Political Science & International Affairs: Primary Sources

• Raw data sets
• Measures of public opinion, past and present: interviews, public opinion polls, questionnaires, and surveys (Gallup poll; surveys carried out by other organizations; self-administered poll, survey, questionnaire, or interview – creating your own instrument for data collection allows you to ask questions specific to the issues you seek to understand in your research)
• Official documents (U.S. and International): government documents; legislative proceedings (available online for some countries); transcripts of court cases and congressional hearings; treaties, statutes, laws, bills; presidential memoranda, statements, and vetoes; words of political figures in response to an issue or occurrence (speeches, public statements or apologies)
• News sources recording events and reactions to events as they occur: historical newspapers, political cartoons, newspaper advertisements; transcripts of television broadcasts
• Firsthand accounts of major events by people who lived at the time: interviews, journals, diaries; oral histories; statements of witnesses; letters, e-mails, and other forms of correspondence. Overlap exists between primary sources in PSIA and History, so please see the Subject Guide for History & American Studies for extremely helpful ideas on locating primary sources

Measures of public opinion, past and present: interviews, public opinion polls, questionnaires, and surveys (Gallup poll; surveys carried out by other organizations; self-administered poll, survey, questionnaire, or interview – creating your own instrument for data collection allows you to ask questions specific to the issues you seek to understand in your research)

News sources recording events and reactions to events as they occur: historical newspapers, political cartoons, newspaper advertisements; transcripts of television broadcasts

See also: UMW LibGuide for finding Newspaper Articles