Types of Data

Question 1

What are the two main types of data that sociologists use?

Answer 1

• primary

- secondary

Question 2

What is an advantage of using primary data?

Answer 2

• sociologists will be able to gather precisely the information they need to test their hypotheses

Question 3

What is a disadvantage of using primary data?

Answer 3

• collecting the information first hand can be time-consuming and expensive

Question 4

What are advantages of using secondary data?

Answer 4

• quick and cheap

Question 5

What is a disadvantage of using secondary data?

Answer 5

• the information may have been produced for different reasons

Question 6

Give three examples of quantitative data

Answer 6

• official statistics

- league tables

Question 7

What is quantitative data particularly useful for? How can it be displayed?

Answer 7

• measuring the strength of relationships between different factors/ variables
• statistics and displayed in pictorial form eg. graphs or pie charts

Question 8

Give four examples of qualitative data

Answer 8

• descriptive data
• quotes
• written sources
• newspaper article
• pictures and photographs

Question 9

What are advantages of using qualitative data?

Answer 9

• can provide a richer and more in-depth picture

- gives you a ‘feel’ for what something is like