Types of Data

Introduction to Research Methods

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkEIMMfmSyQ (Embed)

Primary Data

• Primary data is information that has been collected by the sociologist that is using it.
• Primary data may be used to test a hypothesis.
• Methods to obtain primary data:
• social surveys - asking people questions in a written questionnaire or an interview
• participant observation - the sociologist joins in with the activities of the group they are studying
• experiments - setting up an artificial situation (that otherwise would not have occurred) and then observing people's behaviour
• ADV. - Primary data is useful to test hypotheses, as the data collected is specific to the sociologist's research topic.
• DISADV. - Collecting this type of data may be time consuming and costly.
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Secondary Data

• Secondary data is information that has already been collected by someone else, that a sociologist can use in their study for a different purpose.
• Sources of secondary data:
• Official statistics - these are produced by the government on a wide range of areas, such as education, crime, divorce and unemployment. (This may also include data collected by charities, businesses, churches and other organisations).
• Documents - letters, emails, diaries, photographs, official reports, novels, newspapers, the internet and television broadcasts are all good sources of qualitative data.
• ADV. - Secondary data is a relatively quick and cost-effective way to carry out research.
• DISADV. - secondary sources may not provide the information that sociologists are interested in.
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Quantitative Data

• Qualitative data is information in a numerical form.
• Sources:
• Official statistics (whether raw information, ratios, fractions or percentages)
• Opinion polls
• Market research surveys
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Qualitative Data

• Qualitative data is more detailed, and gives a sense of what something is like.
• Sources:
• Participant observation
• In-depth and unstructured interviews
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Triangulation

• Most sociologists do not only use one type of data, instead they use both qualitative and quantitative and triangulate the information.
• ‘Triangulation’ involves using two or more sources or methods to obtain a more rounded picture by studying the same thing from more than one viewpoint.
• For example, they may begin with a limited number of in depth, unstructured interviews to gain insights; these can then be used to develop questions for a questionnaire given to a larger sample.
• The idea is that different methods can complement each other – the strengths of one counter the weaknesses of the other. Combining them gives us the best of both worlds: reliable and representative quantitative data covering large numbers of cases, as favoured by positivists, and valid qualitative data looking at a smaller number in depth, as preferred by interpretivists.