Personality and Family Folklore There Term Paper

Total Length: 681 words ( 2 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 2

Page 1 of 2

Indeed, using the family unit as a way to discover history also helps individuals, especially children and adolescents understand that history does not exist in a vacuum, but instead, is made up of events from real people and real events. This also tends to involve more family members and encourage stories and events from the past that may also spur memories and take on new meaning to show that each family has often made important contributions to historical processes.

While family folklore is an invaluable tool for personal research and often a springboard for further research, it is also important to understand that family research carries some inherent challenges for the professional scholar. Anytime behavior is observed, stories are told and recorded, or verbal histories are given, there is a chance for bias to creep in. This may come from the researcher, from the memory of the event, or simply the point-of-view and lack of some information on the part of the person telling the story or being interviewed.
For instance, if interviewing a family member about a specific time period; say the early 1950s and the subject of Senator Joe McCarthy and anti-communism; the point-of-view will depend on the manner in which the person being interviewed was impacted about the subject. Some people in some towns simply say a few newspaper headlines; some might have been involved in industries that had greater focus on the subject. Similarly, when interviewing a family member about a wartime event, or an era (Great Depression), one needs to understand and put into perspective the place of that historical event within the framework of the source's life. Vetting of sources, and using those sources, is incredibly important -- and just as one could not necessarily trust every secondary or internet source -- all have points-of-view that must be considered when doing research.

References Used

Kaupp, a. (1999-2000). Family Folklore in the Classroom. AnthroNotes. 21 (2): 13-19.

Author. (year). Chapter 7 -- Various Methods in Personality Assessment. In TITLE of

BOOK. City: Publisher,.....

Need Help Writing Your Essay?