Methods: Types of Data

Question 1

Primary Data

Answer 1

Information which was not present before the research began. Produced by the researcher first hand during actual study.

Question 2

Primary Research Methods

Answer 2

Questionnaires, Interviews, observations.

Question 3

Primary Data:

Advantages and disadvantages

Answer 3

Sociologists will be able to gather precisely the information they need to test their hypotheses. However, it can be both time consuming and expensive.

Question 4

Secondary Data

Answer 4

Data which already exists. Includes data from historical records, official statistics, government reports, newspapers, diaries, autobiographies, novels etc.

Question 5

Secondary Research Methods

Answer 5

Looking through archives, online research.

Question 6

Secondary Data:

Advantages and disadvantages

Answer 6

Can be a quick and cheap way of gaining insight into the chosen research topic. However it may have been produced for different reasons therefore the data might not exactly correlate to the chosen topic of research.

Question 7

Quantitative Data

Answer 7

Information in a numerical form which can be subject to statistical analysis.

Question 8

Examples of Qualitative Data:

Answer 8

Official Statistics on how many girls passed 5 or more GCSEs.
League tables showing a schools achievement data.
Proportions of girls from MC backgrounds attending Uni.

Question 9

Quantitative Data:

Advantages and disadvantages

Answer 9

Useful for measuring the strength of relationships between different variables. Can be shown as statistics and displayed in pictorial form such as graphs or pie charts. However Interpretivists would argue it only gives a snapshot picture and lacks depth.

Question 10

Qualitative Data

Answer 10

All types of data that are not numerical.

Question 11

Examples of Qualitative Data:

Answer 11

Descriptive data from classroom observation looking at teacher pupil interaction.
Quotes from interviews.
Written sources on LEA policy.
A newspaper article assessing the current state of education.
Pictures and photographs contrasting two different schools.

Question 12

Qualitative Data:

Advantages and disadvantages

Answer 12

Can often provide a richer and more in depth picture of social life than the statistics provided by quantitative data. It gives a ‘feel’ of what something is like. However it thus lacks the ability to be used for generalisation which positivists would criticise.

Question 13

Validity

Answer 13

Data is valid if it presents a true, genuine, and accurate picture, description or measurement which enables the researcher to get close to the truth.

Question 14

Validity Example

Answer 14

If a Sociologist captured in their research how it felt to be labelled negatively by a teacher.

Question 15

Reliability

Answer 15

Data is reliable when different researchers using the same methods obtain the sae results - it is replicated (a replica).

Question 16

Reliability Example

Answer 16

If a number of researchers observed the same tier in a school and produced the same description of pupils’ behaviour, their results would be seen as being reliable.

Question 17

Reliable not valid data:

Answer 17

The position of schools in the league table may be based on reliable achievement data, but it may not represent a valid picture of the school, its standard of teaching ect.

Question 18

Repeatability

Answer 18

Can the data be repeated in the same scenario?