Primary Vs. Secondary Sources Research Proposal

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Primary sources are original research, not commentary on that research. In the social sciences, primary sources can also refer to seminal documents or treatises like the original writings of Freud or Adler. Thus, a primary source does not necessarily need to be an experimental research. Qualitative studies and any other original publication can be considered a primary source. The value of citing primary sources is that I can interact with the source directly, and use the primary source to substantiate my own research. I am not receiving secondhand opinions, and the information contained in the research is not paraphrased or summarized.

Secondary sources are also valuable, though, in that they provide scholarly analysis of primary sources. Scholars who interact with multiple—sometimes hundreds—of primary sources can come up with new theories that transform their field of study. Secondary sources are not less valuable than primary sources, just different. I will evaluate primary and secondary sources for what they are, paying attention to their individual strengths and weaknesses.

As I work through this course, I will evaluate research on personality psychology on the grounds of research validity, reliability, and generalizability. Research design, methods, and interpretation of results are some of the potential points of weakness in any study.

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When reading a published paper closely, I need to be vigilant, recognize biases or fallacies, and understand whether the research methods used were appropriate for measuring the effect. Different research methods, both qualitative and quantitative, are acceptable in personality psychology. I have become increasingly respectful for integrating both qualitative and quantitative sources, and understand the value of mixed methods research too.

Support for Theory

I located an abundance of sources addressing the efficacy of Millon’s evolutionary approach to understanding personality development. Some of these sources are primary sources, penned by Theodore Millon and his colleagues, and some are secondary sources that comment on Millon’s work. Because Millon is prolific, I have been able to locate and use many primary sources in my research on personality psychology. The sources I located meet my strident evaluation criteria, although occasionally Millon’s methods can be problematic given that personality variables can be difficult to measure. Much of Millon’s work is theoretical in nature, rather than being research-based.

For example, Millon & Grossman (n.d.) published a brief on the central components of evolution-based personality theory. The theory is relatively new to personality psychology, with….....

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