Primary and Secondary Sources

Introduction

Primary sources are documents, images or artifacts that provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence concerning an historical topic under research investigation. Primary sources are original documents created or experienced contemporaneously with the event being researched. Primary sources enable researchers to get as close as possible to what actually happened during an historical event or time period. A secondary source is a work that interprets or analyzes an historical event or period after the event has occurred and, generally speaking, with the use of primary sources. The same document, or other piece of evidence, may be a primary source in one investigation and secondary in another. The search for primary sources does not, therefore, automatically include or exclude any format of research materials or type of records, documents, or publications.

As an example, a diary from an immigrant from Vietnam to the United States documenting her travel experiences from Vietnam to Orange County would be considered a primary source for research on Vietnamese immigration to Orange County. However, a book written by a professor that analyzes the various writings of Vietnam immigrants and interprets the experience of those immigrants is a secondary source for this research.

Secondary sources are works that analyze, assess or interpret an historical event, era, or phenomenon, generally utilizing primary sources to do so. Secondary sources often offer a review or a critique. Secondary sources can include books, journal articles, speeches, reviews, research reports, and more. Generally speaking, secondary sources are written well after the events that are being researched. However, if an individual writes about events that he or she experienced first hand many years after that event occurred, it is still considered a primary source.

Primary and Secondary Sources

Another information category is called publication mode and has to do with whether the information is:

Firsthand information (information in its original form, not translated or published in another form).

Secondhand information (a restatement, analysis, or interpretation of original information).

Third-hand information (a summary or repackaging of original information, often based on secondary information that has been published).

Here are examples to illustrate the first-handedness and second-handedness information:

Primary Source (Original, Firsthand Information): J.D. Salinger’s novel Catcher in the Rye.

Secondary Source (Secondhand Information): A book review of Catcher in the Rye, even if the reviewer has a different opinion than anyone else has ever published about the book- he or she is still just reviewing the original work and all the information about the book here is secondary.

When you make distinctions between primary and secondary sources, you are relating the information itself to the context in which it was created. Understanding that relationship is an important skill that you’ll need in college, as well as in the workplace. Noting the relationship between creation and context helps us understand the “big picture” in which information operates and helps us figure out which information we can depend on. That’s a big part of thinking critically, a major benefit of actually becoming an educated person.

Primary Sources

Primary Sources – Because it is in its original form, the information in primary sources has reached us from its creators without going through any filter. We get it firsthand. Here are some examples that are often used as primary sources:

• Any literary work, including novels, plays, and poems.
• Breaking news.
• Diaries.
• Advertisements.
• Music and dance performances.
• Eyewitness accounts, including photographs and recorded interviews.
• Artworks.
• Data.
• Blog entries that are autobiographical.
• Scholarly blogs that provide data or are highly theoretical, even though they contain no autobiography.
• Artifacts such as tools, clothing, or other objects.
• Original documents such as tax returns, marriage licenses, and transcripts of trials.
• Websites, although many are secondary.
• Buildings.
• Correspondence, including email.
• Records of organizations and government agencies.
• Journal articles that report research for the first time (at least the parts about the new research, plus their data).

Secondary Sources

Secondary Source – These sources are translated, repackaged, restated, analyzed, or interpreted original information that is a primary source. Thus, the information comes to us secondhand, or through at least one filter. Here are some examples that are often used as secondary sources:

• All nonfiction books and magazine articles except autobiography.
• An article or website that critiques a novel, play, painting, or piece of music.
• An article or web site that synthesizes expert opinion and several eyewitness accounts for a new understanding of an event.
• The literature review portion of a journal article.

 

The Details Are Tricky— A few things about primary or secondary sources might surprise you:

Sources become primary rather than always exist as primary sources.

It’s easy to think that it is the format of primary sources that makes them primary. But that’s not all that matters. So when you see lists like the one above of sources that are often used as primary sources, it’s wise to remember that the ones listed are not automatically already primary sources. Firsthand sources get that designation only when researchers actually find their information relevant and use it.

For instance: Records that could be relevant to those studying government are created every day by federal, state, county, and city governments as they operate. But until those raw data are actually used by a researcher, they cannot be considered primary sources.

Another example: A diary about his flying missions kept by an American helicopter pilot in the Viet Nam War is not a primary source until, say, a researcher uses it in her study of how the war was carried out. But it will never be a primary source for a researcher studying the U.S. public’s reaction to the war because it does not contain information relevant to that study.

• Primary sources, even eyewitness accounts, are not necessarily accurate. Their accuracy has to be evaluated, just like that of all sources.
• Something that is usually considered a secondary source can be considered a primary source, depending on the research project.

 

For instance, movie reviews are usually considered secondary sources. But if your research project is about the effect movie reviews have on ticket sales, the movie reviews you study would become primary sources.

• Deciding whether to consider a journal article a primary or a secondary source can be complicated for at least two reasons.

 

First, journal articles that report new research for the first time are usually based on data. So some disciplines consider the data to be the primary source, and the journal article that describes and analyzes them is considered a secondary source.

However, particularly in the sciences, the original researcher might find it difficult or impossible (he or she might not be allowed) to share the data. So sometimes you have nothing more firsthand than the journal article, which argues for calling it the relevant primary source because it’s the closest thing that exists to the data.

Second, even journal articles that announce new research for the first time usually contain more than data. They also typically contain secondary source elements, such as a literature review, bibliography, and sections on data analysis and interpretation. So they can actually be a mix of primary and secondary elements. Even so, in some disciplines, a journal article that announces new research findings for the first time is considered to be, as a whole, a primary source for the researchers using it.

The Positives

Despite their trickiness, what primary sources usually offer is too good not to consider using because:

• They are original. This unfiltered, firsthand information is not available anywhere else.
• Their creator was a type of person unlike others in your research project, and you want to include that perspective.
• Their creator was present at an event and shares an eyewitness account.
• They are objects that existed at the particular time your project is studying.

 

Particularly in humanities courses, your professor may require you to use a certain number of primary sources for your project. In other courses, particularly in the sciences, you may be required to use only primary sources.

What are considered primary and secondary sources can vary from discipline to discipline. If you are required to use primary sources for your research project, before getting too deep into your project check with your professor to make sure he or she agrees with your choices. After all, it’s your professor who will be grading your project. A librarian, too, can verify your choices. Just remember to take a copy of your assignment with you when you ask, because the librarian will want to see the original assignment. After all, that’s a primary source!

Summary

What are primary sources?

Primary sources are uninterpreted, original, or new materials. They are normally first-hand information.

Examples include:

• Original documents* (manuscript, poem, correspondence, letters)
• Speech
• Data from a study
• Autobiography
• Peer-reviewed journal article that report new findings
• Interview
• Artwork, music, play, movie

* Many primary sources are presented as books – but they are reprints of the original documents!

What are secondary sources?

Secondary sources are information sources about primary sources. Secondary sources interpret, explain, describe, or draw conclusions based on works written by others. These are normally second-hand information.

Examples include:

• Most books
• Textbook
• Dictionary, encyclopedia
• Biography
• Peer-reviewed journal article that critique others’ work
• Literature review
• Website
• Art, book, movie, or theater review

 

“What are primary and secondary sources?” By UCLA Library. Retrieved from: https://guides.library.ucla.edu/c.php?g=539451&p=6539065 Licensed under: CC-BY 4.0

“Primary vs Secondary Sources.” By Clackmas Community College Libraries. Retrieved from: http://libguides.clackamas.edu/c.php?g=738320&p=5279166 Licensed under: CC-BY 4.0

“Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Sources.” By Teaching & Learning, Ohio State University Libraries. Retrieved from: https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/choosingsources/chapter/primary-secondary-tertiary-sources/ Licensed under: CC-BY 4.0 Adapted by The American Women’s College.