types of sources used in research
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Types of Sources Used in Research
Nancy McEnery, MLIS
Periodicals: Popular versus Scholarly
Scholarly JournalsPopular Magazines, Trade Journals,Tabloids
Think of your Doctor’s Office…
Journal of the American Medical Association
House and Garden, SunsetPeople Magazine
Popular Magazines
• Are written for a general broad audience.
• The information may or may not be written by an expert in the field.
• Articles are often by a staff writer and contain quotes & opinions of experts.
• Often contain well-considered writing.
Is this a good source for a research paper?
• When evaluating a source to use in a research paper, the degree of authority and the depth of research on a given topic determine if the source has academic value
Academic Journals… A better Choice?
• Scholarly sources contain articles written by experts in particular fields.
• Experts are recognized by their degrees, work affiliation, and research publications.
• Subject-specific.
• Critically evaluated by peers (fellow scholars) for content, scholarly soundness & academic value.
Examples
• JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
• School Library Journal
• Modern Fiction Studies
• American Anthropologist
Chart
Use this handout to help you to identify additional features to distinguish between popular and scholarly sources.
• Purpose Publication
• Topics Appearance
• Author Language
• Audience
• Format
Research Using Primary & Secondary Sources in the
Humanities and the Sciences
Lewis & Clark Journals, 1804-06. American Journal of Nursing
What is a Primary Source?
• An original record created during it’s time period that does not contain any outside interpretation.
Example: Research for History Papers
Using Primary
and Secondary Sources
to Study World War I
Primary Sources
• Documents that give a rich sense of life in the time period, as told by it’s participants
• Diaries• Letters• Photographs• First-hand accounts• Sound recordings
Primary Sources: Photos
Primary sources: Photos
Convalescent Hospital #2 at Agay, France, 1918.
Primary Sources: Diaries
The Personal Diary of Bill Schira
March 4, 1918 to July 6, 1919
Primary Sources: Letters
.
Primary Sources: Maps
What are Secondary Sources?
• An analysis, interpretation, or evaluation of primary source information, usually written after the event.
Bibliographic or Secondary Sources
• What other’s have written about a topic
• books• articles from
magazines & scholarly journals.
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More Secondary Sources
How do historians research?
• They tend to do more solitary research.
• They read books.• They get direction
from citations in their reading.
• They use primary sources and back them up with secondary sources.
Consider as you do history research
• Use both primary and secondary sources
How do Scientists Research?
• Go to seminars & professional meetings and talk with other scientists.
• Do their own experiments.
• They subscribe to journals in their field of study.
How do Scientists Research?
• Scientists are concerned with the results of other’s research.
• They go to peer-reviewed journals like Nature to read original research results.
“But not every article in Nature or Science Journal will be original research!
A Word of Caution:
• Not every article in the journals will be research articles. Some will include book reviews and other materials that are more obviously secondary sources.
• (Remember: a secondary source is something written about a primary source. Secondary sources include comments on, interpretations of, or discussions about the original material).
• Review articles are more difficult to differentiate from original articles. They are not primary sources because they “review” previously published materials.
In the Sciences,
• Primary literature refers to the first place a scientist publishes the results of scientific investigations.
• This Week in JAMA This Week in JAMA
• JAMA. 2009;301(12):1201.
• FULL TEXT | PDF Original Contributions Collaborative Care for Chronic Pain in Primary Care: A Cluster Randomized TrialSteven K. Dobscha; Kathryn Corson; Nancy A. Perrin; Ginger C. Hanson; Ruth Q. Leibowitz; Melanie N. Doak; Kathryn C. Dickinson; Mark D. Sullivan; Martha S. GerrityJAMA. 2009;301(12):1242-1252.
• ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT | PDF | JAMA REPORT VIDEO Clinical Outcome and Phenotypic Expression in LAMP2 CardiomyopathyBarry J. Maron; William C. Roberts; Michael Arad; Tammy S. Haas; Paolo Spirito; Gregory B. Wright; Adrian K. Almquist; Jeanne M. Baffa; J. Philip Saul; Carolyn Y. Ho; Jonathan Seidman; Christine E. SeidmanJAMA. 2009;301(12):1253-1259.
• ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT | PDF Caring for the Critically Ill Patient Chlorhexidine-Impregnated Sponges and Less Frequent Dressing Changes for Prevention of Catheter-Related Infections in Critically Ill Adults: A Randomized Controlled TrialJean-François Timsit; Carole Schwebel; Lila Bouadma; Arnaud Geffroy; Maïté Garrouste-Orgeas; Sebastian Pease; Marie-Christine Herault; Hakim Haouache; Silvia Calvino-Gunther; Brieuc Gestin; Laurence Armand-Lefevre; Véronique Leflon; Chantal Chaplain; Adel Benali; Adrien Francais; Christophe Adrie; Jean-Ralph Zahar; Marie Thuong; Xavier Arrault; Jacques Croize; Jean-Christophe Lucet; for the Dressing Study GroupJAMA. 2009;301(12):1231-1241.
How can you tell if it’s original research (or a primary source?)
Primary research articles use a common format:
• Look for a methods section (sometimes called materials & methods).
• Look for results (usually followed with charts & statistical tables).
• Look for a discussion section.• Look for language like “we tested”, “in our
study” or “we measured.” This tells you the article is reporting original research.
Where the Confusion Begins…
• The distinction between types of sources can get tricky because a secondary source may also be a primary source.
• Gary Wills’ book about Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address can be looked at as both a secondary and a primary source. The distinction may depend upon how you are using the source and the nature of your research.
Primary or Secondary?
• If you are researching about Abraham Lincoln, the book would be a secondary source because Wills’ is offering his opinions about Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address.
• If you are researching the Gettysburg Address, this original primary source document is contained in Wills’ book.
Primary or Secondary?
• Primary literature refers to the first place a scientist publishes the results of scientific investigations.
In the case of a
scientific journal,
the author may
have first published
their original researchIn the Journal of Zoology
If the article isrepublished in Nature, it is no longer a primary source.
The End
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