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Primary Sources
"Thought takes man out of servitude, into freedom" - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Primary Sources are sources from which you gain information about your research topic. As opposed to Secondary Sources, these are directly connected to your topic. That means they are real people you can interview. Although you will not actually conduct an interview in the research notebook process, this is preparation for an actual interview.
You will need 5 primary sources, and for each you need to write a primary source review. The source review will be divided into 2 paragraphs (the 3rd paragraph only applies to documents, such as diaries or paintings):
- 1. professional history of the person (education, previous experience)
2. specific relationship to subproblems (usually only one)
3. credibility of the source, validity (only for documents)
Each source review should be about 1/2 page in length each, single spaced and typed. (around 2 and 1/2 pages total) Keep in mind all grammar and writing techinques for formal writing.
Steps in Creating Primary Source Reviews
1. Take the Problem Statement you wrote and make a list of possible companies or persons who would have knowledge in that area.
2. You can conduct searches about the persons online or contact the people directly by phone or e-mail. You will need to find enough information about the person to write a substantial review about them. Keep an open mind -- if you can't find enough information about a person, try someone else.
3. Take notes about the people and write your secondary source reviews, keeping in mind the guidelines and requirements.
4. Submit your reviews for peer and teacher editing. Correct anything that needs to be fixed before submitting the final draft.
6. Now you have your Primary Sources done! You are almost at The End.
Example
Here is my problem statement:
"How has the popularity of Japanese animation in the U.S. from 1999-2000 affected the content of pre-teen cartoons (aimed at children aged 10-14) produced in 2000-01 in the U.S.?"
Although an actual source review would be much more detailed in terms of the source's background and experience, this is an example of a primary source I found through an online search:
Matthew Galgani, Vice President of Marketing at TokyoPop Magazine. He oversees brand and product marketing for TokyoPop, an American publication focusing on Japanese animation and comics.
This page is created and maintained by Jennifer Tam. Copyright 2001.