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Types of information ＆ data - Coggle Diagram
Types of information ＆ data
Primary data
Def
Collect by the researcher
Secondary data
Def
Data that already exist
Can be found in official statistics
Published by other researchers ／diary
Quantitative secondary data
Official statistics
Def
Produced by the government or official agencies
main source of secondary quantitative data
Hard statistics
Completely accurate e.g.births of citizens
Soft statistics
Eg. Crime ＆ unemployment
pros
Easy to use& access
Likely to be valid/reliable
Part of longitudinal research
Easy to identify trends
Allow comparisons
cons
Socially constructed
Politics can affect statistics
Don't contain what sociologists want
Marxists argue that the statistics reflect the ruling class
Diagrams/charts/graphs/tables
Qualitative secondary data
Historical and personal documents(diaries)
Pros
High validity
First-hand experience of events
Deep, detailed in-depth insights
Wide range of historical materials available
Cons
Unrepresentative samples
Requires cross-checking with other source
Likely to be biased
Difficult to access
Media content
Pros
Vast amount of research material
Capture real events of a specific historical period
Show cultural meanings of society
Cons
Contains bias and subjectivity
Hard to separate real events and writers imagination
Both primary ＆secondary data can be either quantitative and qualitative