Primary and Secondary Sources

Primary and Secondary Sources

• A major goal of university-level research is to read or view original material, known as primary sources.

• The ability to analyze and integrate secondary sources, the literature that has grown up in response to the original work, is also a principal goal of secondary learning.

Primary Sources

• Primary Sources are original, uninterpreted information.

• Unedited, firsthand access to words, images, or objects created by persons directly involved in an activity or event or speaking directly for a group.

• This is information before it has been analyzed, interpreted, commented upon, spun, or repackaged.

Primary Sources

• Depending upon the context, these may include paintings, interviews, works of fiction, research reports, sales receipts, speeches, treaties, legislation, letters, e-mails, and others.

• Think of physical evidence or eyewitness testimony in a court trial.

Secondary Sources

• Secondary sources interpret, analyze or summarize.

• Commentary upon, or analysis of, events, ideas, or primary sources. Because they are often written significantly after events by parties not directly involved but who have special expertise, they may provide historical context or critical perspectives.

• Think of a lawyer's final summation or jury discussion in a court trial.

THE RESEARCH PROCESS

How to start researching: Step 1: Get an overview

Construct a general framework of research from your thesis statement by accessing reference sources such as indexes, almanacs, encyclopedias, dictionaries and yearbooks

Why? They can provide you with concise summaries of statistics, definitions, biographies, and, sometimes, a reading list of the principal primary and secondary sources

Source: Conestoga College Library Resource web site

Step 1: Get an Overview

• Where can this information be found? Generally, in the Reference section of a library—which means it can’t be taken home.

• If you can’t get to a library, try encyclopedias available through a university library web site

• You can try on-line encyclopedias such as Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Columbia Encyclopedia or Encarta Encyclopedia.

• You can use Wikipedia to get background information on a topic BUT DO NOT USE IT AS A SOURCE IN AN ESSAY OR ASSIGNMENT.

Source: Conestoga College Library Resource web site

After you have a basic understanding of your topic, you should proceed to more specific encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs and indexes

Step 2: Focus your topic

• If your topic is too big, it lacks focus. If it's too narrow, you will have difficulty finding information about it.

• Consider these examples of narrow and broad topics:

Too Broad Just Right Too Narrow

Heart attacks Heart attacks in smokers Heart attacks in smokers in Kitchener, ON

Obesity Causes of obesity in teenagers

Causes of obesity in 10-year-old girls

Newspapers The effects of libel action on newspaper reporting

The effects of libel action on the Kitchener Waterloo Record

Source: Conestoga College Library Resource web site

Step 2: Focus your Topic

For your research, you need a central question. After you've completed your research and analyzed the information, you can change your question into a thesis statement — the central argument of your essay.

Research Question Thesis Statement

What are the structural advantages of suspension bridges?

The suspension bridge is superior to any other type of bridge because….

How can society prevent childhood obesity?

Canadian government agencies can prevent childhood obesity by…

Source: Conestoga College Library Resource web site

Step 3: Choose KeywordsChoose carefully. These words are “key” – they express your topic and will enable you to find articles both on the Web and in periodical databases. Write down any alternatives for each word, so you know if you have the best words. Like this:

Topic Concept #1 Concept #2 Concept #3

Heart attacks in smokers

Heart attack orCardiac arrest orMyocardial infarction orCoronary

Smoking orTobacco orCigarettes

Addiction orAbuse orDependence

Causes of obesity in teenagers

Obesity orOverweight orFat

Prevent orAvoid orReduce

Teens orTeenagers orYouths

Source: Conestoga College Library Resource web site

Step 4: Find Sources

There are four broad categories of sources:

• Books

• Periodicals

• Internet

• Alternative Information Sources

Different Types of Books

Anthologies:

An assortment or compilationof works, e.g. literature, paintings, songs.

Different Types of Books

Edited Work:

Chapters written by different authors on one specific theme or topic. Chapters are collected and the book as a whole is introduced by the editor.

Different Types of Books

Handbook

Concise information or instruction on a topic.

Different Types of Books

Proceedings: published reports of a conference or discussions.

Conference Papers: Selected papers given at a conference.

Audience:academic society

Different types of periodicalsScholarly Journals: Publication containing

articles on a variety of topics within a defined subject area. Published periodically, e.g. quarterly.

The most respected journals are peer-reviewed, which means that other experts in that field have assessed the work prior to its being published.

Audience: all academic researchers, specialists.

Appearance: • plain cover• plain paper• black/white charts and graphs• few or no advertisements • pages numbered consecutively through

each volume Documentation: always have

bibliographies or footnotes

Different types of periodicalsPopular magazine: a serial that

targets general audiences with popular or current stories. Authors are not usually scholars and do not conduct original research. These articles are not peer-reviewed. Contributors are paid.

Audience: general public, wide circulation.

Appearance: • eye-catching cover• glossy paper • heavily illustrated in colour• many advertisements • each issue starts with page 1Documentation: no bibliographies

or footnotes

Different types of periodicals

Trade publication: content specific to professionals within a particular industry, e.g., banking, baking, auto mechanics. Contributors are paid.

Audience: members of a specific industry or organization

Appearance: • cover highlights industry• glossy paper• moderately illustrated in colour• trade-related advertisements • each issue starts with page 1 Documentation: may have short

bibliographies

Different types of periodicals

Alternative magazine:

A consumer publication with a focus on stated topics or concerns, e.g. Canadian politics, literature and culture. Advertising aimed at alternative readers. Contributors are paid.

Audience: readers interested in alternatives to popular publications.

Evaluating Internet Sources

It is a fairly quick and easy job to track down numerous potentially useful sources on the World Wide Web. Evaluating those sources, however, requires additional time. Be sure to take the following steps when working with Web sources.

AUTHORITYCan you determine the author of the site? Is

the author of the site knowledgeable and credible? Does the site offer links to the author’s home page, résumé, or e-mail address?

OBJECTIVITYWho, if anyone, sponsors the site? Note

that a site's domain name always specifies the type of group hosting the site: commercial (.com), educational (.edu), organizational (.org), governmental (.gov), military (.mil), or network (.net).

Evaluating Internet Sources

AUDIENCE AND PURPOSEWho is the intended audience of the site? Why is the

information available: to argue a position? to sell a product? to inform readers?

DOCUMENTATIONOn the Internet, traditional methods of documentation are

often replaced with links to original sources. Whenever possible, check out a linked source to confirm its authority.

QUALITY OF PRESENTATIONConsider the design and navigation of the site. Is it well laid

out and easy to use? Do its links work, and are they up-to-date and relevant? Is the material well written and relatively free of errors?

Unclear Pronoun Reference

What is a Noun?

A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, quality, or concept.1. Common nouns are the general names for persons,

places, and things: politician, rabbit, city, computer• Concrete nouns can be seen and touched: telephone,

animal, chair• Abstract nouns name thoughts, emotions, qualities or

values--things that cannot be seen or touched: pride, ambition, honesty

2. Proper nouns name specific persons, places, and things and are capitalized: Paul Martin, Bugs Bunny, Calgary, Compaq

3. Collective (group) nouns name groups of people or things as if they were a single unit: jury, class, committee, herd

A-1

What is a Pronoun?

Pronouns substitute for nouns; they can act as subjects or objects.

TYPE EXAMPLES

Personal I, me, you, she, her, he, him, they, them

Possessive my, your, his, our, their

Demonstrative this, that, these, those

Relative who, which, that

Interrogative who, whose, which, what

Indefinite -one, -thing, -body words; either, each, few, none

A-5

Pronoun–antecedent Agreement

A good teacher does not allow personal feelings to influence their grading.

A good teacher does not allow personal feelings to influence her grading.

A pronoun must agree with her antecedent.

A pronoun must agree with its antecedent.

• A PRONOUN SUBSTITUTES FOR OR REFERS TO A NOUN OR PRONOUN IN YOUR SENTENCE OR PARAGRAPH.

• AN ANTECEDENT IS THE WORD IN YOUR SENTENCE OR PARAGRAPH THAT A PRONOUN SUBSTITUTES FOR OR REFERS TO.

A PRONOUN AND ITS ANTECEDENT MUST AGREE IN• NUMBER (singular or plural)• GENDER (masculine, feminine, or non-personal)

31-5

Pronoun Reference

Pronouns usually refer to other words, called their antecedents because they (should) come before the pronoun. A pronoun's antecedent may be either a noun or another pronoun, but in either case, it must be clear what the antecedent is. Consider this example:

Micheline told Ruth that she would take Jerry to the dance.

It is not clear whether the pronoun "she" in this sentence refers to Ruth or Micheline. Unless pronouns refer unmistakably to distinct, close, and single antecedents, the reader will never be sure who's going to the dance with whom.

A pronoun should have only one possible antecedent

• If there is more than one possible antecedent for a personal pronoun in a sentence, make sure that the pronoun refers only to one of them:– [WRONG] Jerry found a gun in the trousers which he

wore.

• "Which he wore" could modify "trousers" or "gun."– [WRONG] Jerry called Steve twelve times while he

was in Reno.

• The pronoun "he" could refer either to "Jerry" or to "Steve."

A pronoun should not refer to an implied idea

• Make sure that the pronoun refers to a specific rather than to an implicit antecedent: When you leave the antecedent implied instead of stating it explicitly, the reader has to try to guess your sentence's meaning:

[WRONG] John put a bullet in his gun and shot it. • The pronoun "it" can refer either to the noun "gun"

or to the implied object of the verb "shot."[WRONG] The craftspersons' union reached an agreement on Ruth's penalty, but it took time.

• The pronoun "it" can refer to the noun "union" or to the implied process of decision making.

A pronoun should not refer to adjectives or possessive nouns

You should not use adjectives, or nouns or pronouns in the possessive case, as antecedents. Although they may imply a noun, reference to them will be ambiguous:

In Ruth's apology she told Jerry she'd loved him for years.

In this case, the pronoun "she" seems to refer to the noun phrase "Ruth's apology," though it was probably meant to refer to possessive noun "Ruth's."

Jerry wore those blasted grey knickers; it was his favourite colour.

In this example, the pronoun "it" seems to refer to the noun "knickers," though it was probably meant to refer to the adjective "grey."

A pronoun should not refer to a title

When you start your paper, do not write as if the title itself were part of the body of the paper. Often, the title will appear on a separate page, and your opening will be confusing. Imagine, for example, a paper entitled "How to Sew Grey Knickers": you should not begin the first paragraph with a sentence like

This is not as easy as it looks. The writer probably wanted the pronoun "this" to refer to the idea of sewing knickers, but since the idea is not in the body of the paper itself, the reference will not make sense.

Use “it” and “they” carefully

In conversation people often use expressions such as "It says in this book that ..." and "In my home town they say that ...". These constructions are useful for information conversation because they allow you to present ideas casually, without supporting evidence; for academic writing, however, these constructions are either too imprecise or too wordy:

[WRONG] In Chapter four of Grey’s autobiography it says that he was born out of wedlock.

In Chapter four, what says that Grey was born out of wedlock?[WRONG] In the restaurant they gave me someone else's linguini.

Who gave the speaker someone else's linguini?It would be better to rewrite these two sentences as follow:

[RIGHT] Chapter four of my autobiography states that I was born out of wedlock. [RIGHT] In the restaurant, the server gave me someone else's linguini.

In these revised sentences, there is no doubt about who is doing what

Use “you” carefully

In informal conversation and in instructional writing, English speakers often use the pronoun to mean something like "a hypothetical person" or "people in general"; academic writing, however, needs to be more precise, and you should use "you" only when you want to address the reader directly (as I am doing here).

Use “you” carefully

Consider this example:[WRONG] In the fourteenth century, you had to struggle to survive.

In this case, "you" obviously does not refer to the reader, since the reader was not alive during the fourteenth century. It would be better to rewrite the sentence so that it expresses your idea more precisely; for example

[RIGHT] In the fourteenth century, people had to struggle to survive.

Or even better yet,[RIGHT] In the fourteenth

century, English peasant farmers had to struggle to survive.

Use "it" consistently within a sentence

To avoid awkwardness, you should not use more than one “it” within a single sentence:– [WRONG] When it is my

birthday, I hope to receive a rhinoceros, and I will walk it often.

It would be better to eliminate the first "it":– On my birthday, I hope to

receive a rhinoceros, and I will walk it often.

Use “who” and “which” carefully

The pronoun "who" usually refers to people, but may also refer to animals that have names:

My mother, who gave me the rhino, must love me very much. My rhino, whom I call Spike, wanders at will through the house.

The pronoun "which" refers to animals and things:

The rhino, which is a much maligned and misunderstood animal, is really quite affectionate. Its horn is a matt of hair which is sort of stuck to its snout.

Use “that” carefully

Finally, the pronoun "that" refers to animals and things and occasionally to persons when they are collective or anonymous:

The rhino that hid behind the television was missing for days.

Rhinos that like to run can cause premature belt failure on treadmills.

The answer that everyone missed was "Etruscan."

Practice

• Exercise 23-6 on p. 431

• Exercise 23-7 on p. 432.