Degrees of Separation

You’ve just heard about a great YouTube video—everyone’s raving about it. You get a text message from a friend who says you have to watch it, that she’s never seen such a funny cat video. Not only is it funny, but it provides a profound perspective on life (this friend’s texts tend to be a bit on the long side—no wonder she has given up on Twitter).

It sounds pretty amazing: a funny cat video that is also philosophical? This you just have to see! It is a perfect time to take a break from studying, and you decide to watch it immediately.

Well, that wasn’t quite what you expected. What was the “profound perspective on life”? That we are all on a path that takes us out of the frame? That life is best experienced at the speed of a slow skateboard? Funny, yes. Profound? You aren’t exactly seeing it. You will have to check with your friend to find out just what she is thinking.

You can think about this conundrum using the lens of degrees of separation in connection to the source of the information. On one hand, there is the original source, the video that you’ve just watched. On the other, there is the video filtered through your friend’s reaction to it. You probably know about this categorization of information: primary and secondary sources. While the “degrees of separation” concept isn’t usually used in conjunction with primary and secondary sources, it does provide a helpful analogy.

You can categorize all information sources using this primary/secondary framework. There is actually a third type, tertiary. Feel free to look it up and find out what types of information sources fit into it. But for our purposes, we’ll use the dichotomy of primary and secondary.

Primary sources are those where there is no degree of separation. The work originates with the personal experience of the creator or author. It could be an autobiography or diary (think of The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank), a research article reporting on the results of a study, written by the researcher herself, or photographs taken by a photographer. Or taken by you.

Secondary sources have a degree of separation from the primary source, and often comment on the primary source. Did you ever write a book report on The Diary of a Young Girl? That would be a secondary source. Consider an original painting (primary) versus a critic’s review (secondary), or a newspaper from September 1, 1939 versus a book published years later about the start of World War II.

This all seems pretty clear cut. But it isn’t always. What about a movie (My Fair Lady, perhaps) based on a play (Pygmalion)? Is the movie a primary source or a secondary source?

Let’s take another complicated situation. Watch this video that explains primary and secondary sources in the context of 9/11. But before you do, be on the lookout for two errors made by the creator of the video. See if you can spot them!

Did you find the mistakes? #1: Biographies are written by someone other than the person who lived that life. It is autobiographies, written about oneself, that are primary. #2: She also says “books” are secondary. Well, it depends what the book is! It can be either primary or secondary. It is the content of the book, and your area of interest, that determines this. Not just the format of the material.

To get back to the complicated decision: Is this video a primary or a secondary source? Your response will the first part of your submission for this quest.

Here’s one more tricky example to think about. Richard P. Feynman was a Nobel-prize winning physicist, gifted teacher, and a great storyteller. Even those who have no background in physics can enjoy his autobiographical books, starting with Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character). The letter below was written by Feynman to James Watson, the scientist who co-discovered the structure of DNA.

CSHL Archives Repository, Reference JDW/2/2/582/1

Is this letter a primary source or a secondary source? It seems obvious, doesn’t it? It was written by Feynman, therefore, it is primary.

But wait! What if you are researching James Watson? With this shift in your focus, it has now become secondary! If you were to find a letter written by Watson, that would be primary. So it is possible that an information source might be both primary and secondary, depending on what you are researching. Your area of interest is what is going to allow you to make the determination.

THANKS TO EMMA TILLETT AND ASHLEY SMOLINSKI FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SHAPING OF THIS QUEST.

Assignment

Now, it is your turn to explore primary vs. secondary sources. Please complete both Part 1 and Part 2 below.

1. Is the video example above a primary or a secondary source? Respond to this question, with an explanation of why you made the choice you did.
2. For the second part of your response, you can either use the example provided below, or choose another event based on a topic you are researching in a particular class.

In July 1969, humans, for the first time ever, landed on the moon. While this event is taken for granted now, at the time it was massive. Let’s say that you are researching this phenomenal accomplishment. Think about this event, and what types of information sources (think broadly) might be considered primary (no degree of separation) or secondary (with that separation from the event).

Find both a primary source for this event, and a secondary one. Provide a citation or link to each of these sources, and explain why one is primary, and the other is secondary. If you are researching a topic for a course, please use that topic for this quest.