Praxis Core Research Skills Summary

A primary source is created by someone who was there, at the time. A letter written by a soldier during the war is a firsthand record. The others explain or interpret the war later, so they are secondary sources.

Wrong choices

• "A chapter in a modern history textbook": A modern textbook summarizes events long afterward.
• "An online encyclopedia article about the war": An encyclopedia article is a secondary summary.
• "A biography of a general written by a historian": A biography by a historian interprets other sources.
• "A documentary film made in 2010": A documentary made in 2010 is created long after the war.

A peer-reviewed study is checked by other experts before it is published, and it shows its methods and data. That makes it the most credible choice.

Wrong choices

• "An advertisement from the company that sells the program": The company has a reason to praise its own product.
• "A comment posted on an anonymous online forum": An anonymous comment has no known author or evidence.
• "A celebrity's social media post praising the program": A celebrity is not an expert on reading programs.
• "A blog post by a parent who has not used the program": The writer has no direct experience or evidence.

In a book citation, the name after the title is usually the publisher, the company that produced the book. Here the publisher is Harbor Press.

Wrong choices

• "The author": The author is Maria Lopez, listed first.
• "The title": The title is "Teaching Writing in Middle School."
• "The publication date": The publication date is 2019.
• "The page numbers": This citation gives no page numbers.

The paper is about start times and teenagers' sleep. Only the study that measures students' sleep before and after a later start time addresses both parts of the topic.

Wrong choices

• "An article about sleep medicines for older adults": It is about sleep, but for older adults and medicine, not teenagers and start times.
• "A history of the yellow school bus": The history of buses does not address sleep.
• "A guide to healthy lunches for teenagers": Lunch is not related to start times or sleep.
• "A survey of how many hours teachers work each week": Teachers' work hours do not measure students' sleep.

A history textbook written in 2015 was created long after 1900 by someone who was not there, so it is a secondary source. All the other items were made at the time by people who were there.

Wrong choices

• "The diary of a woman who lived in the town": A diary is a firsthand record of the writer's life.
• "A photograph of the town's main street taken in 1900": A photograph taken in 1900 records the scene at the time.
• "The text of a speech given by the town's mayor in 1900": The speech was given at the time by a person who was there.
• "The official 1900 census record for the town": A census record is an official record made at the time.

Technology and how people use it change quickly. A survey from 2008 cannot show how teenagers use smartphones today, even if it was well done.

Wrong choices

• "The authors are not qualified researchers.": A university research team is a qualified author.
• "It is a primary source, which cannot be used in a paper.": Primary sources such as survey data are often very useful in research.
• "It must be biased because it comes from a university.": Being from a university does not make a source biased.
• "Surveys can never be used as evidence.": Well-designed surveys are a common and accepted kind of evidence.

When the company that profits from the result pays for a study, there may be a bias (a conflict of interest). This does not prove the study is wrong, so the best step is to note it and compare with independent research.

Wrong choices

• "Accept the results because a published study is always reliable.": Being published does not guarantee that a study is reliable.
• "Reject every study that any company has ever paid for.": Rejecting all company-funded studies is too extreme; funding is a reason to check, not proof of error.
• "Use the study only if the drink is sold in many stores.": How widely the drink is sold says nothing about the study's quality.
• "Ignore the funding because it does not appear in the title.": Funding matters wherever it is reported, not only in the title.