HIST 301: Methods & Writing (Xiao)

Think about what you know on the topics provided by your instructor that interest you and meet the requirements for this assignment. Look for terms in your notes and readings. Before committing to a topic, you should do some 'survey' research to be sure appropriate and sufficient resources are available. This is possible to do through the library catalog by searching for either a person or a topic. Doing this type of simple search reveal the range of material in both the primary and secondary categories.

You have a choice in your topic focus: 'Chinese in America' or 'Americans in China'. If one looks at the experience of Chinese immigrants, your desired primary sources will be through immigrants eyes and those concerned with them. The alternative is the experience of Americans as tourists, explorers, military, or missionaries in China and you will find primary materials will generally be written by members of these groups.

As an example, you are interested in the experience of American missionaries in China. A search in the catalog on missionar* (more about the asterick in class) and 'China' will retrieve a variety of titles, but in looking at them, you will see that not all are on the experience of American missionaries. Here are some of the subject headings found through this search:

• Stuart, John Leighton, 1876-1962 was a missionary in China, note the subject heading for a specific person is phrased in last name, first name order. This may be primary or secondary material.
  
• You also want related materials as you need to look at the culture and more that sets the stage for this person or event. Try other keyword searches and browse likely results to find the following:
  • Missionaries -- China -- Biography
  • Missions, American -- China -- Shansi Province
  • Missionaries -- United States -- Diaries
  • China -- Church History -- 19th Century
  • Baptists -- Missions -- China -- History

Historians rely heavily on primary documents in their research and you MUST use primary sources as your main research sources. For how to identify a primary document, check the Primary Sources tab. Following are some search ideas for primary source materials on the topic of missionaries in China:

• Diaries, letters and reports by missionaries
• Statistics and population maps 
• Newspaper editorials and reports (e.g., on treatment of missionaries in China)
• Films, broadsides and advertising media if your time period would include such (or paintings and other art for earlier periods)
• Church records are likely to be harder to come by as they are not published for wide distribution, but with some perseverance and help, you may be able to locate a rich source.