What is the difference between primary and secondary sources?
Answer
Primary sources are original records and objects created by people who lived at the time of the original historical event. These are often first hand accounts by witnesses and participants or original data collected by a study.
Examples include: diaries, letters, memoirs, speeches, newspapers, social media posts, empirical studies, surveys, novels, artwork, films, video footage, and photographs.
Secondary sources are sources that analyze or interpret information from primary sources. These often include background information by scholars after events have occurred.
Examples include: Scholarly articles, textbooks, encyclopedias, literature reviews, biographies, and documentaries.