Biography primary and secondary sources

Primary sources provide firsthand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic or question under investigation. They are usually created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented. Often these sources are created at the time when the events or conditions are occurring, but primary sources can also include autobiographies, memoirs, and oral histories recorded later.

Yale University. Antietam, Md. President Lincoln with Gen. George B. If you want to mention a paper or study that you find cited in a secondary source, seek out the original source and cite it directly. Remember that all primary and secondary sources must be cited to avoid plagiarism. Common examples of primary sources include interview transcripts , photographs, novels, paintings, films, historical documents, and official statistics.

Anything you directly analyze or use as first-hand evidence can be a primary source, including qualitative or quantitative data that you collected yourself. Common examples of secondary sources include academic books, journal articles , reviews, essays , and textbooks. Anything that summarizes, evaluates or interprets primary sources can be a secondary source.

Some types of sources are nearly always primary: works of art and literature, raw statistical data, official documents and records, and personal communications e. If you use one of these in your research, it is probably a primary source. Primary sources are often considered the most credible in terms of providing evidence for your argument, as they give you direct evidence of what you are researching.

Always make sure to properly cite your sources to avoid plagiarism. A fictional movie is usually a primary source. A documentary can be either primary or secondary depending on the context. If you are directly analysing some aspect of the movie itself — for example, the cinematography, narrative techniques, or social context — the movie is a primary source.

If you use the movie for background information or analysis about your topic — for example, to learn about a historical event or a scientific discovery — the movie is a secondary source. Articles in newspapers and magazines can be primary or secondary depending on the focus of your research. In historical studies, old articles are used as primary sources that give direct evidence about the time period.

In social and communication studies, articles are used as primary sources to analyse language and social relations for example, by conducting content analysis or discourse analysis. If you are not analysing the article itself, but only using it for background information or facts about your topic, then the article is a secondary source. Streefkerk, R.

We have put together a list of examples of primary and secondary sources by fields of study.

Biography primary and secondary sources

It will help you identify the nature of your source. Poems, diaries, letters, paintings, government records, maps, interviews transcribed or recorded , photographs, newspaper articles. Results of experiments, case studies, results of clinical trials, minutes of meetings, proceedings of conferences. For a more detailed description of what a primary source is, where you can access them, and why you need to use them, see this article about primary sources.

See this article about secondary sources for further information. Some examples of primary sources are: Poems, diaries, letters, paintings, government records, maps, interviews transcribed or recorded , photographs, newspaper articles, results of experiments, case studies, results of clinical trials, minutes of meetings, and proceedings of conferences.

Some examples of secondary sources are: Biographies, histories, reviews, encyclopaedias, literary criticism, discussions of importance, analysis of clinical trials, and reviews of results. Many universities and libraries maintain databases of primary sources. Start by consulting research guides in your field and speaking with librarians specializing in your area of study.

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