Topic 6 - Secondary Sources Flashcards

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1
Q

Secondary sources

A
  • Official statistics
  • Other researchers
  • Media
  • Other resources
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2
Q

What kind of data can secondary sources be

A
  • Quantitative
  • Qualitative
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3
Q

Who likes official statistics

A
  • Positivists
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4
Q

Ways of collecting official statistics

A
  • Registration
  • Offical surveys
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5
Q

Practical strengths of secondary sources

A
  • Free and easily availbale online
  • Government compels civilians to provide the information
  • Allows comparisons amongst groups
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6
Q

Ethical strengths of secondary sources

A
  • 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
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7
Q

Theoretical strengths of secondary sources

A
  • Reliable
  • Representitativeness
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8
Q

Practical weaknesses of secondary sources

A
  • 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
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9
Q

ATKINSON (Practical weakness)

A
  • 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
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10
Q

Ethical weaknesses of secondary sources

A
  • Risk that official statistics may be manipulated to downplay or exaggerate issues such as unemployment and crime rates
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11
Q

Theoretical weaknesses of secondary sources

A
  • Lack validity as errors can be made on the behalf of either the government or the participant
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12
Q

Documents

A
  • Interpretivists
  • Written text
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13
Q

Public documents

A
  • Used for public knowledge
  • Produced by organisations
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14
Q

THOMAS and ZNANIECKI (Personal documents)

A
  • Used letters to look at the meanings individuals gave to their experiences of migration
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15
Q

Personal documents

A
  • Are usually private documents for a person’s own use
  • First hand accounts of events and experiences and usually includes feelings and attitudes
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16
Q

Historical documents

A
  • Personal/public documents created in the past so often the only source of information available
17
Q

LASLETT (documents)

A

Used parish records in his study of the pre-industrial family

18
Q

Assessing documents

A
  1. Authenticity
  2. Credibility
  3. Representativeness
19
Q

Authenticity

A
  • 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
20
Q

Credibility

A
  • 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
21
Q

Representativeness

A
  • Is the evidence in the document typical and can it be generalised from
22
Q

Practical strengths of documents

A
  • May be the only source of information
  • Cheap
  • Mostly accessible
  • Efficient
23
Q

Ethical strengths of documents

A
  • Credbility
24
Q

Theoretical strengths of documents

A
  • Validity
25
Q

Practical weaknesses of documents

A
  • Availability bias
26
Q

Ethical weaknesses of documents

A
  • Misinterpretation
  • Mispresentation
27
Q

Theoretical weaknesses of documents

A
  • Reliability