Examples of Primary Sources

Materials that are NOT primary sources include: Books written after a historical event by someone who was not involved in the event. Books are considered Secondary Sources.

A primary source provides direct or firsthand evidence about an event, object, person, or work of art. Primary sources include historical and legal documents, eyewitness accounts, results of experiments, statistical data, pieces of creative writing, audio and video recordings, speeches, and art objects.

• archives and manuscript material.
• photographs, audio recordings, video recordings, films.
• journals, letters and diaries.
• speeches.
• scrapbooks.
• published books, newspapers and magazine clippings published at the time.
• government publications.
• oral histories.

Primary Sources are original sources: they were created by someone who participated in or observed an event. They include diaries, newspapers, government documents, photographs, and other manuscripts.

To determine if a source is primary or secondary, ask yourself:

1. Was the source created by someone directly involved in the events you’re studying (primary), or by another researcher (secondary)?
2. Does the source provide original information (primary), or does it summarize information from other sources (secondary)?

Researchers in the health and social sciences can obtain their data by getting it directly from the subjects they’re interested in. This data they collect is called primary data. Another type of data that may help researchers is the data that has already been gathered by someone else. This is called secondary data.

Pros and cons of secondary research

• Advantages of secondary research – Fast, low cost and easy to find.
• Disadvantages of secondary research – Provides broader results than primary research which offers more detailed, targeted data specific to research objectives.

Primary data is more reliable than secondary data because primary data are collected by doing original research and not through secondary sources that may subject to some errors or discrepancy and may even contain ut-dated information. Secondary data are less reliable than primary data.

Primary research usually costs more and often takes longer to conduct than secondary research, but it gives conclusive results. Secondary research is a type of research that has already been compiled, gathered, organized and published by others.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Secondary Data

• Ease of access. The secondary data sources are very easy to access.
• Low cost or free.
• Time-saving.
• Allow you to generate new insights from previous analysis.
• Longitudinal analysis.
• Anyone can collect the data.
• A huge amount of secondary data with a wide variety of sources.

Pros: As it is largely based on already existing data derived from previous research, secondary research can be conducted more quickly and at a lesser cost. Cons: A major disadvantage of secondary research is that the researcher may have difficulty obtaining information specific to his or her needs.

Advantages of Secondary Data Analysis The biggest advantage of using secondary data is economics. Someone else has already collected the data, so the researcher does not have to devote money, time, energy, and other resources to this phase of research.

Limitations of using secondary data Official statistics may reflect the biases of those in power – limiting what you can find out. Official statistics – the way things are measured may change over time, making historical comparisons difficult (As with crime statistics, the definition of crime keeps changing.)

Advantages of Secondary data It is economical. It saves efforts and expenses. It is time saving. It helps to make primary data collection more specific since with the help of secondary data, we are able to make out what are the gaps and deficiencies and what additional information needs to be collected.

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Gathering statistics online is an example of secondary research.

Surveys Are Great Tools for Performing Primary Research Surveys are one of the most commonly used ways in which original data not found through secondary research is collected. This is because surveys are context-specific, meaning that the data collected from the survey comes directly from your exact target audience.

Primary data is a type of data that is collected by researchers directly from main sources through interviews, surveys, experiments, etc. For example, when doing a market survey, the goal of the survey and the sample population need to be identified first.

One of the most noticeable advantages of using secondary data analysis is its cost effectiveness. Because someone else has already collected the data, the researcher does not need to invest any money, time, or effort into the data collection stages of his or her study.