primary and secondary
TRANSCRIPT
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES
PRIMARY SOURCES
• Primary Sources—original or firsthand
materials
• Written during time period of topic
• Works by an original author: essays, poems,
plays, artwork, novels, autobiographies,
speeches, e-mails, blogs (when the person is
blogging about himself/herself)
• Original research: surveys, studies, case studies,
interviews
• First-person accounts of events
SECONDARY SOURCES
• Secondary Sources—secondhand accounts, information, or reports about primary sources written or delivered by people who were not direct participants in events or issues being examined
• May or may not be written in the time period of topic• News articles
• Reviews
• Biographies
• Documentaries
• Encyclopedia entries
• Interpretations of works
PRIMARY OR SECONDARY?
• J.R.R. Tolkien’s The
Hobbit
• Primary
PRIMARY OR SECONDARY?
• Critical Essay about The
Hobbit
• Secondary
PRIMARY OR SECONDARY?
• Letter from Thomas
Jefferson to Meriwether
Lewis
• Primary
PRIMARY OR SECONDARY?
• Book of historical essays
debating whether
Meriwether Lewis’ death
was a suicide
• Secondary
PRIMARY OR SECONDARY?
• PBS website about Meriwether LewisSecondary
PRIMARY OR SECONDARY?
• Documentary
• Secondary
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
• When might it be best to use primary sources?
• When firsthand accounts are important to the topic (historical accounts, literature, etc.)
• When a firsthand account builds credibility for an idea.
• When might it be appropriate to use secondary sources?
• When firsthand accounts aren’t as imperative to the topic.
• When discussing the variety of research that has been done on a topic.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
• Primary sources
• Often more accurate because they have not
been distorted
• Not always a better choice than secondary
sources
• May be biased
• May be difficult to access
• May not always be appropriate for all topics
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
• Secondary sources
• Easier to find and access
• May be more suitable for certain topics
• May be biased, inaccurate, limited in scope, or
incomplete
• Interpretations of events or other works