Leicester Chronicler

Tempus omnia revelat
Time reveals all


Listening to the historic heartbeat of the City of Leicester and its environs in the English East Midlands

A reflection of past and present thoughts and aspirations

 

Oral testimony in historical research

 

Knowing about the past enables us to understand more fully and clearly the present. Oral History (or 'oral testimony') was the original means by which a race, tribe or community passed on the essential stories of its history to new generations in order to preserve its identity for the future.

Oral History is unique amongst the sources of information available to local historians because it depends upon a technology of the 20th century, namely the recording of the human voice.

Here are some guidelines to enable you to record the past with real effectiveness.

 

Crowds with former Bishop of Leicester

 

Oral History is a spoken, not a written, form of testimony. It is not a new form of research. Historians from as early as Roman times have recognised its value.  Similarly, the collection of oral data is not new, but the easy availability of modern technology in the form of simple to operate recording devices has revolutionised it.

More recently Oral History has been encouraged greatly by the `new' universities of the 1960's which were looking for `history from below' approaches which they could promote.

 

Old picture of tape recorder and listener

 


 Recording Devices

We have deliberately avoided using the term `tape recorders'.  Audio-cassette recorders may still be the most widely-used form of recording device, but other options include minidisk, Digital Audio Tape and a range of other digital recording devices using memory cards. The more advanced media will enable you to edit your recording without time-consuming copying. Minidisk equipment allows you to label digitally each recording whilst you are still on location.

At the present time, the most useful devices are `hard disc recorders' which  record onto a memory or flash card. Improvements in manufacture has meant that these cards can now hold a remarkable amount of data, and this can be transferred easily to a PC for editing and cataloguing. 

The guiding principle is to use the best equipment you can acquire, and the equipment you are most familiar with. Do not pay more attention to the recording device than to the interviewee. Make sure you are totally familiar with how your device works before setting out.
 

 

Your Plan of Attack


Find the right people. If you researching a specific period or location, then seek those who have had direct contact with your subject.   

Decide carefully the limits of your research and don't be tempted to stray beyond those lines.

Advertise in the right place to obtain enough subjects to talk to.

Make use of existing records in order to save time. These may include, for instance, the personnel records of a factory or the archives of a local newspaper.

Organise a preliminary interview in each subject's own environment.  People talk more openly and easily if they are relaxed and comfortable and in familiar surroundings. DON'T take a recording device on this first visit. Use the occasion to assess the scope of the interview and value of potential material.

During a research period prepare an interview schedule. Organise background reading so that the right questions can be asked. Prepare a running order rather than a rigid questionnaire.

Use some visual prompts if appropriate.  People will often remember more, and talk more fluently if they are holding an object or artefact relevant to their experiences.

Conduct the interview in the respondent's own home and use the best recording device available to you (but one you can use easily, because concentrating on a machine you are not familiar with can be very distracting). 

Give thought to the environment acoustically in order to achieve a clear recording.  The clearest recording will be achieved in a `dead' acoustic where this is little resonance or echo.  Look for a furnished room with carpets and curtains and work close to your interviewee in order to reject as much background sound as possible.

 

Waveform - Graphical image

 

How you should behave

Try to adopt a stance of informed naivety.  Don't impose your own opinions or knowledge. Run the interview for as long or as short a time as the material requires.  Look for any supplementary documentary material (photographs, documents etc) before leaving. These may help you to understand some of the comments recorded.

Following up 

Afterwards draw up a summary sheet for quick reference to what is on your recording.  Later, create a written transcript and an index.  Do this while the interview is still fresh in your memory.

 

Countryside landscape

 

 Using Oral History 

Oral History is the major source for providing the details of life affecting ordinary people, offering facts which are not normally written down.  It gives information on matters not normally discussed in printed sources when no records were maintained such as the unemployed workers movement in 1930's, for instance.  It is invaluable for the preservation of dialect. Some of the by-products of Oral History recording include artefacts and how they work and their uses.

Many oral history projects have been set up with different approaches and different goals.  It has also proved to be a very effective educational tool, and has begun to make big breakthroughs in museums. It can be extremely therapeutic to respondents.

It is always preferable to aim for a structured interview in order to make the material useful and valuable for future listeners.

Dangers

The most likely danger in terms of the validity of the material you will record are the obvious difficulties in the reliance on oral testimony caused by the age and attitude of those of older years.  Respondents can sometimes mix up memories, and elements of dishonesty and prejudice can obviously occur.  Cross-referencing of testimonies can clarify matters but oral testimony is personal, intimate and individualistic.

 
 

 

Compiled with the assistance of guiding notes from Dr David Marcombe
University of Nottingham

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© Stephen Butt 2004 Rev July 2006