Secondary Research (PART 2)

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  • Created by: R_S_E
  • Created on: 22-06-14 13:42
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  • Types of secondary sources I could use for secondary research (PART 2)
    • Magazines and articles
      • Aimed at 'normal' people so may not be quite as detailed or accurate as, say academic journals
        • Use them in conjunction with other sources
      • History based ones e.g. About History or BBC History
      • Probably written by people who know their stuff as the magaxzines have muxh to lsoe by hiring people who don't know what they're talking about
      • Understandable as aimed at a 'normal' person
    • Websites
      • Some websites e.g. Wikipedia can be edited by anyone = may not have expertise, a good reputation = lessens credibility
        • Check the creator of the website (if it doesn't give one treat it with caution)
        • Cross reference the information it gives with more reliable sources to get an indication of how reliable it is
      • Can be out of date / made a long time ago
        • Check the last time they updated it to see if it accounts for recent information
      • Could include blogs, academic websites, educational websites
      • Very fast to do
      • Often more up to date than books/journals etc. because it is so much easier to update
      • Blogs by academics would have good credibility as they would have been written by experts (e.g. pHd) who have a vested interest not to be untruthful in case they damage their reputation
    • Newspapers
      • Journalist may not have any particular expertise in history and not have a good reputation in that field = decreases credibility
        • Research who they are before using it to check it out
      • Can be deeply opinionated and controversial = bias = decreases credibility
        • Don't take anything written for granted - cross reference with other sources to check its reliability (agreement = reliable)
          • Could exaggerate to sell papers (vested interest to exaggerate) = decreases credibility
      • Could exaggerate to sell papers (vested interest to exaggerate) = decreases credibility
      • Views could be affected by their political leaning i.e. right/left wing = bias = decreases credibility
        • Use a mixture of papers about the same thing to try and get a balanced view
      • Online or actually in a paper - by a journalist or a columnist e.g. a historian with a column
      • Include eye witness accounts, interviews etc. = ability to percieve = credibility
      • Vested interest not to be completely untruthful or the paper could damage their reputation and lose readers
      • Columns by professional historians or likewise qualified individuals will be written by people with expertise in history and have a good reputation as the paper decided to hire them (wouldn't hire someone useless)
      • Online archives of newspapers make it very quick and easy to access

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