Trust and Distrust of Historical Census Sources in the Digital Age
History under Construction
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11204014 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lisa Dillon (0000-0003-1597-4839, Université de Montréal, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-26 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-27 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Science History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0145-5532 • E-ISSN: 1527-8034 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/ssh.2026.10130 |
| OpenAlex | W7141008828 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 73 |
This presidential address discusses the developing body of research on the quality and idiosyncrasies of historical data, focusing in particular on historical census microdata. I argue that greater attention to source criticism as a genuine subfield of social science history is essential for four reasons: to fully benefit from the expansion of big historical data, to imagine new ways to analyze historical data beyond the intentions of creators, to share insights with a wider range of scholars, and to contribute nuanced perspectives on historical data to public debates surrounding the use of these sources. I contend that historians outside social science history are vastly underestimating the creativity that is happening in our field. I also argue that social science historians are underestimating how important our work is to informing public discourse
Census · Comparative historical research · Criticism · Distrust · Happening · Presidential address · Public history · Quality (philosophy · Work (physics · Computational and Text Analysis Methods · Data Analysis and Archiving · Historical Economic and Social Studies
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |