1) What type of source is… a newspaper article about the potential effects of climate change in Ontario that features summaries of information from many other sources? = TERTIARY [these other sources will not all be primary and will contain information suitable for a lay audience – it will not be possible to check all the information for accuracy by referring to a reference list of sources used]
2) What type of source is… a M.Sc. dissertation in which climate change effects on native plants were studied? = PRIMARY [this is original research conducted by the author, and is very specific information]
3) What type of source is… a review of current knowledge about the effects of climate change that appeared in a high-profile journal? = SECONDARY [this refers only to primary sources, but sythensizes them – it would be possible to check the accuracy of the review by reading the original sources cited from the reference list provided]
4) What type of source is… a textbook that covers climate change and other bio-geographical concepts as well as case studies that appeared in newspapers? = TERTIARY [these other sources will not all be primary and it will not be possible to check all the information for accuracy by referring to a reference list of sources used]
5) What type of source is… a blog post from the original author of personal but unpublished research in climate change? = PRIMARY [this is original research conducted by the author, and is very specific information]
6) Imagine that you are writing an article about the effects of climate change in Ontario for the local newspaper. What type of source should you should use most often to find the most accurate information to help your writing? = PRIMARY [you should mostly use original articles to be sure of high accuracy, even if you end up adapting/simplifying them to be more suitable for a lay audience]
7) You have now written a related article for your science class, which required you to only refer to primary sources. If someone else referred to this article, what type of source would they be referring to? = SECONDARY [your article only refers to primary sources of very specific information, but you did not conduct the original research in these]
8) You have now posted this science-class article onto your website (without changing the sources you used). If someone else referred to this article, what type of source would they be referring to? = SECONDARY [this is the same article that only refers to primary sources of very specific information, in which you did not conduct the original research in these – it does not matter whether it is on a website, or on paper; it is purely the content that determines the type of source]
9) Choose the most appropriate word to complete the following sentence:
It is never/sometimes/always acceptable to use tertiary sources in scientific writing [tertiary sources can sometimes be accurate, and often contain useful information; e.g. some journalistic articles that focus on science news are brilliant]
10) Choose the most appropriate word to complete the following sentence:
Secondary sources will always/generally/rarely be more reliable than tertiary sources in ensuring the original source of the material is correctly interpreted [secondary sources should usually be reliable because they only refer to primary sources, although the authors of these secondary sources can sometimes misrepresent them; tertiary sources can sometimes be very reliable, but generally they are less so because there are fewer restrictions stopping an author from simply writing and publishing something]
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More Quick Quizzes
We hope that you found this quick quiz and the associated resource(s) useful. We also hope that you will consider completing some of our other quick quizzes to reinforce the concepts discussed in all of our resources. The goal of all is to help you hone the skills required to become excellent science writers.
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