RESEARCH METHODS- SECONDARY SOURCES Flashcards
What are official statistics (OS)?
Official statistics are quantitative data gathered by the government. They include statistics on events such as births, deaths, marriages, and divorces, as well as other areas like crime rates and exam results.
What are the two sources the government uses to gather official statistics?
The two sources are:
Registration: People are required to register events like births, deaths, and marriages.
Official Surveys: Such as the 10-yearly Census, which asks a variety of questions about household members.
What is the difference between hard and soft statistics?
Hard Statistics: Data on births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. They are generally accurate.
Soft Statistics: Data on areas like crime rates, exam pass rates, and unemployment, which can be less accurate due to how they are gathered.
What are the practical strengths of official statistics?
They are a free source of large amounts of data.
The government can compel citizens to provide information, ensuring a large sample size (e.g., the Census covers the entire population).
They allow for comparisons over time, e.g., changes in educational achievement or social trends.
They are quantitative and easy to analyze.
What are the practical limitations of official statistics?
Data may not cover the specific topic researchers are interested in (e.g., religious background and educational achievement).
The government may define terms differently than sociologists, making comparisons difficult (e.g., the definition of unemployment).
What are the ethical strengths of official statistics?
OS are aggregated data, so there is no need for informed consent.
Anonymity is maintained as the data is presented in aggregate form (e.g., graphs and charts).
What is a theoretical strength of official statistics from a positivist perspective?
Official statistics are reliable because they are gathered using standardized methods and can be easily replicated.
They are considered valid by positivists because they represent true social facts, e.g., real rates of marriage or crime.
What is a theoretical limitation of official statistics from an interpretivist perspective?
Official statistics lack validity because they are socially constructed by professionals like doctors, police officers, and teachers who apply labels to behaviors. For example, crime statistics may reflect biased policing rather than actual criminality.
What is a theoretical limitation of official statistics from a Marxist perspective?
Marxists argue that official statistics serve the interests of the ruling class by underreporting issues that could threaten capitalism, such as the true level of unemployment.
What are documents in research?
Documents are written texts or media such as paintings, photographs, TV broadcasts, and internet content. They can be public, private, or historical.
What are public documents?
Public documents are produced by organizations such as government departments, schools, welfare agencies, and businesses. They include meeting minutes, reports, and public inquiries.
What are personal documents?
Personal documents are created by individuals and include letters, diaries, photographs, etc.
What are the practical strengths of using documents in research?
They may be the only source of information, especially when studying the past.
Public documents are often free and easily accessible.
They save time as the data has already been gathered.
What are the practical limitations of using documents in research?
Accessing them may be difficult, especially if they are classified or private.
Documents may not include all the information needed by the researcher.
What are the ethical strengths of using documents in research?
For historical personal documents, there are fewer ethical issues, especially if the person is no longer alive.
Public documents have already addressed consent and confidentiality issues.
