Secondary Methods Flashcards
what is secondary data?
data that has already been collected and is available for sociologists to use .
examples of qualitative secondary data?
diaries, gov reports, medical records, newspapers, letters
what is the literature review?
at the start of the project, an appraisal of existing research into a topic, includes summary of what is known and gaps in knowledge.
types of secondary data?
official stats, mass media, personal documents, public documents, sociologists’ findings.
what are personal documents?
first person accounts of events and experiences.
what are public documents?
produced by gov, schools, businesses and charities.
often quantitative
what makes a statistic official?
if it was collected by gov for use in policy making.
practical strengths of statistics?
allow for comparisons between groups.
show patterns and trends over time.
easy access.
practical weaknesses of statistics?
gov doesn’t collect data for sociologists so measurements may be different.
definitions may be subjective.
gov may manipulate stats.
eg unemployment, exclusions and crime.
ethical strengths of statistics?
no harm as detached nature.
consent already obtained.
ethical weaknesses of statistics?
dehumanising to study DV.
theoretical strengths of statistics?
produced in consistent ways
reliable
easy to find trends
representative
objective
theoretical weaknesses of statistics?
validity issues
dark figure of crime exists.
no verstehen
achievement is operationalised differently today.
studies which use statistics?
CSEW
equality trust
joseph rowntree foundation
practical strengths of documents?
for historical - can be only source of info.
can be used with primary methods to check findings.
cheap.
practical weaknesses of documents?
authenticity can’t be confirmed.
some public documents not available.
waiting for docs to become available can be time consuming.
ethical strengths of documents?
don’t need consent for historical.
no harm caused.
ethical weaknesses of documents?
important to gain consent for personal docs.
may impacts friends and families.
theoretical strengths of documents?
valid
gain insight on attitudes and experiences
theoretical weaknesses of documents?
unrepresentative
not reliable
subjective interpretations
language change over time
illiterate underrepresented
examples of documents?
personal - Gerwitz, Aries, Hey
historical - Anne Frank’s diary
public - Macpherson report
what are Scott’s 4 criteria for evaluating documents?
authenticity - is it real?
credibility - is it believable?
representative - typical of its kind
meaning - semantic shift / context
what is content analysis?
used to investigate content of mass media eg TV, magazines film, books, to discover how certain issues are presented.
what is formal/quantitative content analysis?
sample of docs chosen and then count how many times certain idea or phrase appears and then compare.
what is qualitative content analysis?
researchers read and unpick data in depth to uncover underlying messages.
what is semilogical analysis?
involves reading text and making judgement about what is signified and how this influences the audience.
studies which use content analysis?
cohen - mods and rockers
lobban and tuchman - gender roles in children’s reading schemes
practical strengths of content analysis?
time and access
cheap
practical weaknesses of content analysis?
may be hard to analyse
ethical strengths of content analysis?
deception and informed consent don’t matter as it’s second hand
ethical weaknesses of content analysis?
protection from harm - results may reinforce negative stereotypes harming reputation.
theoretical strengths of content analysis?
objective if quantitative and can be applied to other forms of media.
reliable
researcher can’t influence behaviour of subject.
theoretical weaknesses of content analysis?
may not be objective as may have to decide if smth counts as stereotypical.
describes rather than explains.
may not be representative.
