the entire mass. According to Althusser, State Apparatus also influence mass in shaping ideologies. Through the term State Apparatus which he himself coined, Althusser means those set-ups that are owned and controlled by the state. Each individual gets affected by the apparatus like family, school, media, religious institutes through out ones life, not just by the mass culture produced by mainsteam media. He comes to such a conclusion through the studies he underwent viewing the mass who receives the cultural industry products as heterogenous, not as ones with a common perspective of events. He argued that every persons' take on an event differs with respect to the socio-cultural background he's from. Constant ideological conflicts are hence prevailing in the society.

Antonio Gramsci went further, introducing a philosophical and sociological theory of Cultural Hegemony, that a culturally diverse society can be dominated by one social class by manipulating the social culture. In his view, this hegemony is the supremacy over the thought process not by force but through building up a constant rational arguement in support of an idea or perspective which convinces the mass gradually to accept it as the true version of event.