Content

• Steps
• Tips
• Warnings

A primary source is a direct account of a period of time or event. These include: newspapers, letters, memoirs, music, court cases, documentation, and anything related to the period of time you are studying. Historians, students and professional researchers should analyze the original source to determine its authenticity, scope of issues and practical value. While the original source can have many interpretations, depending on the point of view and experience of the researcher, if you misinterpret the original source, your research can be grossly skewed. Continue reading the article to find out how to analyze the original source.

Steps

1. 1 Read the text carefully repeatedly. Pay special attention to the structure and words in the text each time.If the original source is music or a movie, play it several times.
   • Underline and take notes as you study the original.
2. 2 Consider The rule of bias. It is often used by historians and implies the bias of any source. Be skeptical about the source, and by the end of the first reading you will be able to determine what the bias is; after that, find another source on the same topic with the opposite opinion regarding the problem.
3. 3 Consider The Rule of Time and Place. This rule says: the closer the author of the source to the event, the more valuable the source. After the analysis of the source, you will be able to assess its quality by the degree of closeness of the author to the event under study.
4. 4 Determine the type of source. Examples of types: official document, letter, autobiography, piece of music, memo, newspaper. Knowing this, you will be able to determine the author and the reason for creating this document.
5. 5 Determine who the author is. If you are dealing with newspapers, letters and memories, you need to know who the author is in order to be able to research his past. Even official documents have an author, you can even find in which department and with what guiding explanations this document was written.
   • If possible, identify the gender, religion, race, age, profession, place of residence and political beliefs of the author.
6. 6 Determine for which audience this source was written. Most importantly, is the source private or public? By identifying the audience, you can understand the motivation for writing the document.
7. 7 Understand the main point of the source. Highlight the beginning, middle and end in the story, if possible.
   • Find out if the idea of ​​the source is clear or hidden (easy to establish or extremely expressionless). Find out if it is prescriptive or descriptive. For example, is it about what is about to happen or what does the author believe in?
8. 8 Decide why the source was created. First, understand whether this is a clear statement of fact or a message designed to influence the reader. To understand this, use the bias rule.
9. 9 Ask yourself if the source is trustworthy. Based on the rule of bias, the rule of time and place, and whatever you find out in your analysis, decide if the source is reliable.
   • Also, determine the publication date of the source. This will tell you if it was written during the events or later.
   • Identify a publisher. You can find this information at the beginning of a book or source. Pay attention to the changes that were made later. If the book says "Second Edition" (or a later edition), you need to find out what has changed.
10. 10 List the facts of the studied historical period, which can be derived from the analysis of the source. Write down any information from the source regarding how ordinary people lived at that time and in that place.
11. 11 List the shortcomings of the source based on identified biases, point of view, and other information. This will help you identify the weaknesses of the source, and this will help you when writing a work or essay.

Tips

• Do not dismiss the source as unreliable, it is better to write down information that is not in doubt

Warnings

• Make a copy before using the original. Do not write anything on the original copy, as the original source is rare and therefore should be handled with care.