Primary, secondary, and tertiary sources

A student may ask us:

What is the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources? Why does it matter?

Our reply would be:

Primary, secondary, and tertiary are just other words for first hand, second hand, and third hand. When we cite information in an academic research project or thesis, it is useful for our readers to know what kind of data we are using. Where did it come from?

The student’s next question may be:

Well, what is a primary source?

We would explain:

A primary source is one that gives direct access to information. It is usually original, and was not available until it was presented as a primary source. It usually does not have any commentary attached to it.

The student may wonder:

Why are primary sources so important?

We may reply:

The point of original research is to offer something new, and give information that was never available before. So primary sources are valuable because they are fresh, new, and unexpected.

If the student asks:

Can you give me some examples of primary sources?

We might respond:

Usually we might consider as primary sources theses, dissertations, scholarly journal articles that involve original research, some government reports, conference proceedings, original artwork, poems, photographs, speeches, letters, memos, personal narratives, diaries, interviews, autobiographies, and correspondence.

The student may then ask:

What about secondary sources?

Secondary sources tend to discuss primary sources. They may explain the material, but they are not directly original in the way that primary sources are. They may have real value in helping us to understand and organize data, but they are not the data itself. If the student asks:

What are some examples of secondary sources?

Our response may be:

Among secondary sources are textbooks, books and articles that interpret or review research works, histories, biographies, literary criticism and interpretation, reviews of law and legislation, political analyses and commentaries.

The student may insist:

I still don’t see why it is important to know that.

We may explain:

If a paper cites only secondary and tertiary sources, an ajarn may ask a student to look at some more primary sources, to use more original data, not just interpretations of the original.

For example, if the research project is an analysis of a poem, if only other articles and books about the poem are cited, but not the poem itself, we should be sure to include the primary source, the poem, in our citations. Otherwise our readers may wonder if we have really read the original poem, the primary source.

The student may ask at this point:

Well, what are tertiary sources?

We may answer:

Tertiary sources are lists of other sources.

If a book or article summarizes ideas or other information in a different format, it may be a tertiary source. Some tertiary sources are not even signed by a specific writer, as in reference works such as Wikipedia, directories, guidebooks, manuals, handbooks, indexing and abstracting sources.

The student may insist:

How can I tell whether some sources are secondary or tertiary, for example dictionaries and encyclopedias, bibliographies, and textbooks?

We would reply:

That’s a good question. It depends on the purpose of the book or article. If it is clearly only a list without an author’s name, it is likely to be a tertiary source, just putting together sources without anything new at all. If it offers some comment or special understanding about primary sources, then it is more likely to be a secondary source. When in doubt, as your ajarn. 

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)