10.1 Types of Sources: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary

Tertiary sources are syntheses of primary and secondary sources. The person/people who compose a tertiary text are summarizing, compiling, and/or paraphrasing ... Skiptocontent IncreaseFontSize Chapter10:SourcesandResearch Thischapterwillhelpyoulearnaboutthedifferencebetweenthosetypesofsources,hereisaquickandusefulreference: “ScholarlyandPopularSources”byCarnegieVincentLibraryislicensedunderCCBY Thedeterminationofatextas“popular”or“scholarly/academic”isonewaytoclassifyitandtounderstandwhattypeofinformationyouareengagingwith. Anotherwaytoclassifysourcesisbyconsideringwhethertheyareprimary,secondaryortertiary.Popularsourcescanbeprimary,secondary,ortertiary.Scholarlysources,also,canbeprimary,secondary,ortertiary. WhatisaPrimarySource? Primarysourcesaretextsthatarisedirectlyfromaparticulareventortimeperiod.Theymaybeletters,speeches,worksofart,worksofliterature,diaries,directpersonalobservations,newspaperarticlesthatofferdirectobservationsofcurrentevents,surveyresponses,tweets,othersocialmediaposts,originalscholarlyresearch (meaningresearchthattheauthororauthorsconductthemselves)oranyothercontentthatcomesoutofdirectinvolvementwithaneventoraresearchstudy.   Primaryresearchisinformationthathasnotyetbeencritiqued,interpretedoranalyzedbyasecond(orthird,etc)party.   Primarysourcescanbepopular(ifpublishedinnewspapers,magazinesorwebsitesforthegeneralpublic)oracademic(ifwrittenbyscholarsandpublishedinscholarlyjournals).   Examplesofprimarysources: journals,diaries blogposts aspeech datafromsurveysorpolls scholarlyjournalarticlesinwhichtheauthor(s)discussthemethodsandresultsfromtheirownoriginalresearch/experiments photos,videos,soundrecordings interviewsortranscripts poems,paintings,sculptures,songsorotherworksofart governmentdocuments(suchasreportsoflegislativesessions,lawsorcourtdecisions,financialoreconomicreports,andmore) NewspaperandMagazinearticlesthatreportdirectlyoncurrentevents(althoughthesecanalsobeconsideredSecondary) Investigativejournalism(sometimesconsideredSecondaryaswell) WhatisaSecondarySource? Secondarysourcessummarize,interpret,critique,analyze,oroffercommentaryonprimarysources. Inasecondarysource,anauthor’ssubjectisnotnecessarilysomethingthatheorshedirectlyexperienced.Theauthorofasecondarysourcemaybesummarizing,interpretingoranalyzingdataorinformationfromsomeoneelse’sresearch orofferinganinterpretationoropiniononcurrentevents.Thus,thesecondarysourceisonestepawayfromthatoriginal,primarytopic/subject/researchstudy. Secondarysourcescanbepopular(ifpublishedinnewspapers,magazinesorwebsitesforthegeneralpublic)oracademic (ifwrittenbyscholarsandpublishedinscholarlyjournals).   Examplesofsecondarysources: book,movieorartreviews summariesofthefindingsfromotherpeople’sresearch interpretationsoranalysesofprimarysourcematerialsorotherpeople’sresearch historiesorbiographies politicalcommentary NewspaperandMagazinearticlesthatmainlysynthesizeothers’researchorprimarymaterials(remember,newspaperandmagazinearticlescanalsobeconsideredprimary,dependingonthecontent) WhatisaTertiarySource? Tertiarysourcesaresynthesesofprimaryandsecondarysources.Theperson/peoplewhocomposeatertiarytextaresummarizing,compiling,and/orparaphrasingothers’work. Thesesourcessometimesdonotevenlistanauthor.OftenyouwouldwanttouseatertiarysourcetofindbothPrimaryandSecondarysources.Keepinmindthat,too,thatitmaysometimesbedifficulttocategorizesomethingasstrictlytertiary,andthatitmaydependonhowyoudecidetousetheiteminyourresearchandwriting.Yourinstructorswilloftennotacceptthesoleuseoftertiarysourcesforyourpapers.Instead,youshouldstrivetoonlyusetertiarysourcestofindmoreacademicsources,astheyoftenhavetitlesofotherworksandlinks(ftheyareweb-based)tomoreacademicprimaryandsecondarysourcesthatyoucanuseinstead. Tertiarysourcescanbepopularoracademicdependingonthecontentandpublisher. Examplesoftertiarysourcesinclude: encyclopedias factbooks dictionaries guides handbooks Wikipedia “Primary,Secondary,&TertiarySources”bysccclibrary Nowthatyouknowwhatkindsofsourcesexist,itisimportanttorememberthatvariousdisciplinesfindcertaintypesofevidencetobemoreacceptableandappropriatethanothers.Forinstance,whiletheHumanitiesmayconsideranythingfrompassagesoftexttoartappropriateevidence,certainsciencesmaypreferdataandstatistics.Whatismostimportanttoremember,nomatterthedisciplineforwhichyouarewritingandpullingevidence,isthattheevidenceisneverenoughbyitself.Youmustalwaysbesuretoexplainwhy,andhow,thatevidencesupportsyourclaimsorideas.Formoreinformationontypesofevidenceconsideredappropriateforeachacademicdiscipline,youmayclick hereforsection8.3 ThinkingaboutPrimary,SecondaryandTertiarySourcesandyourResearchStrategy Whatkindsofprimarysourceswouldbeusefulforyourresearchproject?Why?Wherewillyoufindthem?Areyoumoreinterestedinpopularprimarysourcesorscholarlyprimarysources—andwhy? Whatkindsofsecondarysourcescouldbeusefulforyourproject–andwhy?Areyoumoreinterestedinpopularsecondarysourcesorscholarlysecondarysources–andwhy? Whatkindsoftertiarysourcesmightyoutrytoaccess?Inwhatwayswouldthistertiarysourcehelpyouinyourresearch? Previous:9.5KeepingTrackofYourSourcesandWritinganAnnotatedBibliography Next:10.2ReadingPopularSources Backtotop License AGuidetoRhetoric,Genre,andSuccessinFirst-YearWritingbyMelanieGagich&EmilieZickelislicensedunderaCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike4.0InternationalLicense,exceptwhereotherwisenoted. Feedback/Errata Commentsareclosed.