To deal with the development of Cold War history means to summarize a part of international debates. Nevertheless, the (West) German approach originally had much to do with Allied responsibility of the German question, meaning partition in two states and the possibilities of re-unification. This meant that Cold War history in most cases placed the German question in the centre of research. Only since the 1970s a broader approach not only to European and transatlantic aspects emerged, but also to the inclusion of a world wide view. This was accompanied by the reception and advancement of international methodological debates. Adapted from the source document.
Anyone glancing into a bookshop window in the Federal Republic of Germany today might get the impression that urban history is currently one of the most important and widely published historical disciplines. Such an impression would mislead, however. Most of these richly illustrated and expensively produced volumes have almost no academic significance. They are the product of a wave of nostalgia which certain astute publishers have managed to catch thanks to their unerring appreciation of market demand. For instance, a whole generation over the age of fifty wants to be reminded of the undamaged towns of its pre-war childhood. Post-war redevelopment, too, has had its effect, and the insecure citizens of our often featureless towns require a means of self-representation and identification. Demand for such publications has also been generated by the growing consciousness of the environment, which has made the expression 'Heimat' (heritage) respectable again, and strengthened the call for the conservation of a world rooted in the past. However, modern urban history is only just beginning to function as an independent specialism in the Federal Republic (and the same applies to its eastern neighbour). It has made gradual progress in the last few years, but even so, in comparison with the sustained and varied urban history research pursued in countries such as Britain and the United States of America, Germany is an underdeveloped country. In fact, theDeutsches Institut für Urbanistik(DIFU) acknowledged as much when, as recently as April 1980, it organized a review of the field. The Federal Republic's handful of specialists were invited to Berlin for a colloquium on 'Problems in the writing of urban history'. The aim of the conference was just as much to examine the current difficulties of urban history as to stimulate further research.
This article is devoted to systemizing the stages of online research development in Germany, based on analyzing the reports of the main German-language conference on online research (General online Research Conference). The article focuses on the thematic and methodical evolution of online research since 1995 till the present day, emphasizing the most popular methods and areas of science where using this type of research is widespread. The author describes the history of online research and identifies four stages of online research development in Germany: online research as a method (Stage 1); atomization of subject areas (Stage 2); technological development and methodological improvement (Stage 3); distribution of Big Data (Stage 4). The stages are arranged by year, with systemization based on the thematic and methodical orientation during a particular period. The author analyzes the features of each of the stages in terms of technological innovation. The transformation of traditional offline methods in web space is also considered in the article. Particular attention is paid to the fact that both Russian and German languages have no single conceptual apparatus, and use a very broad list of terms in their specialized literature. This was the motivation behind compiling a terminological thesaurus within this work.
Survey methodology in 1948 was practically unknown and by 1953 due to the influence of the Reactions Analysis Staff of the US High Commissioner in Germany has been growing to a point where a number of institutes such as Institute fuer Sozialforschung (Frankfurt/Main), Institute fuer Demoskopie (Allensbach/Bodensee) and Institute fur Sozialwissenschaften have been organized and doing research. It is suggested that better methodology could be used by German organizations, and that a greater effort be expended into micro-economic studies to better understand German economic revival; economic attitudes, toward saving, distribution of income, and income increase and/or decrease by types of families. L. P. Chall.
