What are secondary sources in research?
Secondary sources provide second-hand information and commentary from other researchers. Examples include journal articles, reviews, and academic books. A secondary source describes, interprets, or synthesizes primary sources.
What is the most common source of secondary materials for legal research?
Commonly Used Secondary Sources. Legal encyclopedias provide an overview of the “the law.” Legal encyclopedias typically have a wonderful breadth of coverage, giving background information on a wide range of legal topics and areas of the law. They are often a great starting point for your research.
When should you use a secondary source for legal research?
A good place to start most research projects is with a secondary source. A secondary source is not the law. It’s a commentary on the law. A secondary source can be used for three different purposes: it might educate you about the law, it might direct you to the primary law, or it might serve as persuasive authority.
What is an example of secondary authority?
Statements about the law that come from unofficial commendators without authority to set legal rules in the relevant jurisdiction. Common examples include law-review articles and treatises. Although secondary authority may be persuasive, it is never mandatory.
Can secondary authority be mandatory?
Secondary authority is usually not cited in a brief because it is only persuasive, meaning that the court is not required to follow the analysis. Primary authority such as cases or statutes may be mandatory or binding if they are from your jurisdiction or they may be merely persuasive if from another jurisdiction.
What is a secondary law?
Secondary Law consists of sources that explain, criticize, discuss, or help locate primary law. Examples of secondary legal sources include: o Legal dictionaries.
Is dictum secondary authority?
dictum: a statement, analysis, or discussion in the court’s opinion that is irrelevant or unnecessary for the outcome of the case. holding: that part of the written opinion that has precedential value and is considered primary authority because it is the ruling or decision of the court.
What is an example of a dictum?
“You are what you eat” is a dictum, and so is a law requiring you to curb your dog. A dictum is a formal pronouncement, a rule, or a statement that expresses a truth universally acknowledged.
What does obiter dictum mean?
Also known as obiter dictum. It refers to a judge’s comments or observations, in passing, on a matter arising in a case before him which does not require a decision. However, obiter remarks of senior judges, for example, may be indirectly instructive or persuasive, especially in areas in which the law is developing.
Are headnotes primary or secondary authority?
Restatements are not primary law. However, they are considered persuasive authority by many courts. Restatements cover many common law topics with moderate depth. Restatements are organized into chapters, titles, and sections.
What is a secondary legal source?
Secondary sources of law are background resources. They include encyclopedias, law reviews, treatises, restatements. Secondary sources are a good way to start research and often have citations to primary sources.
Are digests primary or secondary authority?
Digests are not primary sources, but they are one of the fastest ways to find primary authority in a particular jurisdiction. Digests contain numerous citations to judicial decisions about particular topics and subtopics. They are organized alphabetically by topic.
Is Westlaw a secondary source?
Thomson Reuters Westlaw continues to expand on its tradition of excellence that dates back to 1875. Our Secondary Source content has expanded and evolved through those years, and is actively updated and maintained to give you the single most comprehensive collection of secondary legal analysis.
Is a statute a secondary source?
Secondary sources, such as Law Journals, Encyclopedias, and Treatises are a great place to start your legal research. Unlike primary materials (case law, statutes, regulations), secondary sources will help you learn about an area of law, and provide you with citations to relevant primary materials.
What is the main characteristic of secondary sources?
Secondary sources are works that analyze, assess or interpret an historical event, era, or phenomenon, generally utilizing primary sources to do so. Secondary sources often offer a review or a critique. Secondary sources can include books, journal articles, speeches, reviews, research reports, and more.
What are the secondary sources of data?
Secondary data can be obtained from different sources: information collected through censuses or government departments like housing, social security, electoral statistics, tax records. internet searches or libraries. GPS, remote sensing.
What are the negatives of using secondary sources?
Disadvantages: Because secondary sources are not necessarily focused on your specific topic, you may have to dig to find applicable information. Information may be colored by the researcher’s own bias or faulty approach. Also, secondary sources can become outdated (in some fields more quickly than in others).
What are the two important sources of secondary data?
Common sources of secondary data for social science include censuses, surveys, organizational records and data collected through qualitative methodologies or qualitative research. Primary data, by contrast, are collected by the investigator conducting the research.
What are the different types of secondary research?
Common examples of secondary research include textbooks, encyclopedias, news articles, review articles, and meta analyses. When conducting secondary research, authors may draw data from published academic papers, government documents, statistical databases, and historical records.