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Primary and Secondary Sources

This document discusses primary and secondary sources. It defines primary sources as originating from direct witnesses or participants of an event, while secondary sources are created later and interpret or analyze primary sources. Examples of primary sources include diaries, letters, photographs, and artifacts. Secondary sources include history books, biographies, movies, and encyclopedias which use and reference multiple primary sources. The key distinction is whether the source was created during or after the time being studied.

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Khenz Mistal
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688 views16 pages

Primary and Secondary Sources

This document discusses primary and secondary sources. It defines primary sources as originating from direct witnesses or participants of an event, while secondary sources are created later and interpret or analyze primary sources. Examples of primary sources include diaries, letters, photographs, and artifacts. Secondary sources include history books, biographies, movies, and encyclopedias which use and reference multiple primary sources. The key distinction is whether the source was created during or after the time being studied.

Uploaded by

Khenz Mistal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Primary and

Secondary Sources
Second Lecture in PHIHIS
By Cindy Quaile
Department of Social Sciences
Ateneo de Zamboanga University
Review on Sources of
Information
• Where do we get our information?
• There are two sources of information.
• What is a primary source? A secondary source?
• Can you give examples?
• Can you distinguish the two?
Primary vs. Secondary Sources
of Information

• A primary source is
distinguished from a
secondary source by
the fact that the former
gives the words of the
witnesses or first
recorders of an event.
Primary Source
• It is prepared by a person who was a participant in
or a direct witness to the event being described.

• An oral or written testimony of an eye witness.


• Information produced by a contemporary of the
event (written or created during the time under
study).

• The source (person or object) was present during


the experience or time period and offer an inside
view of the event.
Primary Sources
• Personal
Records

• Social Records

• Legal Records
Primary Sources
• Give examples of primary sources under each heading

Written Visual Oral Artifacts


Primary Sources
• Give examples of primary sources under each heading

Written Visual Oral Artefacts


Diaries Paintings Interviews Tools
Letters Photos Speeches Bones
Census Jewellery
Government
Reports
Autobiography
Newspapers
manuscript
Is this a primary or secondary
source of historical information?

Paying the death penalty for criminal - garroting a


criminal at Bilibid Prison, Manila, P.I.
Date: 1923; Photograph by: Joseph Earle Stevens
Formats of Primary Sources
Suppose this photo is put in a video.
Is the video a primary or secondary
source of historical information?

Paying the death penalty for criminal - garroting a


criminal at Bilibid Prison, Manila, P.I.
Date: 1923; Photograph by: Joseph Earle Stevens
Primary vs. Secondary Sources
of Information
Secondary Source
• a document prepared by an individual who was not a
direct witness to an event, but who obtained a
description of the event from someone else.
• Secondary sources are evidence that comes from a
later date. They are written after the event.
• The secondary source interprets and analyses
primary sources. These sources are one or more
steps removed from the event.
Can you think of examples
of secondary sources?
 Biography
 Movies
 TV or radio documentary
 Internet
 History books
• ( Many secondary sources are put together using many different
primary sources)
Exercise: Identify which of the following is a
primary or a secondary source.

1. Encyclopaedia
2. Current events news reports
3. Autobiography
4. Wikipedia on Spanish Colonialization
5. English translation of Rizal’s letters
6. Noli Me Tangere (Edited)
7. Analysis of Rizal’s poems
S U M M A RY
• Primary
• Eye or ear witnesses
• Original documents
• Relics and artifacts
• Secondary
• Copies of objects
• Second hand information
• Textbooks
• biographies
• Encyclopedias
• Review of research and other references
Questions to Ponder

• Are secondary sources inferior to primary


sources?
• Which is more credible?
• Which is more reliable?
Disadvantages of Primary Sources

 Some have limited copies or samples


 Bias of the writer or creator
 May not be representative of the entire society
 Need to check the reliability and validity

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