historical method

American  

noun

1. the process of establishing general facts and principles through attention to chronology and to the evolution or historical course of what is being studied.

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historical method British  

noun

1. a means of learning about something by considering its origins and development

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Etymology

Origin of historical method

First recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

And that's another reason why I admire Murray so much is that he was very true to the scientific method and the historical method of the Dictionary.

From Salon

Jenkins describes herself as “a prosecutor who is looking away from the historical method of punishment and incarceration,” an echo of Price and of Boudin.

From Washington Post

“Why not allow people a choice of reconstruction to show them that uncertainty is part of the historical method?”

From New York Times

But in history of science the issue of so-called Whig history is particularly vexed because it is used to censor any acknowledgement that there is progress in science, and so to entrench the equivalence postulate as a principle of historical method.

From Literature

“That’s not the way to work. It’s not a historical method.”

From New York Times