A secondary source is a source where the argument is based on primary sources. There are three types of secondary sources: monographs, scholarly essays, and scholarly articles. You may use essays, articles, and/or chapters from monographs.
Monograph: a monograph is a scholarly book based on primary sources, but usually also includes other secondary sources. Often the bibliography of a monograph will be divided into a section of primary and a section of secondary sources. A book that has no footnotes/endnotes or bibliography is not a monograph. A book that is based only on secondary sources is a tertiary source, not a monograph.
Scholarly Essays: these are short works contained in books that are based on primary sources, but usually also include other secondary sources. Collections of essays are usually found published in what looks like a book, but is actually a collection of essays. These collections will have editors, but usually different authors for each essay. One of the best ways to find essays is to search the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature. An essay that has no footnotes/endnotes or bibliography is not a scholarly essay. An essay that is based only on secondary sources is a tertiary source, not a scholarly essay.
Scholarly Articles: these are articles found in professional (not popular) journals and are based on primary sources, but usually also include other secondary sources. An example of a scholarly journal would be the American Historical Review or The Journal of Social History. An example of a popular journal would be National Geographic, Newsweek, or Time. It is possible, though difficult, to find a scholarly article on the web. Remember that no footnotes/endnotes or work cited page means you can’t tell if it’s scholarly which means you can’t use it. There are numerous databases in which you can find scholarly articles that are available through the University of Cincinnati library.
Book Reviews: students often confuse book reviews with articles. Reviews are often found in the same scholarly journals where you would find articles. Book reviews do not have footnotes/endnotes or works cited pages and only generally discuss the one book that the reviewer is evaluating.
I. Three ways to use a secondary source.
A.
As a collection of facts.
When historians publish their research it generally includes a great many facts. Use a secondary source if you need to find a particular piece of information quickly. You might need to know, for example, when Harriet Beacher Stowe lived, in what year the Fugitive Slave Act was passed or the number of slaves in South Carolina in 1648. These facts may be found quickly in a secondary source and often even in a tertiary source such as a textbook or encyclopedia.
B. As a source of background material.
If you are about one subject such as the motivations of the people who worked the Underground Railroad, but you need to know something in general about the overall structure of the Railroad for your introduction section, then you would go to a secondary source. There is no need to look at primary sources for evidence when it is the section of your paper that is just setting up the subject, but not specifically addressing your more narrow topic.
C. As an interpretation.
Since the facts do not speak for themselves, it is necessary for the historian to say what all these facts mean. To use them to answer the question that he or she is trying to answer. Secondary sources provide not only facts or basic information, but a way of making sense of or understanding that information. You should use a secondary source if you wish to understand how an historian makes sense of a particular event, person, or trend. It is generally a good idea to explain how other historians have answered the question that you are asking before you then answer the question yourself using your primary sources as evidence. In that way you can say whether you agree or disagree with others who have written on your topic. Remember that historians often disagree on interpretations. For example, many historians see the French Revolution as the result of beliefs in liberty and equality; other historians see the French Revolution as the result of the economic demands of a rising middle class. It is, therefore, important to note if you find disagreements.
II. Using interpretations.
The most important thing to do when reading a secondary source is to find and to understand that particular author's interpretation. How does that particular author put the facts together so that they make sense? What is the question he/she is asking and how is it answered.
A. Finding the interpretation.
Good authors want the reader to find and understand the interpretation. Because the reason for writing a book or article or essay is to explain something to another person, a good author will make the interpretation easy to find. In other words, they want you to believe their answer so they usually make it easy to find.
1. In an essay or article.
In an essay, particularly a short one, an author will often state the interpretation as part of the thesis statement. The thesis statement is the summary of what issue the author is going to address and what answer he/she has come up with. The thesis statement is usually found at the end of the introductory section or in the conclusion. If you do not find the interpretation in the introduction it is generally a good idea to jump to the conclusion before reading the body of the essay. Knowing the question that is being asked and the answer that the author wants you to believe will help you to understand the argument that he/she is using to convince you that the answer is the correct one.
2. In a monograph.
In a longer work, such as a book, the author will very likely have many thesis statements about many different questions. Although sometimes all the questions come together to try to answer a larger question. For this reason, you should look for a thesis for the book as a whole either in the introduction or in the conclusion chapters. The thesis for individual chapters are often found in the first or last paragraph of each chapter. Topic sentences of paragraphs will also often have important clues as to the author's interpretation.
N.B. It is often helpful, particularly if you are interested in the author's interpretation to "gut" a book: Read only the first and last chapters in their entirety; for all of the other chapters, read only the first and last paragraphs. If this is a well written book, this should give you a fairly good idea of the author's point of view.
III. Evaluating an interpretation.
A.
The Argument
1. What historical problem or question is the author addressing?
2. What is the thesis? (what answer in brief does the author give to that)
3. How is the thesis arrived at?
a. What type of history book, article, essay is it? Is it economic, cultural, political, social etc.
b. What topics/issues are discussed?
c. What evidence is presented? In other words what facts has he discovered to make you believe what he is saying.
4. What sources are used? Is he using slave narratives, the diaries of southern whites, letters written by women, laws passed by Congress etc. (if you can’t tell look at the footnotes and work cited to find out)
B.
Evaluation
1. Did the author present a convincing argument?
a. Does the evidence support the thesis? In other words, do his facts back up his answer.
b. Can you tell if the author made any errors of fact?
2. Does the author use questionable methods or techniques? In other words, does the way he goes about answering his question seem suspicious or biased to you? Look at the sources too!
3. What questions remain unanswered? In other words, are there questions that you don’t think he has answered that he should have?
4. Does the author have a specific purpose other to inform? Meaning does he have a bias or axe to grind that would make him slant the evidence or not be as objective as possible? Look at the sources too!
a. If so, do you think that it makes his argument invalid
Give two examples of a fact that you learned from the work.
Give two examples of the author’s interpretation of the facts. (opinion)
1. How does this book, article, or essay compare to others written on this or similar topics?
2. How do the theses differ? In other words, if they are addressing the same question how do their answers differ?
3. Why do the theses differ?
a. Do they use the same or different sources?
b. Do they use these sources in the same way?
c. Do they try to answer the question in the same or different ways?
d. Are these works directed at the same or similar audience?
4. When were the works written?
5. Do the authors have different backgrounds?
6. Do they differ in their political, philosophical, ethical, cultural, or religious assumptions?