Thinking Like a Historian: Cause, Change and Significance
The four second-order concepts historians use to analyse the past: cause and consequence, change and continuity, significance, and similarity and difference, and how to apply them in an answer.
Use it, the way the marks are given
Free interactive practice at using the material, which is what the marks are for.
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Thinking like a historian
History is far more than a list of dates and facts. What examiners reward most is the ability to think about the past the way a historian does, using a small set of powerful ideas called second-order concepts. There are four to master. Cause and consequence asks why an event happened and what resulted from it. Change and continuity asks what became different over a period and what stayed the same. Significance asks how important an event or person really was, both at the time and afterwards. Similarity and difference asks how experiences or situations compared. These concepts transfer to every topic you study, so learning to use them is worth more than memorising any single fact. This module explains each concept and shows how to apply it to build a strong, analytical answer.
Words for the past
Learn what each of these means before you use it.
Change against continuity
Studying a period means noticing both what shifted and what held steady, because the two sit side by side.
How to build an answer
A strong History answer follows a shape rather than retelling the story. First read the question and spot which concept it is testing, because the wording gives it away. Next select the pieces of evidence that actually bear on that concept, leaving out anything that does not. Then explain how each piece of evidence answers the question, rather than just describing it. Finally reach a clear judgement that follows from what you have argued. A weak answer narrates events in order. A strong answer keeps returning to the concept in the question and uses evidence to support every claim, ending with a decision that the evidence has earned.
Match the concept to its question
- cause and consequence
- change and continuity
- significance
- similarity and difference
- why did it happen and what resulted from it
- what became different and what stayed the same
- how important was this event or person
- how were these experiences alike and unalike
Which concept is tested?
A question asks you to weigh up how far life for ordinary people became different across a period, and how much of it stayed the same. Which second-order concept is being tested?
- change and continuity
- cause and consequence
- significance
- similarity and difference
Judging significance
Select the TWO questions that help you judge how significant an event was.
- Did it affect many people at the time
- Did it have long-lasting results
- What was the weather like that day
- How do you spell the name of the leader
How many concepts left?
This module covers 4 second-order concepts: cause and consequence, change and continuity, significance, and similarity and difference. So far you have revised just 1 of them. Subtract to find how many you still have to revise.
Order the cause and consequence chain
Put the parts of a cause-and-consequence chain in a sensible order.
- A long-term cause builds up over many years
- A short-term trigger sparks the event
- The event itself takes place
- A consequence follows and changes things afterwards
Complete the historian facts
The reasons an event happened are its _____, and the results that follow are its _____. When you study what became different and what stayed the same over a period, you are studying change and _____. Judging how important an event was, both at the time and later, means judging its _____.
Match the concept to its example
- change and continuity
- cause and consequence
- significance
- similarity and difference
- life for workers before and after the Industrial Revolution
- the long-term and short-term causes of the First World War
- why the invention of the printing press still matters today
- how the experiences of two groups compared in the same period
Spot the true history facts
Tap the TWO statements that are true.
- A consequence is a result that follows from an event
- Significance is about how important an event was, at the time and later
- Continuity means everything about the past changed completely
- Cause and consequence means listing dates with no explanation
Choose the approach
Read each question and choose the best approach, then think about why.
- A question asks how far the lives of ordinary workers changed during the Industrial Revolution. Which concept should shape your answer?
- A question asks you to explain why a war broke out. What makes the strongest answer?
- A question asks how significant a new invention was. What best shows its significance?
Explain thinking like a historian
A friend is revising History but keeps only memorising dates. Explain what the second-order concepts are and how a historian uses them to analyse the past.
- Explain what is meant by cause and consequence
- Explain the difference between change and continuity
- Explain what makes an event significant
- Explain what similarity and difference lets a historian compare
- Finish by explaining why using these concepts is better than just listing dates