There are two types of research resources. Primary resources are direct ac-counts, straight from the original source. These include scientific reports, firsthand descriptions of events, diary writings, photographs of events, congressional-hearing transcripts, and speech manuscripts.

Secondary resources are works that analyze and interpret primary resources. For example, a Web posting that summarizes the results of a study on how treadmill exercise affects the heart rates of people with diabetes and includes additional opinions on the topic is a secondary resource. (The original study published in a medical journal is the primary resource.) Additional examples of secondary sources include magazine articles that report on previous findings, biographies, textbooks, and newspaper articles. Secondary resources can help you interpret complex statistical information and gather alternative opinions.

Whether you use primary or secondary resources depends on your topic and your specific purpose statement. Many classroom speech topics can be developed using only secondary resources. For example, if your specific purpose is to persuade your classmates to vote, you can draw from Web sites and magazine articles that examine the benefits of voting. But if you want to spotlight low turnout among young voters in local elections, you might seek a primary resource, such as a report on voter turnout from your local government office.