Types Of Data Flashcards
What is primary data?
Information collected by sociologists themselves for their own purposes
What are the methods for collecting primary data?
-social surveys
-participant observations
-experiments
What are social surveys?
Asking people questions in a written questionnaire or an interview
What is participant observation?
The sociologist joins in with the activities of the group he or she is studying
What is secondary data?
Information that has been collected or created by someone else for their own purposes, but which the sociologist can then use
What are 2 sources of secondary data that sociologists can use?
-official statistics
-documents
What are official statistics?
Produced by the government on a wide range of issues such as education,. Crime, divorce and unemployment as well as statistics produced by charities, businesses, churches and other organisations
What are documents?
Letters, emails,diaries, photographs, official reports, novels, newspapers, the internet and television broadcasts
What is an advantage of using secondary data?
Can be a quick and cheap way of doing research
What is a disadvantage of using secondary data?
Those who produce it may not be interested in the same questions as sociologists so secondary sources may not provide the information that sociologists need
What is quantitative data?
Information in a numerical form
What is qualitative data?
Words- gives a feel for what something is like
