[Social history, the nominative method, and the study of migration].

The aspiration to recover the daily experiences of ordinary people drove social historians to the use of the nominative method; but it was the personal computer that made the analysis of nominative data at all possible. The author conducted research on Spanish immigration in Buenos Aires on the basis of data collected from census manuscripts for Buenos Aires (1855 1869 1895); police files of suspected anarchists and membership records of voluntary association (railway workers union and several ethnic associations). Baptism and marriage records in Buenos Aires churches were used. Data were then checked with personal interviews. (EXCERPT) (SUMMARY IN ENG)