Official statistics Flashcards
Durkheim
He researched suicide
He wanted to prove that sociology is a science
He compared suicide rates and spotted patterns of factors affecting suicide
He found that marital status, children and divorce to suicide rates
He interpreted the results, and they suggested that religion was a big factor
Italy had the lowest suicide rates due to the country being strongly Catholic, and this is where suicide is seen as a sin
The UK had higher suicide rates due to the country, not being religious anymore
He took the statistics at face value and assumed they were correct
Public statistics
Official statistics are collected to be used in policy-making
Statistic on birth help the government plan the number of school places for the future
Ofsted and the department of education used statistics such as exam results to monitor schools and colleges
And in 2011, the British crime survey found that only 38% of crimes were actually reported to the police
Only the government can afford to conduct large scale surveys which cost millions of pounds such as census which covers every household in the UK
