PRIMARY SOURCE

A primary source is
anything that gives you
direct evidence about the
people, events, or
phenomena that you are
researching.
SECONDARY SOURCE
A secondary source is
anything that describes,
interprets, evaluates, or
analyzes information from
primary sources.
How to tell if a source is
primary or secondary
To determine if something
can be used as a primary or
secondary source in your
research, there are some
simple questions you can
ask yourself:
• Does this source come
from someone directly
involved in the events I’m
studying (primary) or from
another researcher
(secondary)?
• Am I interested in
analyzing the source itself
(primary) or only using it
for background information
(secondary)?
• Does the source provide
original information
(primary) or does it
comment upon information
from other sources
(secondary)?

Write “P” if the source is

primary or “S” if the
source is secondary
1. An encyclopedia entry on
the Vietnam War
2. The diary of Anne Frank
(a young girl who lived in
hiding during the
Holocaust)
3. Sheet music that was
used to play military tunes
during the Revolutionary
War.
4.A website that
summarizes Ancient
Roman mythology.
5. A map of China created
during ancient times.
PRIMARY
SECONDARY
 1. A diary titled
“Life in the Mines”
from a miner
named Lucky Noah
2. A chapter in your
world history
textbook about the
Ancient Greeks
3. A magazine article
from 2022 titled
“Mining in the Old
West 1970s”
 4. A photograph from
the 1941 attack at Pearl
Harbor that you found in
your grandparents’
photo album
5. A newspaper article
outlining the effect of
the Wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan
6. A manuscript of
Barack Obama’s
first speech as
President.
7. A journal article
written about how
Native Americans
lived
 8. A TV show
explaining what
happened in a
crime scene
9. An authentic World
War I uniform worn by
your great
grandfather
 10. A published
research paper about
Digital Literacy Skills
in the 21 Century
st
Write “P” if the source is
primary or “S” if the
source is secondary
1. The speech of Walt
Disney about Disneyland
2. The diary of Anne Frank
(a young girl who lived in
hiding during the
Holocaust)
3. An article about the war
in Ukraine
4.A website that
summarizes Ancient
Greek mythology.
5. Statistics about health
status gathered by
Barangay Health Workers
STATISTICS
SPEECHES
DIARIES
INTERVIEWS
PAINTINGS
TEXTBOOKS
ENCYCLOPEDIA
WEBSITES
REVIEWS
REACTION PAPER
 LEARNING GOALS
1. Differentiate primary and
secondary sources of
information.
2. Identify primary and
secondary sources of information
used in data gathering.