COM 217: Argumentation & Debate (Bruner): Library Guides

Professional or Trade Sources: Professional or trade literature resembles scholarly literature in that it is typically written by people working in the field, but may be written by staff writers with expertise. They might include advertisements, although most or all are profession- or trade-specific. Professional or trade information sources typically discuss practical application; cover news in the field; present brief reports on research, and/or offer opinions about trends, events, and industry/forecasts; and use language use language and jargon familiar to the profession. The do not often present original research, ideas, or theoretical discussions.

Primary sources are materials that are eyewitness accounts or as close to the original source as possible.

Qualitative data:

• What people say.
  They are usually Speeches, Interviews and Conversations, and they may be captured in Videos, Audio Recordings, or transcribed into text.
• What people write. 
  These include Autobiographies, Memoirs, Personal Journals and Diaries, Letters, Emails, Blogs, Twitter Feeds and other forms of Social Media.
• Images and Videos.
• Maps.
• Government Documents--U.S. and rest of the world.
• Laws, Court Cases and Decisions, Treaties.
• Newspapers.

Quantitative data:

• Statistics & Data
• Public Opinion Polls

Secondary sources are interpretations and analyses based on primary sources.

For example, an autobiography is a primary source while a biography is a secondary source.

Typical secondary sources include:

• Scholarly Journal Articles.  Use these and books exclusively for writing Literature Reviews.
• Magazines.
• Reports.
• Encyclopedias.
• Handbooks.
• Dictionaries.
• Documentaries.
• Newspapers.

When secondary sources become primary sources: Often secondary and primary sources are relative concepts.  Typical secondary sources may be primary sources depending on the research topic.

1. Intellectual history topics.
   For example, although scholarly journal articles are usually considered secondary sources, if one's topic is the history of human rights, then journal articles on human rights will be primary sources in this instance.  Similarly, research on the thinking of a scholar will include her published journal articles as primary sources.
    
2. Historical topics.
   Magazine articles are secondary sources, but for someone researching the view of judicial punishment in the 1920s, magazines from that time period are primary sources.  Indeed, any older publication, such as those prior to the 20th century, is very often automatically considered a primary source.
    
3. Newspapers may be either primary or secondary.
   Most articles in newspapers are secondary, but reporters may be considered as witnesses to an event.  Any topic on the media coverage of an event or phenomenon would treat newspapers as a primary source.  There are so many articles and types of articles in newspapers that newspapers can often be considered either primary or secondary.

You can also specify finding statistics on Google and limiting it to .gov sources.

For example, if you want to find out about recycling statistics, type in "recycling statistics" site:.gov

An easy way to find government information (federal, state, and local) is to go to Google and limit your search to only government sources.

For example, let's say you want to focus on global warming--Type in "global warming" site:.gov to limit only to government resources.

You can also specify finding statistics on Google and limiting it to .gov sources.

For example, if you want to find out about recycling statistics, type in "recycling statistics" site:.gov

A think tank or policy institute is a research institute which performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Although many think tanks claim to be neutral, some may be considered to have a more conservative or a more liberal agenda. For example, the Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank and the Heritage Foundation is considered to be conservative. Be sure to examine the "About the Organization" page, in addition to outside sources to investigate the organization's agenda and their political views.

• Brookings

Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and global economy and development.

• Urban Institute

he Urban Institute is a Washington D.C.-based think tank that carries out economic and social policy research to "open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions."

• RAND.org

RAND's research and analysis address issues that impact people around the world including security, health, education, sustainability, growth, and development.

• New America

New America, formerly the New America Foundation, is a non-partisan think tank in the United States. It focuses on a range of public policy issues, including national security studies, technology, asset building, health, gender, energy, education, and the economy.

• Mathematica Policy Research

"Mathematica Policy Research is a pioneering nonpartisan research organization dedicated to improving public well-being."

• MDRC

MDRC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research organization based in New York City and Oakland, CA.

• The Human Rights Campaign

"The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer equality."

• The Children's Defense Fund

"The Children’s Defense Fund Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities."

• Center for Law & Social Policy

"The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization advancing policy solutions for low-income people."

Social Work Policy Institute

(The Social Work Policy Institute (SWPI) is a think tank established within the NASW Foundation.  It examines issues that relate to the work of social workers, including how to serve people who have multiple or complex needs and how public agencies and other structures deliver health and human services."

• Center for Strategic & International Studies

An international policy institute, the CSIS focuses on a number of topics including defense and security, governance, technology and global trends.

• Policy Archive : This collection of public policy research is gathered from sources such as the American Bar Association, the Brookings Institution, the Ford Foudnation, the Institute for Policy Studies, and others. 

Please Note: UNLV Libraries no longer has access to the Roper Center database, but the links below will be useful to find results from reputable polling companies. 

What is Google Scholar?
Google Scholar searches for scholarly materials such as peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from broad areas of research. Google Scholar searches a variety of undisclosed academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web. The full text of many items is freely available online, although in some instances abstracts with links to pay-per-view document delivery services are displayed.