Methods: Types of Data Flashcards
Primary Data
Information which was not present before the research began. Produced by the researcher first hand during actual study.
Primary Research Methods
Questionnaires, Interviews, observations.
Primary Data:
Advantages and disadvantages
Sociologists will be able to gather precisely the information they need to test their hypotheses. However, it can be both time consuming and expensive.
Secondary Data
Data which already exists. Includes data from historical records, official statistics, government reports, newspapers, diaries, autobiographies, novels etc.
Secondary Research Methods
Looking through archives, online research.
Secondary Data:
Advantages and disadvantages
Can be a quick and cheap way of gaining insight into the chosen research topic. However it may have been produced for different reasons therefore the data might not exactly correlate to the chosen topic of research.
Quantitative Data
Information in a numerical form which can be subject to statistical analysis.
Examples of Qualitative Data:
Official Statistics on how many girls passed 5 or more GCSEs.
League tables showing a schools achievement data.
Proportions of girls from MC backgrounds attending Uni.
Quantitative Data:
Advantages and disadvantages
Useful for measuring the strength of relationships between different variables. Can be shown as statistics and displayed in pictorial form such as graphs or pie charts. However Interpretivists would argue it only gives a snapshot picture and lacks depth.
Qualitative Data
All types of data that are not numerical.
Examples of Qualitative Data:
Descriptive data from classroom observation looking at teacher pupil interaction.
Quotes from interviews.
Written sources on LEA policy.
A newspaper article assessing the current state of education.
Pictures and photographs contrasting two different schools.
Qualitative Data:
Advantages and disadvantages
Can often provide a richer and more in depth picture of social life than the statistics provided by quantitative data. It gives a ‘feel’ of what something is like. However it thus lacks the ability to be used for generalisation which positivists would criticise.
Validity
Data is valid if it presents a true, genuine, and accurate picture, description or measurement which enables the researcher to get close to the truth.
Validity Example
If a Sociologist captured in their research how it felt to be labelled negatively by a teacher.
Reliability
Data is reliable when different researchers using the same methods obtain the sae results - it is replicated (a replica).