Scope

Contextualization

Contextualization is the process of interpreting evidence within the relevant historical circumstances surrounding it, such as its time period, location, social setting, intended audience, and surrounding material, rather than treating it as an isolated statement or fact.

Genre Criticism

Genre criticism is the evaluation of how a source's literary or communicative genre affects what kind of evidence it provides. A law, satire, speech, moral prescription, historical narrative, or other genre may have different purposes and therefore cannot automatically be interpreted in the same way.

Evidence Scope

Evidence scope is the range of people, places, time periods, or circumstances that a piece of evidence can reasonably describe. Evidence concerning one group, location, or period does not automatically establish the same conclusion for a broader population, region, or era.

Representativeness

Representativeness is the degree to which a source, example, or observation reflects the larger population or phenomenon being described. Evidence from a particular individual or subgroup cannot automatically be treated as representative of an entire society or historical period.

Anachronism

The mistake of interpreting a historical person, event, institution, or source using concepts, categories, assumptions, or meanings that belong to a different time period in a way that distorts the historical evidence

Source Bias

The tendency of a source to reflect the perspectives, interests, purposes, social position, or circumstances of its creator. Bias does not automatically make a source useless, but it affects what the source can reliably tell us and how its claims should be interpreted.

Semantic and Translation Analysis

The examination of how word meanings, semantic range, translation choices, and author-specific usage affect the interpretation of a text. A translated word may not map perfectly onto a modern term, so conclusions should be based on the meaning that best fits the original linguistic and historical context.