Topic 6 - Secondary Sources Flashcards
Secondary sources
- Official statistics
- Other researchers
- Media
- Other resources
What kind of data can secondary sources be
- Quantitative
- Qualitative
Who likes official statistics
- Positivists
Ways of collecting official statistics
- Registration
- Offical surveys
Practical strengths of secondary sources
- Free and easily availbale online
- Government compels civilians to provide the information
- Allows comparisons amongst groups
Ethical strengths of secondary sources
- All ethical guidelines have already been considered by the government so no additional consent is needed as the statistics are publically available, but all personal information is hidden
Theoretical strengths of secondary sources
- Reliable
- Representitativeness
Practical weaknesses of secondary sources
- Government may not gather statistics on the topics the researcher is interested in
- Some information is protected and requires permission to access some of the statistics
- Definitions for official statistics changes over time
ATKINSON (Practical weakness)
- Used qualitative methods to look at how coroners reach the decision to label a death as suicide
- Concluded that suicide statistics are not a true reflection, but a social construct defined by coroners, doctors, and relatives
Ethical weaknesses of secondary sources
- Risk that official statistics may be manipulated to downplay or exaggerate issues such as unemployment and crime rates
Theoretical weaknesses of secondary sources
- Lack validity as errors can be made on the behalf of either the government or the participant
Documents
- Interpretivists
- Written text
Public documents
- Used for public knowledge
- Produced by organisations
THOMAS and ZNANIECKI (Personal documents)
- Used letters to look at the meanings individuals gave to their experiences of migration
Personal documents
- Are usually private documents for a person’s own use
- First hand accounts of events and experiences and usually includes feelings and attitudes
Historical documents
- Personal/public documents created in the past so often the only source of information available
LASLETT (documents)
Used parish records in his study of the pre-industrial family
Assessing documents
- Authenticity
- Credibility
- Representativeness
Authenticity
- Is the document what is claims to be with any pages missing and free from errors, who actually wrote the document
- Adolf Hitler’s diaries were purchased after being authenticated by historians = found to be a complete forger
Credibility
- Is the document believable and was the author sincere, is the document accurate
- THOMAS and ZNANIECKIS migrants may have lied in their letters home to family aboyt how good life was in the USA to justify their decision to emigrate
Representativeness
- Is the evidence in the document typical and can it be generalised from
Practical strengths of documents
- May be the only source of information
- Cheap
- Mostly accessible
- Efficient
Ethical strengths of documents
- Credbility
Theoretical strengths of documents
- Validity
Practical weaknesses of documents
- Availability bias
Ethical weaknesses of documents
- Misinterpretation
- Mispresentation
Theoretical weaknesses of documents
- Reliability
