Types of Sources: Primary and Secondary (Keys for Writers by Ann Raimes)

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Types of Sources Primary and Secondary (Keys
for Writers by Ann Raimes)

• Primary Firsthand, raw, or original materials
  that researchers study and analyze.
• Involves consulting historical documents,
  visuals, journals and letters, autobiographies,
  memoirs, government statistics and studies, and
  speeches.
• Involves examining works of art, literature, and
  architecture or watch or listen to performances
  and programs.
• Involves study or initiating case studies or
  scientific experiments and take extensive field
  notes. Conduct interviews and use data collected
  from questionnaires

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Secondary Sources

• Analytical works that comment on and interpret
  other works, such as primary sources. Examples
  include reviews, discussions, biographies,
  critical studies, analysis of literary or
  artistic works or event, commentaries on current
  and historical events, class lectures, and
  electronic discussions.

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Evaluating Sources

• Read sources critically.
• Ask questions about the credentials and
  reputation of the author and the place of
  publication.
• What do you learn about the writers purpose and
  the audience whom the author is addressing?
• Ask questions about the ideas you read an easy
  way to do this is to write your annotations in
  the margins, and/or if you get a sense of doubt,
  make a note of what troubles you.
• Be on the lookout for assumptions that may be
  faulty. If you are reading an article on
  home-schooling and the writer favors
  home-schooling because it avoids subjecting
  students to violence in schools, the unstated
  assumption is that all schools are violent places.

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• Make sure the writers evidence is adequate and
  accurate. For example, if the writer is making a
  generalization about all Chinese students based
  on a study of only three, you have cause to
  challenge the generalization as resting on
  inadequate evidence.
• Note how the writer uses language. Which terms
  does the writer use with positiveor
  negative---connotations, signaling the values the
  writer holds? Does the writer flamboyantly
  denigrate and dismiss the views of others with
  such phrases as a ridiculous notion or
  laughably inept policies?
• Be alert for sweeping generalizations, bias, and
  prejudice Women want to stay home and have
  children. Men love to spend Sundays watching
  sports.

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Recognize scholarly articles

• Scholarly articles are not usually found in
  magazines in a dentists office.
• Scholarly articles are peer reviewedthat is,
  other scholars read all the articles and approve
  them for publication.
• These articles have section headings, abstracts,
  and summary and/or conclusion headings. They
  determine the authors main idea.
• They refer to works of other scholars (Reference
  Page, in-text citations, author credentials,
  notes, in depth analysis, uses academic or
  technical language for informed readers, appears
  in journals that dont include colorful
  advertisements, etc.

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Evaluating Web sources Developing junk antennae

• If you find an article in a subscription database
  (InfoTrac, LexisNexis, etc.) you will know that
  the article has been published in print.
• If the article has been published in a reputable
  periodical or in an online journal sponsored by a
  professional organization or university, you can
  assume that it is a valid source for a research
  paper.
• For works devised specifically for the Web, use
  the following strategies to separate the
  information from the junk

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• Scrutinize the domain name of the URL. Reliable
  information can be found on .gov and .edu
  addresses that are institutionally sponsored.
  With .com or .org sources, always assess whether
  the source provides factual information or
  advocates a specific point of view on an issue.
• Assess the originator of an .edu source. Check
  that the institution or a branch of it is
  sponsoring the site. A tilde () followed by a
  name in the URL indicates an individual posting
  from an academic source. Try to ascertain
  whether the individual is a faculty member or a
  student. Increasingly, though, individuals are
  setting up websites under their own domain name.

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• Check the About page or the home page. Always
  take the link from a Web site to its About page
  or its home page, if you are not already there.
  These pages often provide more information about
  the author, the sponsor, the purpose, and the
  date of posting.
• Determine the author, and discover what you can
  about him/her. Look for a list of credentials, a
  home page, a resume, or Web publications. In
  Google or Google Scholar, use the authors name
  as a search term to see what the author has
  published on the Internet or who has cited the
  author. If no individual author or institutional
  author is to be found anywhere, check the purpose
  and sponsor of the site.

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• Investigate the purposes of a Web page author or
  sponsor. Objectivity and rationality are not
  necessarily features of all Web pages. The
  sponsor of a site may want to persuade, convert,
  or sell. Even if the message is not obviously
  biased and extreme, be aware that most authors
  write from some sense of conviction or purpose.
  (Note, though, that a Web site can be oriented
  toward a specific view without necessarily being
  irresponsible.)
• Evaluate the quality of the writing. A Web page
  filled with spelling and grammatical errors
  should not inspire confidence. If the language
  has not been checked, the ideas probably havent
  been given much time and thought, either. Dont
  use such a site as a source. Exceptions are
  discussion lists and Usenet postings. They are
  written and posted quickly, so even if they
  contain errors, they can also contain useful
  ideas to stimulate thinking on your topic.

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• Follow the links. See whether the links in a
  site take you to authoritative sources. If the
  links no longer work (youll get a 404 message
  Site Not Found), the home page with the links
  has not been updated in a whilenot a good sign.
• Check for dates, updates, ways to respond, and
  ease of navigation. A recent date of posting or
  recent updating information about the author
  ways to reach the author by e-mail, regular mail,
  or phone a clearly organized site easy
  navigation up-to-date links to responsible sites
  are all indications that the site is well managed
  and current.

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• Corroborate information. Try to find the same
  information on another reliable site. Also look
  for contradictory information elsewhere.

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Basics in citing using APA

• In-Text Citation
• Book
• The speed at which we live is seen as cause for
  concern and derision (Gleick, 1999).
• The renowned scholar of language, David Crystal,
  has promoted the idea of dialect democracy
  (2004, p. 168).

• Entry in Reference Page
• Gleick, J. (1999). Faster The acceleration of
  just about everything. New York Pantheon.
• Crystal, D. (2004). The stories of English.
  Woodstock, NY Overlook Press.

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Print Article

• In-Text Citation
• Ambition is seen as an impulse that requires an
  enormous investment of emotional capital
  (Kluger, 2005, p. 59).
• Or
• Kluger (2005, p. 59) sees ambition as an impulse
  that requires an enormous investment of
  emotional capital.

• Reference Page
• Kluger, J. (2005, November 14). Ambition Why
  some people are most likely to succeed. Time,
  166, 48-59.
• (Volume and pg. s.)

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Article in Online Database

• In-Text Citation
• Research has shown that cross-cultural
  identification does not begin before eight years
  of age (Sousa, Neto, Mullet, 2005).

• Reference Page
• Sousa, R.M., Neto, F., Mullet, E. (2005). Can
  music change ethnic attitudes among children?
  Psychology of Music, 33, 304-316. Retrieved
  December 15, 2005, from Sage Psychology, CSA
  database.

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Document on Web Site

• In-Text Citing
• Contributing to global warming in the past
  century is a considerable rise in sea levels
  (Coren, 2006). See Source Shot 4 on p. 185.

• Reference Page
• Coren, M. (2006, February 10). The science debate
  behind climate change. Retrieved April 13, 2006,
  from http//www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/04/08/ea
  rth.science/index.html