Secondary Methods

Question 1

what is secondary data?

Answer 1

data that has already been collected and is available for sociologists to use .

Question 2

examples of qualitative secondary data?

Answer 2

diaries, gov reports, medical records, newspapers, letters

Question 3

what is the literature review?

Answer 3

at the start of the project, an appraisal of existing research into a topic, includes summary of what is known and gaps in knowledge.

Question 4

types of secondary data?

Answer 4

official stats, mass media, personal documents, public documents, sociologists’ findings.

Question 5

what are personal documents?

Answer 5

first person accounts of events and experiences.

Question 6

what are public documents?

Answer 6

produced by gov, schools, businesses and charities.
often quantitative

Question 7

what makes a statistic official?

Answer 7

if it was collected by gov for use in policy making.

Question 8

practical strengths of statistics?

Answer 8

allow for comparisons between groups.
show patterns and trends over time.
easy access.

Question 9

practical weaknesses of statistics?

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

ethical strengths of statistics?

Answer 10

no harm as detached nature.
consent already obtained.

Question 11

ethical weaknesses of statistics?

Answer 11

dehumanising to study DV.

Question 12

theoretical strengths of statistics?

Answer 12

produced in consistent ways
reliable
easy to find trends
representative
objective

Question 13

theoretical weaknesses of statistics?

Answer 13

validity issues
dark figure of crime exists.
no verstehen
achievement is operationalised differently today.

Question 14

studies which use statistics?

Answer 14

CSEW
equality trust
joseph rowntree foundation

Question 15

practical strengths of documents?

Answer 15

for historical - can be only source of info.
can be used with primary methods to check findings.
cheap.

Question 16

practical weaknesses of documents?

Answer 16

authenticity can’t be confirmed.
some public documents not available.
waiting for docs to become available can be time consuming.

Question 17

ethical strengths of documents?

Answer 17

don’t need consent for historical.
no harm caused.

Question 18

ethical weaknesses of documents?

Answer 18

important to gain consent for personal docs.
may impacts friends and families.

Question 19

theoretical strengths of documents?

Answer 19

valid
gain insight on attitudes and experiences

Question 20

theoretical weaknesses of documents?

Answer 20

unrepresentative
not reliable
subjective interpretations
language change over time
illiterate underrepresented

Question 21

examples of documents?

Answer 21

personal - Gerwitz, Aries, Hey
historical - Anne Frank’s diary
public - Macpherson report

Question 22

what are Scott’s 4 criteria for evaluating documents?

Answer 22

authenticity - is it real?
credibility - is it believable?
representative - typical of its kind
meaning - semantic shift / context

Question 23

what is content analysis?

Answer 23

used to investigate content of mass media eg TV, magazines film, books, to discover how certain issues are presented.

Question 24

what is formal/quantitative content analysis?

Answer 24

sample of docs chosen and then count how many times certain idea or phrase appears and then compare.

Question 25

what is qualitative content analysis?

Answer 25

researchers read and unpick data in depth to uncover underlying messages.

Question 26

what is semilogical analysis?

Answer 26

involves reading text and making judgement about what is signified and how this influences the audience.

Question 27

studies which use content analysis?

Answer 27

cohen - mods and rockers
lobban and tuchman - gender roles in children’s reading schemes

Question 28

practical strengths of content analysis?

Answer 28

time and access
cheap

Question 29

practical weaknesses of content analysis?

Answer 29

may be hard to analyse

Question 30

ethical strengths of content analysis?

Answer 30

deception and informed consent don’t matter as it’s second hand

Question 31

ethical weaknesses of content analysis?

Answer 31

protection from harm - results may reinforce negative stereotypes harming reputation.

Question 32

theoretical strengths of content analysis?

Answer 32

objective if quantitative and can be applied to other forms of media.
reliable
researcher can’t influence behaviour of subject.

Question 33

theoretical weaknesses of content analysis?

Answer 33

may not be objective as may have to decide if smth counts as stereotypical.
describes rather than explains.
may not be representative.