Historical research: process, problems and pitfalls.

Abstract

Nurse researchers have developed a range of approaches to increase knowledge. In this article, the increasingly influential approach of historical research is described to illustrate the processes and skills involved, and stimulate interest in the study of nursing history. The authors describe the process in the context of a study reported in Nursing Standard (vol 13, no 26) of the impact of pneumoconiosis on miners in South Wales (Howells 1997, Howells and Rees 1999).