Official statistics
Examine the reasons why some sociologists choose to use official statistics when conducting research.
Firstly, official statistics are a source of secondary quantitative data which are gathered by the government or other official bodies. Many reasons for their use by sociologists when conducting research stems from the fact that they are a form of secondary data; meaning that they are not collected by the sociologist themselves. This makes them high in practicality, representativeness and reliability. However, with all research methods there are issues when using official statistics. Yet, ultimately their advantages appeal to sociologists, despite the possible problems they may pose.
Moreover, whilst the government may have vested interests in collecting statistics that may not benefit sociologists, they still have huge practical advantages that make them viable for sociological research. This is because, only the state can afford to conduct large scale surveys and have the power to make it mandatory for citizens to provide information like a birth. With this data already being available, it means that the sociologist can save valuable time and money which is why they opt for official statistics when conducting research. For example, the compulsory census that covers every household in the UK would be hard for a sociologist to replicate themselves as it would be extremely time consuming to target people nationwide as well as accounting for the cost of producing the survey. Also, because the census is collected at regular ten year intervals it would allow the sociologist to show trends and patterns in the data which could be used in highlighting cause and effect relationships between variables like occupation and household income. Thus, not only may a sociologist use official statistics due to the lack of time and money they would have to invest in the research, they would also be used due to the ability to draw comparisons which could add consequent depth
Firstly, official statistics are a source of secondary quantitative data which are gathered by the government or other official bodies. Many reasons for their use by sociologists when conducting research stems from the fact that they are a form of secondary data; meaning that they are not collected by the sociologist themselves. This makes them high in practicality, representativeness and reliability. However, with all research methods there are issues when using official statistics. Yet, ultimately their advantages appeal to sociologists, despite the possible problems they may pose.
Moreover, whilst the government may have vested interests in collecting statistics that may not benefit sociologists, they still have huge practical advantages that make them viable for sociological research. This is because, only the state can afford to conduct large scale surveys and have the power to make it mandatory for citizens to provide information like a birth. With this data already being available, it means that the sociologist can save valuable time and money which is why they opt for official statistics when conducting research. For example, the compulsory census that covers every household in the UK would be hard for a sociologist to replicate themselves as it would be extremely time consuming to target people nationwide as well as accounting for the cost of producing the survey. Also, because the census is collected at regular ten year intervals it would allow the sociologist to show trends and patterns in the data which could be used in highlighting cause and effect relationships between variables like occupation and household income. Thus, not only may a sociologist use official statistics due to the lack of time and money they would have to invest in the research, they would also be used due to the ability to draw comparisons which could add consequent depth