statistical patterns and trends

Question 1

Definition

Answer 1

Statistics are a form of numerical data where the objective is to quantify some aspect(s) of an individual, group or society. Statistics provide a wide variety of data that would normally be inaccessible to the sociologist. They can be official or non-official

Question 2

OCS

Answer 2

use from limitations and advantages from OCS topic

Question 3

Advantages

Answer 3

The statistics are collected by law every year. They are usually collected in the same way from the same sources which adds to their overall reliability, along with quantitative data. Most statistical definitions (e.g. what counts as a birth or a murder) rarely change. This makes year-on-year comparisons possible. It is easy for the Government to repeat the data collection process.
Because Official Statistics are collected by governments, large samples are normally used because governments have the resources to carry-out this type of sampling. - representative and generalisable
No researcher objectivity
it’s possible to see how something has changed over a long period.

Question 4

Validity

Answer 4

Statistics, by definition, do not tell us anything about why someone does something, we do not get any real depth of information about people’s behaviour. A further problem, in terms of validity, is that statistics don’t always measure what they claim to measure: e.g. “Crime statistics”. However, in some instances statistics may measure what they claim to measure - all births, deaths, marriages and divorces, for example, have to be recorded by law.

Question 5

Limitations

Answer 5

The definitions used by the collector of statistics may not be the same as those used by the sociologist.
Quantitative data gives no indication of people’s meanings - any statistical account will represent a “snapshot” of social interaction as it was at the moment the statistics were compiled and may only represent a partial picture of reality.
Objectivity of collector

Question 6

Bulletpoints

Answer 6

difficulties in establishing cause and effect
difficulties in exploring meanings and personal experience
positivist and interpretive approaches
sensitivity to disadvantage and potential exploitation