The differences between primary and secondary information

The differences between primary (first hand) and secondary (second hand) information...

Examples of each type of information-

PRIMARY-

• Personal blog
• Interviews
• Opinion Polls
• Surveys

SECONDARY-

• News reports
• Shared posts/retweets
• Textbook
• Commentaries

Here the pros and cons of first hand (primary) information-

Pros...

• Has not been altered by anyone else making it more reliable to the investigator/reporter
• More accurate than second hand as it comes straight from the first person, some details may have been forgotten by the secondary source

Cons...

• The first person could easily lie in order to get their way around a situation - less reliable than video footage and/or audio footage
• The person may not be in position (due to circumstances) to give detailed, legit information meaning it is not always available

Here are the pros and cons of second-hand (secondary) information-

Pros...

• The secondary source would've usually gotten permission from the primary source to share the information, making it reliable
• Reenactments can protect the primary source's identity, whereas the primary info may not

Cons...

• Can be biased, as it usually comes from media such as print, TV etc.
• Due to it being second hand, it is not always as accurate as first hand information