research methods - secondary

Question 1

advantages of official statistics

Answer 1

• practical (cheap, easy access)
• regularly collected (can compare trends over time)
• representative

Question 2

disadvantages of official statistics

Answer 2

• may not be suited to specific research purposes
• changing definitions over time

Question 3

advantages of personal documents

Answer 3

• valid (in-depth writing)
• practical (cheap and easy to access)

Question 4

disadvantages of personal documents

Answer 4

• unrepresentative
• may written with intention to be read (personal bias)

Question 5

advantages of public documents

Answer 5

• comparisons over times
• useful in accessing cause and effect

Question 6

disadvantages of public documents

Answer 6

• unrepresentative
• documents are not always authentic