Research Guides: Chicano & Latino Studies: Primary Sources

Your Research Method

Depending on your research question, your will probably need to find some primary source information to support your argument. The type of research you're doing will dictate the kind of evidence and primary source data you need. If you're doing historical research, you will want to find archival, historical documents from the time period you're studying. If you're analyzing art or literature, those texts will be your primary source data. If you're doing sociological research, you may need to find statistics or even conduct your own survey or interviews to gather information from the community you are studying.

Determining your research method and the kind of evidence you need is a key part of the research process. Talk to your instructor or a librarian about how to determine the right methods for your research and how to find what you need.

You may also want to consult the Sage Research Methods databases. These sources have tons of case studies, guides and research handbooks, and tools to help you understand different research methods.

Sage Research Methods Online This link opens in a new window
Explore social research cases and research methods (qualitative, quantitative, focus groups, surveys, etc.) from books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, journal articles, and videos.
SAGE Research Methods Cases This link opens in a new window

Statistics

American FactFinder
American FactFinder provides access to data about the United States, Puerto Rico and the Island Areas. The data in American FactFinder come from several censuses and surveys.
FedStats
Provides access to the full range of official statistical information produced by the Federal Government without having to know in advance which agency produced the particular statistics.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Inflation & prices, employment, unemployment, pay & benefits, and other labor-related economic data.

Historical Statistics of the U.S. This link opens in a new window
A standard source for statistics in American history. Includes essays on dozens of new topics including slavery, American Indians, and poverty. Download tables and graphs, or create your own.

Social Science Datasets

Pew Research Center's Social and Demographic Trends
Datasets from the Pew Research Center.
The CIRP Freshman Survey
Covers a wide range of student characteristics: parental income & education, ethnicity, other demographic items; financial aid; secondary school achievement & activities; educational & career plans; and values, attitudes, beliefs, and self-concept.
World Bank Research datasets
Datasets on poverty, trade, development, sustainability, migration, finance and more.
Pew Hispanic Center datasets
Education, religion, civic participation, immigration and more.
World Values Survey
A worldwide network of social scientists studying changing values & their impact on social and political life. The WVS has carried out representative national surveys in 97 societies containing almost 90 percent of the world's population since 1981.

Archival Sources

The library has access to many digitized collections of archival materials. Here are just a few of the sources that might be useful to you. Consult a librarian to help you find the sources you need for your research.

History Vault This link opens in a new window
History Vault includes archival files and primary source documents from two collections: Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century and Japanese American Incarceration: Records of the War Relocation Authority, 1942-1946. This includes the Bayard Rustin Papers, the Mary McLeod Bethune Papers, Records of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, Records of the Southern Christian Leadership Council, and many, many more archival collections.
Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
The non-fiction writings of over 1100 prominent Black teachers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, athletes, entertainers and other leaders provide insight into issues as diverse as colonialism, socialism, segregation, poverty, black nationalism, religion, the urban ghetto, and the South.
Race Relations in America This link opens in a new window
Based at Fisk University from 1943-1970, the Race Relations Department and its annual Institute were set up by the American Missionary Association to investigate problem areas in race relations and develop methods for educating communities and preventing conflict.

Documenting three pivotal decades in the fight for civil rights, this resource showcases the speeches, reports, surveys and analyses produced by the Department’s staff and Institute participants, including Charles S. Johnson and Thurgood Marshall.
American Periodicals Series This link opens in a new window
Over 1,100 periodicals that first began publishing between 1740 and 1900, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines, and many other historically-significant periodicals.
Human Rights Studies Online This link opens in a new window
Comparative documentation, analysis, and interpretation of major human rights violations, genocides, and atrocity crimes worldwide from 1900 to 2010.
Social and Cultural History: Letters and Diaries Online This link opens in a new window
Primary source including North American Women's Letters and Diaries, British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries, North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories, The American Civil War: Letters and Diaries, Black Thought and Culture, Manuscript Women's Letters and Diaries, from 1675 to the present.

University Library

Chicano & Latino Studies

Collection Development Librarian

Your Research Method

Statistics

Social Science Datasets

Archival Sources