Primary and Secondary Sources for a Research Paper

In researching a paper, an article, or a book you deal with sources. These are the places you get your information and draw conclusions from. This is what gives you the foundation for your work. Without all your work is fiction from your imagination. It makes for a great fictional novel but can get you kicked out of school if you don't use proper sources.

There are two type of sources: primary and secondary.

Both are strong and should be used, but one in particular has the strongest support for you and can help you get a good grade.

A primary source is one from the period you are writing about. It is not someone writing about your subject years after it happened. This is the real stuff.

Let's look at it this way. If you are writing a research paper about early America, the primary sources you would be looking at could be letters written by George Washington, official government documents, speeches delivered during that time, and even propaganda material in the form of pamphlets and books. These are material written during that time by the people of that time. They are not writing years later and pulling from other sources. If you really want to know about the Battle of Trenton, read Washington's letters, letters from others involved in the battle, and the notes in the Continental Congress. You'll get more from that than you will from other sources written in the 1900s.

If you are writing about the French Revolution, primary sources can come from material from all over the world during that time, but the best are the ones written in French from those that experienced it. That is why many who study specific periods and cultures will take foreign language classes to get a better understanding of what they are studying.

Why are primary sources so important? They are the witnesses of the time. If you were investigating a crime, you would prefer to hear what the witnesses had to say and not a summation another person gave you. Why? Because so much can be taken away from the words they use, the tone they use, and how they present the information. Using primary sources help you get a much better picture of what you are studying.

A secondary source is material written about the subject years later and drawing upon various primary sources. A good example is any book written today about Ancient Rome.

Using secondary sources is important for a couple of reasons. For one, there might be few primary sources for what you are researching. For another, there might be few primary if any not in a foreign language. If these happen, you will find that secondary sources are your best bet.

But..... Secondary sources should be your second choices. Why? Because it a report based on someone outside the times and the event. It is an opinion of someone else. They might have good arguments and great primary support, but it is still the opinion of someone else. They should be looking at primary sources themselves along with other secondary sources, but they are not near as strong as sources as primary pieces.

When writing your research paper, try to use as many primary sources as you can. Why? Because your thesis should be supported by the primary sources with secondary sources backing you up and helping you establish the validity of it. The more you use, the more respect you'll get from those in your field of study. They'll see that you're not riding on the opinions and works of others. You have stepped out and found your own view and have valid support for it.

Everyone likes it when you report straight from the horse's mouth.

Where do you find Primary Sources?

It all depends. When did the event happen? The more modern it is, the more primary pieces you might have. Here are great places to get your primary sources for your research.

- Newspaper articles
- Letters
- Government reports
- Speeches
- Books written during the time of the event

Check out sites such as archive.org. Even some universities have primary sources that you can access.