Read the passage carefully and answer the items based on it. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and the opinion of the author only. Historical analysis combines several levels of thinking and study, posing a question about the past, setting up the problem in a form intended to facilitate its solution, solving the problem, and verifying the solution or interpretation. Academic history relies on formal analysis, based on rational and systematic apprehension of relevant evidence. Yet such formal analysis can be seen as a subset of the broader category of interpretation, including responses to evidence that are impressionistic and informal rather than formal and logically structured. Indeed, the many genres of academic and popular history run the full gamut from logically systematic to impressionistic.
Historians come from a widely varying range of philosophical traditions, and the varying philosophies lead to quite different ways of posing questions and answers. The distinctions among philosophical principles sketched here help to show how it is that different analytical priorities arise on the main topics proposed for analysis; they also show how historians can rely on similar data yet come to different or conflicting conclusions. Nineteenth century philosophical outlooks remain central to the world-historical analysis: most notably the dialectics of G.W.F. Hegel and the materialism of Karl Marx. Another great nineteenth-century current of thought was positivism, elaborated by Auguste Comte and focusing on study through breaking large problems into small ones, seeking deterministic relationship within the smaller problems. Philosophies of structuralism and post modernism have developed in more recent times, rejecting the positivist separation of problems into discrete sub-problems and emphasizing interaction among aspects of a problem.
1. They are influenced by their philosophical beliefs in asking questions on the same data.
2. They apply different interpretations on the same data.
3. They go for the primary data and evidence.
4. They are influenced by the current political developments.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Analyzing Conflicting Historical Conclusions
This solution explains why historians might arrive at different or conflicting conclusions when studying the past, based on the provided passage. We will examine the author's reasoning and evaluate each option against the text.
Passage Interpretation on Historical Methods
The passage highlights that historical analysis involves asking questions, setting up problems, solving them, and verifying interpretations. While academic history often uses formal, rational analysis of evidence, the author notes that interpretation can also be impressionistic and informal. Different historical genres exist, ranging from highly systematic to impressionistic.
A crucial point made is that historians come from diverse philosophical traditions. These varying philosophical outlooks significantly influence how historians approach a subject, pose questions, and formulate answers. The passage explicitly states that these differing philosophical principles lead to varied analytical priorities and can result in historians using similar data but reaching different or conflicting conclusions.
Evaluating Option 1: Philosophical Influence
Option 1 states: They are influenced by their philosophical beliefs in asking questions on the same data.
The passage directly supports this. It mentions, "Historians come from a widely varying range of philosophical traditions, and the varying philosophies lead to quite different ways of posing questions and answers." This directly links philosophical beliefs to how questions are framed when analyzing the same historical data, contributing to divergent conclusions.
Therefore, this option is consistent with the author's explanation.
Evaluating Option 2: Interpretation Differences
Option 2 states: They apply different interpretations on the same data.
The passage also supports this. It states that formal analysis is a subset of interpretation, and interpretation can be "impressionistic and informal rather than formal and logically structured." Furthermore, it notes that historians "can rely on similar data yet come to different or conflicting conclusions." This implies that even with the same evidence ("similar data"), the way it is interpreted can lead to different outcomes.
Therefore, this option is also consistent with the author's explanation.
Evaluating Option 3: Data Reliance
Option 3 states: They go for the primary data and evidence.
The passage mentions that academic history relies on "relevant evidence" and that historians can rely on "similar data." However, it does not present the act of "going for primary data and evidence" as a cause for conflicting conclusions. In fact, the passage suggests that conflicting conclusions arise *despite* using similar data, due to differences in philosophy and interpretation.
Therefore, this option is not directly supported by the passage as a reason for conflicting conclusions.
Evaluating Option 4: Political Developments
Option 4 states: They are influenced by the current political developments.
The passage discusses historical philosophical traditions like dialectics, materialism, positivism, structuralism, and postmodernism. It focuses on their influence on historical analysis and conclusions. There is no mention in the passage of "current political developments" being a factor that causes historians to reach conflicting conclusions.
Therefore, this option is not supported by the passage.
Conclusion on Historians' Conclusions
Based on the author's points in the passage:
- Historians' diverse philosophical beliefs lead to different ways of posing questions about the same data.
- Historians can apply different interpretations to the same data, leading to varied conclusions.
Options 1 and 2 are directly supported by the text as reasons for conflicting conclusions among historians.
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