This document discusses the differences between primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are original materials created at the time under study, such as diaries, autobiographies, speeches, historical documents, first-hand accounts, photos, videos, and letters. Researchers create primary sources when collecting original data. Secondary sources are records or interpretations created after the event by someone not directly involved, such as biographies, encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs, book reviews, movie adaptations, and newspapers. Primary sources provide direct information while secondary sources analyze or interpret primary sources.

2. PRIMARY SOURCES
• Are original materials on which other research
is based
• A document created at the time of your
research subject
• Data that you or your colleagues collect
specifically for the purpose of answering your
research question
• Are directly connected with the events or
people being researched

3. • You collect exactly the data elements that you need
• You control the data collection process, so you can
ensure data quality
• You select a sample that is specifically designed to help
answer your research question, so irrelevant information
is not a concern
• You may conduct a research that investigates a new
problem or issue
• You may also investigate longstanding issue with a new
approach
ADVANTAGES PRIMARY SOURCES

5. PRIMARY SOURCES DIARIES
• Non-Fictional: 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”
• Fictional: Meg Cabot has written and
published over fifty books, and is best
known for “The Princess Diaries”

6. PRIMARY SOURCES AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
• Benjamin Franklin wrote his
autobiography about the
events in his life called
“Memoirs” Although he wasn’t
able to finish the book, it is still
the most famous autobiography
ever written

7. PRIMARY SOURCES SPEECHES
• Presidents’ Inauguration Address or
State of the Nation’s
Address
• England’s King George VI’s speech

8. PRIMARY SOURCES HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS
• Historical documents
such as the
Declaration of
Independence or
the constitution
• They were drafted
and signed

9. PRIMARY SOURCES FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS
• Rosa Henson talked about her
own experience as one of the
many comfort women during the
Japanese occupation in the
Philippines in the book “Comfort
Women: A Slave of Destiny”

10. PRIMARY SOURCES PHOTOS AND VIDEOS
• Photographers during World War
II took photographs of the
battles and or events during the
war.
• President Ferdinand Marcos’
footage of Martial Law

11. PRIMARY SOURCES LETTERS
• Soldiers during the war wrote
to their families about war
events the experienced
 Nicholas Sparks’ fictional
novel Dear John is an
example

12. RESEARCHERS are creators of
primary resources, however,
they may gather information
from secondary sources.

14. SECONDARY SOURCES
• Records generated by an event but written by a non-
participant in the event
• often attempt to interpret, explain, or analyze primary
sources
• Those existing data collected for another purpose
that you employ to answer your research question.
• These documents have no direct connection with the
events or people being researched
• Refers to original information and have been written
after the fact with the benefit of hindsight

15. • It is less expensive to collect
• It takes less time to collect
• You may not need to worry about informed consent
• Some secondary sources have been reorganized,
reinterpreted, summarized, and indexed
• Access is much easier
• Usually, secondary sources have already been
carefully studied
ADVANTAGES SECONDARY SOURCES

17. SECONDARY SOURCES BIOGRAPHY
• Teofilo H. Montemayor wrote a
biography about the life of Dr.
Jose Rizal, the Philippines’ hero
• Girja Kumar, an Indian poet and
writer, wrote a biography about
Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan,
the father of library science

18. SECONDARY SOURCES ENCYCLOPEDIAS
• The Britannica Encyclopedia or any other
encyclopedias

19. SECONDARY SOURCES DICTIONARIES
• Dictionaries are also secondary sources.
An example of which is Oxford Dictionary
of English

20. SECONDARY SOURCES ALMANACS
• The World Almanac and
Book of Facts and The World
Almanac for Kids are also
secondary sources

21. SECONDARY SOURCES BOOK REVIEWS
• Andy Grundberg’s wrote a review of
the book Invisible City by Ken Schles

22. SECONDARY SOURCES MOVIE ADAPTATIONS

23. PRIMARY NEWSPAPERS SECONDARY
• Prince William and Kate Middleton’s Royal Wedding

24. Discipline Primary Sources Secondary Sources
English Literature, Film, Plays, Performances
Literary criticism, Author biographies, Literary
guides,Dictionaries, etc
Fine Arts
Artwork, Film/Performances, Photographs,
Sculpture, Architecture
Art criticism, Film criticism, reviews, Art history,
Published studies of environmental design
History
Historical Documents, Literature,
Autobiographies, Narratives, diaries, essays,
Political documents, Letters, speeches
Criticism about historical documents, Criticism and
biography of historical figures, Published accounts of
historical periods, etc.
Philosophy & Religion
Texts written by philosophers, Religious
documents: Bible, prayers, Koran, etc.
Criticism of religious texts and philosophical texts,
Explications of Bible, e.g., Published work of
theological scholars
Anthropology
Interview Transcripts, Field notes for
Ethnographic data
Cultural criticism, Sources on method,
Anthropological theory
Economics & Business Economic/market data
Criticism of economic forces and effects, historical
influences, etc., Economic theory
Criminal Justice
Cases, Testimony, Written decision,
precedent, Governmental policy
Criticism of jurisprudence, Published research in law,
Published criticism of policy
Psychology/ Sciences/
Education/ Sociology
Empirical Data, Interviews, Questionnaire
Data, Observation Data, Lab Measurements
Published reports of other scientists, Methodological
criticism, Theory, Published method guides

25. • http://www15.uta.fi/FAST/FIN/RESEARCH/sources.html
• http://wire.rutgers.edu/research_assignments_pri_second.html
• http://libweb.surrey.ac.uk/library/skills/Introduction%20to%20R
esearch%20and%20Managing%20Information%20Leicester/pa
ge_21.htm
• http://www.concordia.edu/sitefiles/w3/Library/Primary%20vers
us%20Secondary%20Sources.pdf
• http://www.grossmont.edu/library/libraryinstruction/flyers&han
douts/primary_vs_secondary.pdf
• http://www2.smumn.edu/deptpages/tclibrary/tutorials/finding
/primary.pdf
• http://concordia.csp.edu/library/help/HelpSheets/Primary_an
d_Secondar.pdf
• http://www.mpc.edu/library/Articles_Databases/Pages/Primar
y%20and%20Secondary%20Resources.pdf

26. SYMON T. LAGAO
NINA ALEXANDRA T. TORILLOS