Primary sources are original documents or the first-hand accounts of an event and can include autobiographies, interviews, original artworks, original research and results from experiments or case studies, etc.
Using primary sources as supporting evidence will always allow you to build a strong case for your hypothesis as there is nothing better than original authentic content.
Secondary sources usually comment on, interpret or discuss primary sources, thus providing an analysis of the original source.
These include biographies, books and book reviews, newspaper articles that are not eye-witness accounts, and articles in academic journals which evaluate original research, etc.
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Primary Source |
Secondary Source |
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President Zuma's State of the Nation Address |
Newspaper articles analysing and criticising the address |
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Long Walk to Freedom: the autobiography of Nelson Mandela written by Nelson Mandela and therefore in his own words |
Biographies of Nelson Mandela written by other authors |
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Article by Michael Porter on the Five Forces Model |
Articles by other authors criticising the Five Forces Model by Michael Porter |
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A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare |
A criticism and interpretation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream by Stephen Marx |
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