9HI0/04 - Research planning, sources and the resource record

The Coursework Research Frame

Edexcel coursework is a single independently researched historical enquiry. It is marked out of 40 and assesses AO3 and AO1: your ability to analyse and evaluate historians' interpretations, and to organise and communicate historical knowledge in a substantiated argument. It is not an examined-paper essay, and it is not a primary-source utility question.

The coursework task asks you to form a critical view on a question, problem or issue about which historians have disagreed. Your answer must refer to three chosen works, analyse how their interpretations differ, explain why those differences exist, and evaluate which arguments are most persuasive. The research stage therefore has two jobs at once:

This topic sits between choosing the enquiry and writing the final argument. By this stage, you should already have a centre-set or centre-approved coursework question. Your task now is to turn that question into a research plan. The plan should prevent two common failures: reading randomly without knowing what you are looking for, and deciding your answer first before searching for works that appear to support it.

A useful research sequence looks like this:

The important word is sequence. The resource record is not a form to complete after the essay is done. It is a research diary with assessment value. It should show that you considered several possible works, narrowed them for reasons connected to the question, and understood how the final three differ.

Planning the Search

A good research plan begins by breaking the enquiry into searchable parts. Because coursework questions vary by centre and student, the exact topic is not the point here. The method is the point.

Start with four planning questions:

These answers produce better search terms. Searching only the full essay title often gives weak results. Instead, combine terms in pairs or triples: the person or event plus a concept; the period plus "historiography"; the issue plus "debate"; the policy plus "interpretation"; the place plus a historian's name found in a bibliography. As you read, your search terms should become more precise. Early searches may identify a broad field; later searches should identify specific arguments within that field.

Use a layered search strategy:

Do not confuse the layers. A textbook can orient you, but Pearson guidance says a school textbook that distils historians' views is not one of the three main historians' works. A primary source can help you understand evidence, but the coursework is not assessed on AO2 and it cannot replace analysis of historians' interpretations. A website can be useful for access or context, but a search engine result is not a source.

The first longlist should be deliberately wider than the final choice. A practical target is to identify at least five to six historians' works before narrowing to the three main works. That does not mean reading every book cover to cover before making any decision. It means sampling intelligently enough to know what each work argues and whether it is relevant to your question.

Early notes should separate three things:

This protects you from retrospective source-filling. Retrospective source-filling happens when a student drafts an argument first, then searches backwards for sources that can be made to fit it, and finally fills in a resource record as if the reading led the argument. It is weak historically because it encourages cherry-picking. It is risky administratively because the resource record may not show a genuine enquiry process.

Collecting Substantial Historians' Works

Pearson's requirement is specific. In the assignment, you must refer to three works relevant to the chosen question, problem or issue. These works should be substantial enough to support the assignment, and Pearson recommends works of article or chapter length. They must be created by historians, each main work must be by a different historian, and the three together must contain a range of views or emphases that can be compared and judged.

This is more demanding than "find three books". A whole book may be too large to handle well in 3,000-4,000 words. A single chapter may be better if it contains a clear argument. A journal article may be ideal if it is focused and scholarly. A television documentary or audio-visual work may be usable only if it is created by a historian and presents a distinct historical interpretation; it still has to give you enough argument to analyse. A school textbook, a revision guide, an encyclopaedia entry or a general webpage may help orientation but should not be treated as one of the three main works.

Use this decision table when judging possible main works:

The final three should create a debate, not a shouting match. They do not have to be polar opposites. In serious history, differences are often matters of emphasis: one historian gives more weight to ideology, another to economic conditions, another to political leadership, another to local experience, another to long-term structures. The key is that the differences must be substantial enough for valid comparison and judgement.

Supplementary reading has a different role. Pearson requires at least two further works beyond the three main works. These help you form your own view, understand context, test claims, choose the final three, and evaluate arguments. Supplementary reading may include other historians' works, primary-source collections, academic overviews, specialist reference works, review essays, or contextual material. It should still be logged. It is not "extra decoration"; it helps you avoid judging the three main works in a vacuum.

Think of your reading as a triangle:

You may use a teacher-provided resource bank if your centre provides one, but the bank must not do the selection for you. The point of a resource bank is access, not direction. If every student simply uses the same three works because the teacher or the bank implicitly tells them to, the independence of the selection is weakened. Even where two students end up choosing the same works, the resource record should show each student's own route through the reading and their own reasons for selection.