Editing Oral history (section)

== Pros and cons ==
When using oral history as a source material, several caveats exist. The person being interviewed may not accurately recall factual information such as names or dates, and they may exaggerate. To avoid this, interviewers can do thorough research prior to the interview and formulate questions for the purpose of clarification. There also exists a pre-conceived notion that oral history is less reliable than written records. Written source materials are different in the execution of information, and that they may have additional sources. Oral sources identify intangibles such as atmosphere, insights into character, and clarifications to points made briefly in print. Oral history can also indicate lifestyle, dialect and terminology, and customs that may no longer be prominent. Oral history can be used academically to trigger independent contextualisation and independent research regarding views expressed by interviewees.<ref>Moss, Joanne "Critical perspectives: North Sea offshore wind farms.: Oral histories, aesthetics and selected legal frameworks relating to the North Sea." (2021) https://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1611092/FULLTEXT01.pdf Retrieved 2 October 2023</ref> Successful oral history enhances its written counterpart.<ref>Pfaff, E. ''Oral History''. Wilson Library Bulletin; May 1980, Vol. 54, p568-571.</ref>

Other concerns that scholars point to include the fact that the data collected in the form of oral histories is difficult to quantify, can reflect the researchers’ biases towards their object of study, and are open to many interpretations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grim |first=Valerie |date=1 April 1995 |title=Integrating Oral History into The Classroom Curriculum |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.33043/th.20.1.3-19 |journal=Teaching History: A Journal of Methods |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=3–19 |doi=10.33043/th.20.1.3-19 |issn=2766-6174 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

In addition, older male speakers from rural communities who have spent their whole life there and who usually did not continue education past age 14 are proportionally overrepresented in some oral history material.<ref name="Wagner 2004">{{cite thesis |title=Gender in English pronouns: Myth and reality |author=Susanne Wagner |url=http://www.freidok.uni-freiburg.de/volltexte/1412/pdf/Diss_Freidok.pdf |date=22 July 2004 |publisher=[[Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg|Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg]] | type=Doctoral thesis}}</ref>