Secondary Sources of Data Flashcards

1
Q

What are official statistics?

A

Produced by the government

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2
Q

What are the two types of official statistics?

A

Hard statistics

Soft statistics

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3
Q

What are hard statistics?

A

Not open to interpretation or changing definitions

e.g. birth, marriage, death, divorce statistics

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4
Q

What are soft statistics?

A

Can be redefined meaning they can lack validity

Social construction - e.g. poverty, unemployment, ill health, crime

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5
Q

What are the advantages of official statistics as a source of secondary data?

A

Very cheap and easy to use/interpret

Not time consuming to use - data already there

Can easily make comparisons and look at trends

No ethical issues with the official statistics

Very representative - data has to be given to the government by law

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6
Q

What are the disadvantages of official statistics as a source of secondary data?

A

Soft statistics - may lack validity e.g. crime statistics lack validity as they ignore the dark figure of unreported crime

May be subject to political bias
e.g. between 1979 & 1997 conservative government produced statistics to show unemployment fell every year - government changed the way they counted unemployment over 30 times

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7
Q

What does the term documents refer to?

A

Refers to any qualitative written text or image

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8
Q

What are personal documents?

A

Provide feelings and accounts of an individual

e.g. diary, autobiography, letters

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9
Q

What are public documents?

A

Created by a school, the government, councils, charities, businesses etc.

e.g. Ofstead, government reports

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10
Q

What are historical documents?

A

Include personal and public documents and other sources created in the past

e.g. newspapers, photos, books/novels, artwork, films

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11
Q

What are the advantages of documents as a source of secondary data?

A

No ethical issues as the research has already been done

Interpretivists like the qualitative data - valid and can gain verstehen

Valid - true life account

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12
Q

What are the disadvantages of documents as a source of secondary data?

A

Positivists don’t like the qualitiative data - cannot make comparisons/identify correlations

Not representative - doesn’t represent the wider population

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13
Q

What are the potential problems when assessing documents as a source of secondary data?

A

Authenticity - whether the document is genuine or fake

Credibility - what were the motives for creating the document, is it believable

Representative - is it typical of all documents

Meaning - words can change meaning over time and a modern day interpretation may not mean the same thing

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14
Q

What is a content analysis?

A

A way of analysing documents

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15
Q

What does a content analysis involve?

A

Involves turning the document into a quantitative form that can be measured

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16
Q

What do interpretivists argue about content analysis?

A

Argue it gives no meaning to the document either in terms of the meaning to the audience or the intended meaning of those who created the document

17
Q

What is a case study?

A

One intensive example of whatever the sociologist is researching

18
Q

How can a case study be carried out?

A

It can be done using any method but usually with unstructured interviews or participant observation

19
Q

What is a life history?

A

An account of a persons life as told to the researcher

20
Q

How are life histories usually carried out?

A

Usually done in the form of an unstructured interview supported by personal documents such as diaries or letters

21
Q

What are the advantages of case studies and life histories as a source of secondary data?

A

Interpretivists like because it allows them to gain verstehen

Valid data

No ethical issues

22
Q

What are the disadvantages of case studies and life histories as a source of secondary data?

A

Not representative - one person account/perspective

Positivists don’t like - cannot make comparisons

Not reliable - may not be able to conduct interview in the same way again

23
Q

How is a longitudinal study carried out?

A

Carried out on the same sample of people over a long period of time

24
Q

How is data collected in a longitudinal study?

A

Data collected from the sample at regular intervals using questionnaires or interviews

25
Q

What does triangulation refer to?

A

Refers to a researcher using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to check the validity and reliability of the data