2. Secondary resources - official stats

Question 1

Official statistics are quantitative data collected by government bodies. This method is favoured by positivists because data is quick, cheap and easy to access, and it covers a wide range of social issues.

Question 2

By official statistics, sociologists are referring to a

Answer 2

quantitative form of data which is numerical and allows for clear patterns or trends to be drawn.

Question 3

Practical cheap, easy to obtain and easy to access. free source of huge amounts quantitative = For example, through the

Answer 3

Office of National Statistic’s website.

Question 4

Who favours this form of research?

Answer 4

Positivists

Question 5

Theoretical advantages

Massively representative and allow sociologists to make generalisation

Answer 5

for example births, marriage and deaths and the census should be totally representative such brit crime survey

Question 6

Theoretical stats is there are meant to be reliable, they are collected in a

Answer 6

standardised and rigorous way which means the data should be reliable

Question 7

Theoretical positiviss such as D.. see stats as

Answer 7

Durkheim see stats as social fatcs, true objective measures of a real social phenomenon such as suicide. they therefor, they can use stats to prove hypothesis. e.g Durkheim used difference in suicide rates to support his theory

Question 8

Theoretical Disadvantages

Some Official Statistics lack validity

Answer 8

Crime statistics are a good example of this – certain crimes are notorious for being under-reported to the police – such as Rape and Domestic Violence for example.

Question 9

Theoretical Disadvantages

The way that some social trends are measured changes over time

Answer 9

sometimes making historical comparisons difficult. For example, they way the Police Recorded Crimes changed twice in 2000s.

Question 10

Theoretical Disadvantages
Official statistics may also lack validity because they are collected by the state and massaged to make things look better than they actually are

Answer 10

he UK government has changed the way unemployment is measured several times over the last decades, typically bringing the number of officially unemployed people down – for example by reclassifying anyone who is receiving unemployment benefit but on a work-related training course as not being unemployed

Question 11

Marxist and Feminist Sociologists argue that official statistics serve the interests of elite groups

Answer 11

Data is only collected on things which do not harm those in power. Marxists argue that Corporate Crime and Financial Crimes of elites are not focused on by the government, while Feminists argue that domestic violence is not taken seriously by the state.