Official Statistics Should Not Be Seen as Social Facts

Question 1

Positivist View

Answer 1

• Support Use of Official Statistics
• seen as objective, reliable, and representative.
• E.g., Durkheim’s use of suicide stats to identify social laws

Question 2

Interpretivist View (Critique)

Answer 2

• Statistics are Socially Constructed
• they reflect the processes of their creation, not just objective facts

Question 3

Cicourel

Answer 3

crime statistics reflect police decisions about who is “typical” of a criminal (labelling bias).

Question 4

Atkinson (1971)

Answer 4

suicide stats are based on coroners’ interpretations; not “real” indicators of death motives.

Question 5

Key Arguments

Answer 5

• Dark Figures
• Political Influence
• Operational Definitions

Question 6

Political Influence

Answer 6

governments may manipulate statistics for ideological reasons.

Question 7

Dark Figures

Answer 7

crime, truancy, and unemployment are often underreported.

Question 8

Operational Definitions

Answer 8

what counts as “truancy” or “unemployment” changes over time or by context

Question 9

Conclusion

Answer 9

• Official statistics should be treated critically , not taken at face value.
• Best used alongside qualitative methods to provide fuller understanding.

Question 10

The government

Answer 10

collect statistics for their own benefit

Question 11

it lacks validity

Answer 11

crime stats only involve 1/4 that are reported to the police

Question 12

it does not state objective fact

Answer 12

Atkinson researched suicide and intentions behind them and reasonings became ambiguous

Question 13

Limitations of Quantitative Data

Answer 13

• Lack of Context
• Over-Simplification

Question 14

Lack of Context

Answer 14

Quantitative data often lacks the context provided by qualitative data. It can tell us how many people are unemployed, for example, but not why they are unemployed or how it affects their lives.

Question 15

Over-Simplification

Answer 15

Quantitative data can also oversimplify complex social phenomena. For example, crime statistics only capture reported crimes, which may not reflect the actual crime rate due to factors like under-reporting

Question 16

Subjectivity in Data Collection and Interpretation

Answer 16

The methods used to collect and interpret data can influence the results. Statistics can be manipulated or selectively presented to support a particular viewpoint.

Question 17

Limitations of Quantitative Data

Answer 17

Quantitative data often lacks context and can oversimplify complex social phenomena. It may not capture the full picture of a social issue