Difference Between Primary Source and Secondary Source (With Table)

Primary Sources are a set of documents or artifacts which were created at or near the time of an event and which can be directly linked to that event. They may have been written, recorded, filmed, drawn, etched, and carved in reliefs. A Primary Source of information is detailed and full of facts.

A Secondary Source is a resource that provides information to a topic that does not take the perspective of the Primary Source. It usually covers a diverse range of topics and may draw from academic, popular, or other sources. However, most are created afterward by someone who did not witness the event.

Comparison Table Between Primary Source and Secondary Source

What is Primary Source?

The Primary Sources are a set of documents or facts which were created at or near the time of an event and which can be directly linked to that event. They may have been written, recorded, filmed, drawn, etched, and carved in reliefs. A Primary Source often contains evidence of human action and thought from the alleged period.

Primary Sources can provide an invaluable insight into the past for historians, as they offer a window to the past at the time when it happened. The ownership of primary sources allows specialists to analyze, interpret, and evaluate them. In archaeology and anthropology, a site can also be a primary source.

Primary Sources materials created or written at the time of events by people who were part of them. Primary Sources can assume many forms, from inscriptions on stone tablets to letters, diaries, books, photographs, and films. In some cases, the original records from the site are as important as the artifacts. For example, reading a letter from a soldier from World War I would provide first-hand accounts of what was happening during the war.

What is Secondary Source?

A Secondary Source is a resource that provides information to a topic that does not take the perspective of the primary source. It usually covers a diverse range of topics and may draw from academic, popular, or other sources. This can be a newspaper clipping from weeks ago, an article from last month that doesn’t have much concerning the research paper. The Secondary Sources can be of assistance to an author in various ways. To create a good Secondary Source, follow these steps:

• Research the topic thoroughly.
• The information found should be accurate.
• It must be easy to read and understand.
• Should make it quick and easy for others to read.
• Must have writing skills because the readers want well-written writing. 
• Must have the ability to write in a way that flows well.
• Writing should be understandable and sound interesting to the readers.
• It should be written in a way that is enticing and interesting to want to learn more about the topic written.
• It must be up to date with the latest information.

A Secondary Source is any type of information that is not directly related to the main topic being discussed by the author in a paper, essay, or research document. Secondary Sources give information and facts about a subject or topic that can not be found anywhere else. Moreover, Secondary Sources gather information from primary resources and put them together in an orderly manner so they can be used as guidelines for future research on the same topic.

Main Differences Between Primary Source and Secondary Source

1. A Primary Source can be defined as a document produced by someone who was directly connected to what they are writing about, whereas a Secondary Source is any type of information that is not directly related to the main topic being discussed by the author in a paper, essay, or research document.
2. A Primary Source is often created by people who were directly involved in a particular period, whereas, Secondary Source is created by people by taking reference in a different period.
3. A Primary Source of information is an original document or is detailed and full of facts, whereas, Secondary Source is a document created by someone else about the topic when researching.
4. The Primary Sources are limited only by their accessibility, whereas, Secondary Sources are not limited.
5. The Primary Sources illustrations are direct conversations, interviews, emails, videos, and photos, whereas, Secondary Sources illustrations are paper, essay, research document, and articles.

Conclusion

There are multiple types of sources that go into making a piece of information, including the well-known Primary Sources and Secondary Sources. The definition of a Primary Source is often found to be more complicated than that of a Secondary Source because of how it varies between fields and types of information.

In a way, a Primary Source is both a Secondary and a Primary Source. A Primary Source can be defined as a document produced by someone who was directly connected to what they are writing about. A Secondary Source is a resource that provides information to a topic that does not take the perspective of the Primary Source.

References

1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/395666
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231017304545
3. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/2016GL068207