Readings in Philippine History

1. Distinction Between Primary
and Secondary Sources
GE2 READINGS IN THE PHILLIPINE HISTORY

2. Pangasinan State University
Urdaneta City Campus
REPORTERS
Sophia Faith R. Capiña
Marvilyn Frias Joyce Reyce Lejano

3. Learning outcomes
•What are the Primary and Secondary
sources?
•Advantages and Disadvantages of using
Primary and Secondary sources
•Categories

4. Determine if the following source would be
Primary Source or a Secondary Source. Write P if
it is primary and S if it is secondary.
1. The declaration of Independence.
2. A text book describing the Civil War.
3. An Autobiography about Bill Gates.
4. The movie Titanic.
5. A newspaper article from 1941 describing the
attack on Pearl Harbor.
Pre-Test

5. 6. A painting by Leonardo da Vinci .
7. Anne Frank's diary describing her life during World
War 2.
8. A friend giving a report about the Industrial
Revolution's Changes to America.
9. A text book describing the "The Great War".
10. A classmate giving a report about World War 2.

6. Primary Sources
It enables the researcher to get as close as possible to
what actually happened during a historical event or time
period.
Primary Sources are original records of a certain
event by people who have actually experienced or
witness it.

7. Examples of Primary Sources
Example: Anne Frank was a teenager during World War II. She kept
a diary or journal the years before she died in a concentration
camp.
Her diary was later published as the " Diary of Anne Frank". This is a
Primary source because it was first hand, she wrote it at the time it
happened.
Autobiographies
An autobiography is when you write a story book about yourself.
Example: Nelson Mandela wrote his autobiography about events in
his life
"Long Walk to Freedom: the Autobiography of Nelson Mandela”.
This is a Primary document because he wrote his first hand
Diary and Journals

8. Sound Recordings and Interviews
Example 1: During the Great Depression and World
war II, television had not been invented yet. The
people would often sit around the radio to listen to
President Roosevelt's war messages. Those radio
addresses are considered " primary sources".
Example 2: During the 2008 election Barak
Obama, had many interviews that were
televised. Those interviews are considered
primary sources.

9. These may include original works such as letters,
legislations, newspaper articles, diaries,
interviews, government documents, reports,
photographs, literature, and other creative
outputs.

10. Secondary Sources
Secondary sources are records based on
primary sources. They explain a certain
event of the past through evaluation and
interpretations of the record created
during a historical period.

11. Secondary sources are written "after the fact" - that
is, at a later date.
Usually the author of a secondary source will have
studied the primary sources of an historical period or
event and will then interpret the " evidence" found
in these sources.
You can think of secondary sources as second-hand
information.

12. These may include researches, textbooks,
journals, commentaries, biographies, and
criticism or reviews of literary and creative works.

13. Advantages of Primary Source
Primary sources provide a window into the past-unfiltered access to the
record of artistic, social, scientific, political thought, and achievement
during the specific period under study, produced by people who lived
during that period.
Unique, often profoundly personal documents and objects can give a very
real sense of what it was like to be alive during a long past era.
Direct contact with the original records and artifacts invites students to
explore the content with active and deeper analysis, and to respond
thoughtfully.
Critical thinking is developed as students probe the context, purpose,
meaning, bias ,and perspectives in their analysis of the past.

14. Disadvantages of Primary Sources
• Questions of creator bias, purpose, and point of
view may challenge student's assumptions.
• Primary sources are often incomplete and have
little context. Students must use prior knowledge
and work with multiple primary sources to find
patterns.
• In analyzing primary sources, students move from
concrete observations and facts to questioning and
making inferences about the materials.

15. Secondary sources advantages
Secondary sources can provide analysis, sythesis,
interpretation, or evaluation of the original information.
It is best for uncovering background or historical
information about a topic by exposing you to others'
perspectives, interpretations, and conclusions.
Allows the reader to get expert views of events and often
bring together multiple primary sources relevant to he
subject matter.

16. Secondary sources Disadvantages
Their reliability and validity are open to questions,
and often they do not provide exact information.
They do not represent first hand knowedge of a
subject or event.
There are countless books, journals, magazines,
articles, and web pages that attempt to interpret
the past and finding good secondary sources can
be an issue.

17. Post Test
1.) What is a primary source?
a. A source created by someone who was there at the time of an event.
b. A source created by someone who was NOT there at the time of an event.
2.) What is a secondary source?
a. A source created by someone who was there at the time of an event.
b. A source created by someone who was NOT there at the time of an event.
3.) A diary is a...
a. primary source
b. secondary source
4.) The Declaration of Independence
a. Secondary Source
b. Primary Source

18. 5.) An autobiography is a
a. Primary Source
b. Secondary Source
6.) A classmate giving a report about Cleopatra. The classmate giving the report is a?
a. Primary Source
b. Secondary Source
7.) Adam told me that someone got hurt during gym when he was there. Adam is the...
a. Primary Source
b. Secondary Source
8.) A dictionary, an almanac, and an encyclopedia are all examples of
a. Primary Sources
b. Secondary Sources
9.) A biography about Abraham Lincoln
a. Primary Source
b. Secondary Source

19. Give 5 Examples of Primary Source
9.) The Diary of Anne Frank
a. Primary
b. Secondary
10.) A YouTube video describing how the pyramids were built
a. Primary
b. Secondary
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Give 5 Examples of Secondary Sources
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

20. PRE-TEST
ANSWER KEY:
P
S
P
S
P
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. P
7. P
8. S
9. S
10. S

21. POST TEST
ANSWER KEY:
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
B
B
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11-15. Examples of Primary
Sources
letters, legislations,
newspaper articles, diaries
and interviews.
15-20. Examples of Secondary
Sources
researches, biographies, criticism,
textbooks, and commentaries.

22. References
https://library.bowdoin.edu/research/primary-and-secondary-
sources.shtml#:~:text=Examples%20of%20primary%20sources%3A,Scientif
ic%20data%20and%20reports
https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/primary-and-secondary-
sources/#:~:text=A%20secondary%20source%20is%20anything,and%20des
criptions%20of%20artistic%20works
https://www.csus.edu/center/peer-academic-
resource/_internal/_documents/how-to-read-a-primary-source.pdf
https://libguides.com.edu/c.php?g=649520&p=938175

23. Thank You for
listening!