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    The Difference Between Primary vs. Secondary Sources

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    techie121
    Primary sources are original materials that were created during the time period being studied and provide first-hand accounts of events. Secondary sources are materials created later that analyze and interpret primary sources. Examples of primary sources include interviews, statistics, diaries, and original works of art or literature. Secondary sources include textbooks, biographies, and scholarly articles that synthesize information from primary research. It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between primary and secondary sources, as the definitions depend on context and academic discipline.

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    The Difference Between Primary vs. Secondary Sources

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    techie121
    391 views3 pages
    Primary sources are original materials that were created during the time period being studied and provide first-hand accounts of events. Secondary sources are materials created later that analyze and interpret primary sources. Examples of primary sources include interviews, statistics, diaries, and original works of art or literature. Secondary sources include textbooks, biographies, and scholarly articles that synthesize information from primary research. It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between primary and secondary sources, as the definitions depend on context and academic discipline.

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    Primary sources are original materials that were created during the time period being studied and provide first-hand accounts of events. Secondary sources are materials created later that analyze and interpret primary sources. Examples of primary sources include interviews, statistics, diaries, and original works of art or literature. Secondary sources include textbooks, biographies, and scholarly articles that synthesize information from primary research. It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between primary and secondary sources, as the definitions depend on context and academic discipline.

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    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    391 views3 pages

    The Difference Between Primary vs. Secondary Sources

    Uploaded by

    techie121
    Primary sources are original materials that were created during the time period being studied and provide first-hand accounts of events. Secondary sources are materials created later that analyze and interpret primary sources. Examples of primary sources include interviews, statistics, diaries, and original works of art or literature. Secondary sources include textbooks, biographies, and scholarly articles that synthesize information from primary research. It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between primary and secondary sources, as the definitions depend on context and academic discipline.

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    The Difference Between Primary vs.

    Secondary Sources You're writing a research paper on the homeless problem in your town or city. Which of the following sources would be a primary source for you and which a secondary? 1. A report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: "Drifting Apart: New Findings on Growing Income Disparities Between the Rich, the Poor, and the Middle Class," 1990 Primary Source 2. Secondary Source An interview with two homeless persons in your town. Primary Source 3. Secondary Source A book entitled The Undeserving Poor: From the War on Poverty to the War on Welfare by Michael Katz, 1989. Primary Source 4. Secondary Source An article entitled "The Culture of Poverty" in On Understanding Poverty: Perspectives from the Social Sciences. Primary Source 5. Secondary Source An interview with a sociology professor who teaches a course that explores the homeless problem. Primary Source 6. Secondary Source A book by Karl Marx entitled Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, 1887. Primary Source 7. Secondary Source Statistics on the number of homeless in New York State from the State Census Office Primary Source 8. Secondary Source An interview with the head of a homeless shelter. Primary Source Secondary Source ANSWERS: Numbers 2, 7, and 8 (interview with homeless persons, statistics on homelessness in NYS from the Census Office, interview with the head of a homeless shelter) are primary sources because these sources have firsthand knowledge of or raw data on your topic. Numbers 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are all sources that have analyzed and interpreted data from primary sources. DEFINITION: Primary sources are evidence written or created during the period under investigation. (Furay and Salevouris, 144). They are not commentary about your topic, but are the topic you are commenting about.

    Secondary sources are created by scholars who interpret the past through the examination of primary sources and the research of others. They are typically the commentary about your topic. EXPLANATION: Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close as possible to what actually happened during an historical event or time period. Primary sources can be diaries, letters, autobiographies, manuscripts, photographs, speeches, interviews, artifacts, government documents, newspapers, maps, census data, statistics, business records, court records, and original compositions, poetry, and artwork. Remember that because primary sources are often firsthand accounts that reflect the viewpoint and memory of a participant or observer, the information may be biased or skewed. Secondary sources are usually written some time after an event has taken place. They are created by authors who have examined a subject and have drawn certain conclusions about it. Though the information is not firsthand, secondary sources are important because research, by necessity, is built upon the work of other scholars. Encyclopedias, dictionaries, biographies, textbooks, and scholarly books and journal articles are examples of secondary sources. As with primary sources, many secondary sources are also subjective and contain bias. It is not always easy to determine if a source is primary or secondary according to the definitions provided. The definition may vary depending upon the academic discipline and the context in which it is used. For example, a newspaper account of an event right after it happens is primary, while a newspaper article about the fiftieth anniversary of that event is secondary. The transcript of an oral interview transcribed twenty years after the actual interview took place is primary. An American history textbook is a secondary source, but a reprint of the United States Constitution included in the back of that textbook is primary. EXAMPLES:

    Subject Art Business History Legal Studies Literature Political Science Science

    Primary Source original painting company's monthly financial report diary of a civil war soldier transcipt of a court decision novel Treaty of Versailles biological field notes

    Secondary Source biography of an artist article about inflation book about the Civil War legal treatise critical review of a novel essay about the end of World War I biology textbook

    RELATED SOURCES: Here are some related resources that you can use if you'd like to learn more about this particular topic. Library Research Using Primary Sources UC Berkeley Library: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/PrimarySources.html Reading, Writing, and Researching for History Bowdoin College History Dept.: http://academic.bowdoin.edu/WritingGuides/ Using Primary Sources on the Web University of Washington: http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/History/RUSA/ Yale University Library Primary Sources Research: http://www.library.yale.edu/ref/err/primsrcs.htm

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