This lesson will explore the characteristics and examples of secondary sources; it will also investigate the advantages and disadvantages of using secondary sources to inform research.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Secondary Source | Definition, Characteristics & Examples
Table of Contents
- What Does Secondary Source Mean?
- Secondary Source Characteristics
- Secondary Source Examples
- Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Sources
- Lesson Summary
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an example of a secondary source?
An example of a secondary source is college psychology textbook; a textbook can be identified as a secondary source because it includes synthesis, analysis, and interpretation of existing sources.
What is the meaning of a secondary source?
A secondary source is created by authors, publishers, or journalists using other primary and secondary sources, with the ultimate goal of adding value to existing sources.
How do you know if a source is primary or secondary?
Primary sources are created by people who witnessed the events on which they are reporting. Secondary sources include quotations from eyewitnesses and a detailed works cited; they are rarely written in the first person.
Table of Contents
- What Does Secondary Source Mean?
- Secondary Source Characteristics
- Secondary Source Examples
- Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Sources
- Lesson Summary
A secondary source is a document, video, or other media created concerning specific events using first-hand accounts, or primary sources. A high-quality secondary source should provide a rigorous analysis, synthesis, or qualification of other primary or secondary sources.
Primary Source vs Secondary Source
Secondary sources are easily distinguishable from primary sources using several metrics. Below is a list that contrasts the differences between these two types of sources:
Primary Source
Definition: Information about a specific event, presented by someone who witnessed the event.
Defining characteristics: Often written in first person point of view, at or near the time of the event it concerns
Examples by type: Diary, letter from a witness, video or audio recording of the event, interview with witness, news report from the scene, memoir
For example, "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King Jr. (1963) is a primary source because King wrote it about his experiences in the Civil Rights Movement after being arrested for engaging in protests in Birmingham, Alabama. "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" can be identified as a primary source because King wrote the open letter in the first person about events with which he was personally familiar. Although King included political context for his personal experiences in "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," it can easily be identified as a primary source because King used his own contextual knowledge to frame the events he witnessed.
Secondary Source
Definition: Analysis or synthesis of other sources (primary or secondary) that provides a broader, more abstract understanding of a specific event or topic.
Defining characteristics: Often written in omniscient third person point of view
Examples by type: Academic research paper, essay, textbook, documentary, non-fiction book, podcast, academic review
For example, "Letter from a Birmingham Jail Reflection," a panel discussion recorded by C-SPAN in 2014, is a secondary source because the panelists discussed Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" and its historical significance. The panelists from this discussion synthesized their knowledge of "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" and its context to explain its significance to their audience.
Secondary Source Purpose
The purpose of secondary sources is to provide greater context for specific events or eras. A secondary source serves as a synthesis of other sources, primary and secondary, that analyzes the significance of a specific topic. A secondary source should serve as a well-researched, vetted source that informs students learning about complex topics.
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Below is a list of defining characteristics of secondary sources:
- Well-researched, vetted, or empirically tested
- Provides an analysis of other sources
- Adds value to one or more primary sources
- Often written from third person point of view
- Often contain quotations from eyewitnesses
- Include a works cited
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The following is a list of secondary source examples and explanations of the sources used by their authors:
- Lewis and Clark through Indian Eyes is a book written by a number of Native American authors using primary and secondary sources. This book analyzes the long-term impact of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery on the lives of Native American people by using accounts from both groups. The authors often quote directly from the primary source journals kept by Lewis, Clark, and the rest of their party.
- The documentary series The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross produced by historian Henry Lewis Gates Jr. is created using primary source materials, like journals, and secondary source analyses from historians. This series details the historical experiences of African Americans since they first arrived in America; Gates uses extensive source material to inform a detailed history of these experiences and their social, political, and economic contexts within American history.
- Someone Knows Something is a podcast series produced by journalist David Ridgen for the CBC. Ridgen relies heavily on primary sources to help illuminate circumstances surrounding the crimes he investigates; he uses governmental documents, eye-witness interviews, and photographs in an effort to solve decades-old mysteries.
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Secondary sources have several advantages and disadvantages. The following list of advantages and disadvantages can be used to determine what kind of source is best to inform research.
Advantages
- A secondary source should be a synthesis of other sources, that provides key information on a topic in one place, saving the researcher time.
- Secondary sources should seek to add value to primary sources, either in adding data, context, or interpretation.
- Primary sources may be clouded by personal opinion or experience based on how involved the author was in the events on which they are reporting. Secondary sources should be impartial and created with an eye toward chipping away at any bias present in primary sources.
- Secondary sources can take into account the most recent research on a topic in order to ensure the most accurate information is included.
Disadvantages
- Secondary sources are often created long after the events on which they are reporting have occurred, which could mean they lack detail that would have been reported by primary sources.
- Secondary sources may not include enough sources, primary or secondary, to meet the threshold of being well-researched; or they may not include enough source from opposing viewpoints, causing the research to appear biased or imbalanced.
- Secondary sources may risk simply repeating previously-published research if they do not seek to provide added value to the sources they cite.
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Secondary sources are created by people who did not witness the events on which they are reporting first-hand. Secondary sources are created by authors, publishers, or journalists using other primary and secondary sources; the ultimate goal of creating a secondary source is to add value to sources that already exist. A high-quality secondary source should synthesize, analyze, or interpret existing sources in order create a more meaningful discussion around the topic of focus. Examples of secondary sources are textbooks, academic research publications, documentaries, podcasts, essays, or non-fiction books. As with any source, it is important to fully vet secondary sources to ensure they add value to existing sources, instead of simply repeating them. To ensure greater accuracy, researchers can choose recent secondary sources to provide them with the most up-to-date information possible. Secondary sources can include valuable information not available in other sources, but they should inform research in conjunction with other high-quality primary and secondary sources.
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Video Transcript
Definition of Secondary Sources
We've all seen a movie or read a book that we just had to tell our friends about. We might begin by saying simply, ''it was a great movie'' or ''that was the best book I ever read.'' We go on to say what it was that we thought was great about the movie or why that book was the best one we ever read. In doing so, we offer our opinions, observations and interpretations of scenes, characters, plot, word choices or anything else that struck us as we watched or read. Because we are telling our friends about the movie or the book (the original materials), and they are not watching or reading it for themselves, we are a secondary source.
Primary sources are first-hand accounts of events. They are original research, thinking, or discovery on a topic or event, and are written or created by people who actually experienced the event. Secondary sources, on the other hand, are second-hand information that analyze, synthesize, and interpret primary sources. Examples of secondary sources include textbooks, articles, and encyclopedias. They may contain information that has been interpreted, commented on, analyzed or processed at a distance from the original.
Secondary sources are usually produced after an event has occurred. Sometimes, the boundary between primary and secondary sources can be blurry. For instance, a scholarly article is often treated as a secondary source, but it can also present original research, which makes it a primary source.
Function of Secondary Sources
The function of secondary sources is to interpret original materials. Secondary sources are neither better nor worse than original materials; they are simply different. The source of the information you use is not as important as its quality and its relevance for your particular purpose.
The best secondary sources are those that have been published most recently. If you use a secondary source that was published decades ago, it is important to know what current scholars have written on the topic as well as any criticism they have made about the earlier work or its approach to the topic.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Sources
There are advantages to using secondary sources. First and foremost, secondary sources are often less costly and time consuming than collecting original materials. Disadvantages exist as well. There may not be enough secondary sources on your topic. The quality of the available information could also be a problem. The original material may have been analyzed or interpreted by someone without the necessary expertise. There is also a chance that a secondary source could be outdated.
Examples of Secondary Sources
All of these sources can be classified as secondary sources:
- A column in the op/ed section of a newspaper that comments on an election or analyzes a controversial issue in an election
- A newspaper article on campaign finance reform
- A book on the anti-slavery struggle
- An editorial comment on Martin Luther King's ''I Have a Dream'' speech
- A biography of the Dalai Lama or Rosa Parks or your great grandmother
- A literary criticism of any literary work, such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or Shakespeare's Macbeth or Robert Frost's ''The Road Not Taken.''
- A law review article on anti-terrorism legislation
- The opinions or studies of others that analyze the effectiveness of a constitutional amendment in an argument essay about the need to pass a certain amendment
- History textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, movie and book reviews
These are all secondary sources because they are produced after the fact by someone who did not participate in the event, discovery or creation of the information that is being analyzed or interpreted.
Defining Questions
Ultimately, all source materials must be assessed critically. When evaluating sources, the following questions can help you to determine whether or not a source is secondary:
- How does the author know the details? Was the author present at the event or the creation or discovery of the information? If not, the source is a secondary source.
- Where does this information come from: accounts or works written by others? If the information is based on works written by others, it is a secondary source.
Lesson Summary
Remember, secondary sources are second-hand information that analyze, synthesize, and interpret primary sources. The function of secondary sources is to interpret original materials. Secondary sources include comments on, interpretations of, or discussions about the original material. If you see a movie or read a book and then tell your friends what you thought was great about that movie or that book, you are a secondary source.
Secondary source materials can also be articles in newspapers, popular magazines, or scholarly journals that discuss or evaluate someone else's original research or literary work. You can determine whether or not a source is secondary by asking whether or not the author was present at the event or the creation or discovery of the information. You can also classify the source as secondary if information comes from accounts or works written by others.
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Secondary Source | Definition, Characteristics & Examples
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