Two Types of Data Sources

Research is a team sport. Nobody can be an expert of everything, and few can be anywhere close to experts on any single subject. Specialization is the order of the day, and the sharing of findings ,especially in the academic community is a well-developed practice with standard practices.

As information is interconnected, it is important to consider how various researchers have connected their pieces of research with that of others in the field. It is just as important to be aware (and articulate) about how ones own research connects with that of others.

In all research, informative material that comes from others can be divided down into two basic types, based on the type of source it comes from:

1. Primary Source Material - material (in any format) that comes directly from the originator or discoverer of that piece of information.

2. Secondary Source Material - material (in any format) that comes indirectly from the originator or discoverer of that piece of information.

In serious research, secondary source material is very good for tracking down primary sources, but primary source material, in whatever format, is what is cited when making links of ones own research to that of others.