Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

Primary sources are materials that were either created during the time period being studied or were created at a later date by a participant in the events being studied, such as, a soldier's memoir serving during the Vietnam War. They are original documents [i.e., they are not about another document or account] and reflect the individual viewpoint of a participant or observer. Primary sources can be any type of document, record, or material item that represents direct, uninterpreted information related to the subject of your research.

NOTE: Information about identifying and using primary resources materials, particularly those held in the USC Libraries, can be found here: Primary Sources Research Guide.

Primary sources enable you to get as close as possible to understanding the lived experiences of others and discovering what actually happened during an event. They can expose you to multiple perspectives concerning significant issues about the past and its relationship to the present. Integrating primary sources into your paper facilitates interpretations of events and issues that have not been filtered through the lens of others. In this way, primary sources represent the raw materials of doing research.

Keep in mind, however, that what constitutes a primary or secondary source depends on the context in which it is being used. For example, David McCullough’s biography of John Adams would be a secondary source for a paper about John Adams, but a primary source for a paper about how various historians have interpreted the presidency of John Adams. When in doubt about the source status of an item, ask a librarian for assistance!

Reviewing primary source material can be of value in improving your overall research paper because they:

1. Are original materials,
2. Were created from the time period involved,
3. Have not been filtered through interpretation or evaluation by others, and
4. Represent original thinking or experiences, reporting of a discovery, or the sharing of new information.

Examples of primary documents you could review as part of your overall study include:

• Artifacts [e.g. furniture or clothing, all from the time under study]
• Audio recordings [e.g. radio programs]
• Diaries
• Internet communications on email, listservs, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms
• Interviews [e.g., oral histories, telephone, e-mail]
• Newspaper articles written at the time
• Original official documents [e.g., birth certificate, will, marriage license, trial transcript]
• Patents
• Personal correspondence [e.g., letters]
• Photographs
• Proceedings of meetings, conferences and symposia
• Records of organizations, government agencies [e.g. annual report, treaty, constitution, government document]
• Speeches
• Survey Research [e.g., market surveys, public opinion polls]
• Transcripts of radio and television programs
• Video recordings
• Works of art, architecture, literature, and music [e.g., paintings, sculptures, musical scores, buildings, novels, poems]

NOTE: Primary source materials are often viewed as historical resources or objects that generally reside in archives or special collections and, thus, symbolize the past in some way. However, all of the examples of primary sources listed above are constantly being generated by governments, organizations, companies, individuals, and other entities and, therefore, can be used in papers that discuss or examine very recent and contemporary research problems [e.g., using a map to show the impact of an on-going natural disaster; a speech given yesterday by the U.S. Secretary of State]. Primary sources can represent and bring attention to anything in your paper regardless of when they were produced or made accessible.

Bahde, Anne. Using Primary Sources: Hands-On Instructional Exercises. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2014; Brundage, Anthony. Going to the Sources: A Guide to Historical Research and Writing. Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell, 2013; Daniels, Morgan and Elizabeth Yakel. “Uncovering Impact: The Influence of Archives on Student Learning.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 39 (September 2013): 414-422; "Getting Started with Primary Sources." Teachers Program. Library of Congress. Krause, Magia G. “Undergraduates in the Archives: Using an Assessment Rubric to Measure Learning.” The American Archivist 73 (Fall/Winter 2010): 507-534; Rockenbach, Barbara. “Archives, Undergraduates, and Inquiry-Based Learning: Case Studies from Yale University Library.” The American Archivist 74 (Spring/Summer 2011): 297-311; Weiner, Sharon A., Sammie Morris, and Lawrence J. Mykytiuk. "Archival Literacy Competencies for Undergraduate History Majors." The American Archivist 78 (Spring/Summer 2015): 154-180.

Decolonizing Primary Source Collections

Within the field of librarianship, decolonizing archival collections involves practices of deliberately thinking about and consciously changing how historical knowledge is produced, communicated, and preserved. Many archival collections have been evaluated [i.e., choosing what should be preserved or discarded], organized, and made accessible based on value systems and power structures that were disproportionately white and patriarchal. This practice contributed to the erasure or marginalization of voices and the meaningful contributions to history of indigenous communities, minority groups, and women. When using collections of primary sources, focus your research not only on what is available to you, but what may be missing. In some cases, the voices of others may have been lost forever, but in other cases, sources for filling those silenced voices may be available elsewhere and only require additional research. Always consult with the librarian to determine if the contributions of others are available.

Bastian, Jeannette A. and Stanley H. Griffin. "Archival Dignity, Colonial Records and Community Narratives." Archival Science 24 (2024): 1-16; Genovese, Taylor R. "Decolonizing Archival Methodology: Combating Hegemony and Moving Towards a Collaborative Archival Environment." AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples 12 (2016): 32-42; Gordon, Aaron Andrew. Eurocentric Archival Knowledge Production and Decolonizing Archival Theory. Doctoral Dissertation. Toronto, Canada: Graduate Program in Social and Political Thought, York University, 2014; Successful Approaches to Decolonizing Archives. American Library Association, August 9, 2023.