Quantitative Secondary Sources

Question 1

quantitative secondary sources - advantages of official statistics

Answer 1

• planning/evaluating social policies
• sometimes only available source of data
• readily available
• cheap
• large samples (representative)
• allows intergroup/international comparisons
• provides background material when sociologists decide issue to study and hypothesis
• avoids ethical issues

Question 2

quantitative secondary sources - disadvantages of official statistics

Answer 2

• produced by state; not completely accurate, may avoid political embarrassment,
• lacks validity
• interpretivist; social constructions: a process of interpretation/decision-making by those in authority

Question 3

quantitative secondary sources - suicide statistics

Answer 3

reflect behaviour of coroners, doctors, relatives and their definition of suicide
we don’t know the intentions of the dead

Question 4

quantitative secondary sources - health statistics

Answer 4

record of doctors decision-making; diagnose illness or cause of death incorrectly (inaccurate)
not all sick people go the doctors
private medicine operates to make a profit

Question 5

quantitative secondary sources - crime statistics

Answer 5

includes crime known to police - 1/4 not reported

1 in 4 leads to action taken against offender