Statistics

Question 1

What are statistics?

Answer 1

Secondary quantative method, valued by positivists

Question 2

What are official statistics?

Answer 2

Statistics collected by the government

Question 3

What is a possible problem with crime statistics?

Answer 3

Not all crimes recorded- dark figure of crime
Some victims may not come forward

Question 4

What is a possible problem when government recorder statistics?

Answer 4

The government can manipulate statistics to make themselves look better

Question 5

What’s an example of where statistics may lose validity due to a law change?

Answer 5

Rape in marriage becoming legalised means that there was many cases of rape before that weren’t accounted for

Question 6

What’s a possible problem with Durkheim study on suicide using statistics?

Answer 6

Suicide is a very sensitive topic

Question 7

What does socially constructed mean?

Answer 7

Created by those measuring the data

Question 8

What do Hall and Gilroy say about ethnic groups in crime statisticsv

Answer 8

ethnic minorities especially black groups over represented in crime statistics

Question 9

What are some examples of using statistics?

Answer 9

Readily available- practical
Free- practical
Accurate- valid
Large sample size- representative
Help identify patterns between groups

Question 10

What’s a possible disadvantage to the census?

Answer 10

Carried out every 10 years therefore could be outdated

Question 11

What’s an example of how the government can manipulate statistics?

Answer 11

Conservative government 1982-92 changed how they measured unemployment therefore unemployment decreased

Question 12

What do interpretivists think about statistics?

Answer 12

Official statistics not facts but merely an interpretation made by government agencies

Question 13

What’s a possible ethical disadvantage when using statistics?

Answer 13

Using statistics where manipulation is involved isn’t morally ethical

Question 14

What is the detachment advantage of using statistics?

Answer 14

Detachment- no relationship is formed between the researcher and the person being researched, therefor don’t feel pressured to answer certain way- more valid

Question 15

What were the 4 category’s that Durkheim used for categories of suicide?

Answer 15

Egoistic
Altruistic
Anomic
Fatalistic

Question 16

What is meant by the fatalistic category of Durkheim study?

Answer 16

People lose the will to live and prefer to die, no more point existing

Question 17

What is meant by the egoistic category of Durkheims study?

Answer 17

Individual health and rights stressed, allegenice fo wider group weak, selfish Suicide

Question 18

What is meant by the altruistic category of Durkheims study?

Answer 18

People have insufficient motivation, happiness of individual not stressed unless for wider society
An example would be suicide bomber

Question 19

What is meant by the anomic category of Durkheims study?

Answer 19

People naturally selfish, may be a rapid social change and people fail to conform to resort to suicide

Question 20

How could Durkheims study be criticised?

Answer 20

Need a more in-depth and detailed understanding to know why people commit suicide, need an interpretivist approach

Question 21

Why is Atkinson critical of suicide statistics?

Answer 21

Believes that suicide is a social construct as it is down to the coroners interpretation

Question 22

What “clues” does Atkinson look for when studying his coroners decide whether or not a death is a suicide?

Answer 22

Suicide notes
Mode of death
Life history and mental condition
Location and circumstances

Question 23

Is Atkinsons view better than Durkheims?

Answer 23

Atkinsons- more validity, could take long so can’t talk to as many people therefor not representative
Durkheims- opposite of above