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Description
This programme is the eleventh in the third level Social Sciences Course 'Historical Data and the Social Sciences'. It is the concluding programme of a block of four, the first three of which consi...dered the reminiscences, attitudes and roles of those who employed domestic servants and those who worked as domestic servants. Its chief concern is to look at the techniques employed in oral history. How far is memory a 'source' of history? To what extent can it be validated by written records? What are the techniques and methods best employed by the oral historian/interviewer? There are illustrations from the previous programmes which are discussed to illuminate these areas by Professor Theo Barker of the University of Kent and Dr. Paul Thompson of the University of Essex. The discussion is chaired by Professor Michael Drake of the Open University.
This programme is the eleventh in the third level Social Sciences Course 'Historical Data and the Social Sciences'. It is the concluding programme of a block of four, the first three of which consi...dered the reminiscences, attitudes and roles of those who employed domestic servants and those who worked as domestic servants. Its chief concern is to look at the techniques employed in oral history. How far is memory a 'source' of history? To what extent can it be validated by written records? What are the techniques and methods best employed by the oral historian/interviewer? There are illustrations from the previous programmes which are discussed to illuminate these areas by Professor Theo Barker of the University of Kent and Dr. Paul Thompson of the University of Essex. The discussion is chaired by Professor Michael Drake of the Open University.
| Module code and title: | D301, Historical sources and the social scientist |
|---|---|
| Item code: | D301; 11 |
| First transmission date: | 02-10-1974 |
| Published: | 1974 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:17 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | C. Cuthbertson |
| Contributors: | Michael Drake; Theo Barker; Paul Thompson; Anne Lummis; Lucy McClelland |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Historical sources; Social science |
| Footage description: | Drake introduces the programme which will use TV9 and 10 to investigate the techniques of oral history. Anne Lummis describes conditions at her first service job - clip from TV9. Lucy McClelland lists the servants at Hatfield House - clip from TV 10. Barker, Thompson and Drake discuss what can be drawn from the interviews, the comparisons etc. Short clip from TV9 in which Lummis shows the problems of recall is discussed. A clip from TV10 with Lucy McClelland is used to show how the interviewer has to be careful in extracting his information. Another clip from TV10 again shows how the interviewer by careful questioning can get categorical answers qualified. Barker comments on the need to wed oral information with more traditional information, where this is possible. Matching oral sources with literary sources is again stressed. Drake, Barker and Thompson then sum up on the advantages and disadvantages of the oral history approach. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/71561 |
| Production number: | 00525_2138 |
| Videofinder number: | 180 |
| Available to public: | no |
