Download Sample Primary Source Analysis

1) Research Question: To what extent did World War II lead to women in the United States becoming
permanent participants of the labor force?
2) Source One (Appendix 1)
The first source that I analyzed is Mary Anderson’s speech “The Postwar role of American women”, which was
delivered in March, 1944 to the American Economic Association. Mary Anderson was the head of the Women’s Bureau
of the Department of Labor (Origin). The origin of this source is valuable because the speech was delivered by, and
therefore provides an insight into the views of a well-known figure regarding women’s employment and post-war plans.
Additionally, the date of delivery of the speech, 1944, indicates that the source allows for a valuable understanding of
existing views on women’s employment during World War II. However, the Origin, particularly the date of the delivery
of the speech, 1944, is also a limitation, for it suggests that the source, having been written before the completion of
the war, is likely to fail to analyze extensive data on women’s employment.
The Purpose and Content of this speech is to draw attention to the importance of the adoption of measures to
secure the position of women in the American post-war workforce. The speech therefore provides a valuable insight
into existing government plans about the role of women in the workforce post WWII at the time. The speech is,
however, limited in its Purpose and Content because it was written to convince others of Anderson’s point of view,
perhaps overemphasizing the role of women in the war effort and deemphasizing existing gender stereotypes.
3)
Bibliography:
Anderson, Mary. "The Postwar Role of American Women." The American Economic Review , Vol. 34, No. 1, Part
2, Supplement Papers and Proceedings of the Fifth sixth Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association (Mar.,
1944). Published by: American Economic Association. JSTOR. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/1818698>
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1) Origin
Value (s)
2) Origin
Limitation (s)
3) Purpose and Content
Value (s)
4) Purpose and Content
Limitation (s)
OriginName of person
Author’s identity, nationality, status etc.
The original setting from where information is taken (Ex. Book, newspaper, diary, speech)
Relationship of the author to the event. Ex. Was the author an expert on event?
Time of the source?
Content:
Accuracy, Topic, Theme
Purpose:
Who is the source produced for? (Target audience?)
Was it made for publication (Private or public?)
Motive of the writer in producing the source (Motive is sometimes indicated by the tone or mood of the source emotional, argumentative, optimistic)
Whose point of view is expressed?