"obtained firsthand" is a correct and commonly used phrase in written English.
It means that something was directly experienced or observed by the person speaking or writing. Example: "The journalist obtained firsthand information from reliable sources before publishing the article."
Often the robberies involved rape, but rape is so taboo that Human Rights Watch did not obtain firsthand accounts from any victims.
To obtain firsthand material, Ms. Cogen spent several months working with students at another school, the Finley Middle School in Glen Cove.
Furthermore, once Kahuta was operational the C.I.A. found a way to obtain firsthand information, in detail, about nuclear-weapons work there.
In an effort to obtain firsthand experience with the problems of lower-class children, he disguised himself as a shoeblack and worked nights alongside these boys.
The museum has been "closely monitoring" the Myanmar military's campaign against the Rohingya and Aung San Suu Kyi's response to it, Bloomfield continued, making "numerous visits" to Myanmar and Bangladesh to obtain firsthand evidence.
A secondary purpose of Peter's Grand Embassy to western Europe in 1697 (see above The Grand Embassy) had been to obtain firsthand acquaintance with advanced industrial techniques, and the exigencies of his great war against Sweden, from 1700, made industrial development an urgent matter.
During Afghanistan's most turbulent political periods, like elections or loya jirgas, the tribal assemblies that serve as national referendums, I'd station myself in his foyer for hours at a time in order to hear what was happening in the government, and obtain firsthand information for my articles.
Even the chief of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, said Wednesday he would visit Japan as soon as possible to obtain "firsthand information" about the nuclear crisis and improve the flow of information from the Japanese government.
Although our study has some design flaws, including a lack of randomization, it is the most feasible way to obtain firsthand data about the effectiveness and the implementation of DCM in German nursing homes.
