Unit 5 — primary sources

Primary sources provide “raw” data and direct proof, so it gives you direct access to the subject of your examination. Secondary sources provide recycled data and critique from different researchers, so the primary ones are supposedly more credible and a better source to help you form the basis of your argument. Some questions you can ask about primary sources are: what’s the creator’s motivation behind the source? What would you be able to gain from the type of source? Like, how would that contribute to your own research? What do you know about the author? Race, age, gender, class, occupation, religion, political views? You should check out the actual idea of this source and also what the creator decides not to discuss. It is important to know what the source does not tell you so that as readers we can decide if they are biased and if we want to use that source and invest our time in it or not. If it can clearly tell what the contents are and what is not included, it can help the reader determine its significant relevance in their research. It’s important to understand the difference between “what happened” and “that which was said to have happened” because when we’re reading a historical source, we tend to take that as facts. So, it’s crucial that we understand that, especially when analyzing secondary sources.