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English 103 - Critical/Argumentative Writing - Professor Morrison: Primary or Secondary?

Primary or Secondary?

For some research assignments, it is important to use primary sources, instead of or in addition to secondary sources. What’s the difference?

Primary sources are original documents or objects—first-hand information or the raw material. These original documents are often diaries, letters, memoirs, journals, speeches, or interviews. They may also include published pieces such as newspaper or magazine articles, as long as they are written soon after the fact and not as historical accounts. Eye witness accounts, photographs, audio or video recordings, research reports in the natural or social sciences, or original literary or theatrical works are also considered primary sources.

Secondary sources interpret primary sources. Secondary sources include comments on, interpretations of, or discussions about the original material. You can think of secondary sources as second-hand information. Secondary source materials can be articles in newspapers or popular magazines, book or movie reviews, or articles found in scholarly journals that evaluate or criticize someone else’s original research.

 

Examples of Primary and Secondary Sources

 

 

Primary Source

Secondary Source

 

Art

Original artwork

Article critiquing the piece of art

History

Slave diary

Book about the Underground Railroad

Literature

Poem

Treatise on a particular genre of poetry

Political Science

Treaty

Essay on Native American land rights

Science or Social Sciences

Report of an original experiment

Review of several studies on the same topic

Theatre

Videotape of a performance

Biography of a playwright

 

Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources CHART

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