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Research Guidance for Curriculum & Instruction Graduate Programs: 4. Primary Vs. Secondary

Identifying Seminal Work

Seminal sources tend to be the major studies that initially presented an idea of great importance or influence within a particular discipline.

Think of seminal sources as researchers/thinkers/authors that everyone discusses (whether or not current research agrees with their findings). If you don’t know of any specific researchers that are THE ones for your topic (think Vygotsky, Piaget, Gardner, Benner).

These works were generally published in the past. So if you are looking for seminal works in the databases and you limit your results to 5 years, you will not find them! 

Primary Resources

A primary source is a first-hand or contemporary account of an event or topic. Primary sources are the most direct evidence of a time or event because they were created by people or things that were there at the time or event. These sources offer original thought and have not been modified by interpretation.

Examples are:

  • original research studies reporting new research or findings
  • case studies
  • original documents e.g. birth certificates, trial transcripts
  • autobiographies, manuscripts
  • interviews, speeches, oral histories
  • government documents, statistical data, research reports
  • creative art works, literature
  • Diaries, letters, correspondence
  • case law, legislation, regulations, constitutions
  • newspaper advertisements and reportage and editorial/opinion pieces

Secondary Resources

Secondary sources are a type of source that interpret primary sources and are often used for research. Secondary sources provide information indirectly, through authors who have made judgments about the quality of the primary and secondary information they have used. 

 

Examples are:

  • Scholarly articles where research is based on an original experiment, tool, or study
  • Scholarly articles written as reflecting on history, opinionated, or reflective accounts 
  • Reviews; any article with "review" in the title is usually a secondary
  • Books that interpret or review research works
  • Critiques of literature, film, art, etc.
  • Biographies
  • Commentaries