Research Basics

Do you have an assignment that calls for some primary and secondary sources?  Do you need some help distinguishing between the two?

This guide will help you tell the difference between primary and secondary sources.  You'll learn about their characteristics, see some examples of each, and learn about how and when to use primary and secondary sources.

A source's classification as primary or secondary can change depending on the topic that you're studying.

For example, if you're writing about how news is represented on the internet, a news site like cnn.com could be considered a primary source.

You're studying news on the internet, and cnn.com represents the object that you're studying.

However, if you're writing about political elections, and you find an article on cnn.com that analyzes them, the article would be considered a secondary source.

Since you're studying elections, an article on cnn.com is a step removed from your topic.

Primary sources are first-hand accounts or individual representations, created by those who have directly witnessed what they are describing. They are original documents and usually don’t describe or analyze other documents.

Primary sources may be published or unpublished works. Primary sources can be viewed as the focal point of a discussion. Use primary sources when you want to make claims or criticisms, for evidence for theories, or to gain timely perspectices on a topic.

Examples of primary sources:

General: letters, diaries, speeches, interviews

History: transcript of speech given by Queen Elizabeth I; newsreel footage of World War II Literature: Miguel de Cervantes' novel, Don Quixote; Franz Kafka's short story, The Metamorphosis

Art: Michelangelo's sculpture, David; Pablo Picasso's painting, Three Musicians

Social Sciences: interview transcripts of mentally ill patients; raw, analyzed population data

Natural Sciences: analyzed results from biological study; analyzed field data collected by environmental org.

Secondary sources interpret and/or analyze primary sources. These sources are a step removed from what they are describing.

Usually, secondary sources are published works. You can view secondary sources as part of a conversation about a topic. Use secondary sources to see what others have discussed, gather background information on a topic, or to explore what subtopics have already been explored on a given topic.

Examples:

General: textbooks, encyclopedias, analysis, reviews

History: article analyzing Queen Elizabeth I's speech; book recounting battle history of World War II

Literature: article that examines Cervantes' writing style; paper discussing motifs in The Metamorphosis

Art: Lecture given about Michelangelo's techniques; Criticism or review of Picasso's painting

Social Sciences: article analyzing results of mental illness study; book that discusses population trends over time

Natural Sciences: synthesis of study results into a biological theory; article on the environmental impact of pollution

This guide is based on information from the Western Oregon University Hamersly Library CLIP Project.  Hamersly Library has made the tutorials available for adaptation via Creative Commons NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.