TYPES OF DATA What are the different types of data? What are reliability, validity and objectivity?

Starter  In pairs, discuss: 1. How do you think Sociologists prove their theories, e.g. how can Feminists prove that women are under the triple shift or how can they prove there is racism in schools?

Sociological research  Sociologists carry out research to prove, and disprove, their theories.  They do this by: Planning a research project  Finding the sample  Interviewing people  Handing out questionnaires  Observing people  Writing up the findings  Analysing the findings Research methods

Objectives  To outline different types of data as well as their advantages and disadvantages.  To explain why Sociologists want their data to be reliable, valid and objective.

Types of data There are two types of data or information available to sociologists.  The first is primary data. It is data that is created by Sociologists themselves through their own research. Sources of primary data are research methods such as questionnaires and interviews.  The second type of data is secondary data. It already exists and has been created by other people or organisations such as government agencies. Sources of secondary data include official statistics, media reports, letters and personal diaries.

Types of data  Both primary and secondary data can be presented in quantitative and qualitative forms.  Quantitative data is presented in numerical form. For example, crime statistics.  Qualitative data is presented in words. For example, newspaper articles, letters, diaries, etc.

Task 1  Fill in the missing words on the diagram using the words at the bottom of the worksheet.

DATA refers to ________________ For example an account from one of your respondents of what it’s like to live in poverty: “Sometimes I go without breakfast...” For example statistics on crime, which are published by the Home Office annually. For example a presentation in statistical form of the results of your questionnaire: “9% of my respondents could be defined as living in poverty” For example Anne Frank’s diary. This refers to data that has already been compiled for you. This refers to data you have generated. e.g. information PRIMARY questionnaires interviews observation content analysis QUANTITATIVEQUALITATIVE SECONDARY textbooks official statistics diaries letters media reports QUANTITATIVEQUALITATIVE

Task 2  Work in pairs.  Each card is an example of different types of Sociological research. For each one, decide if the data it would give you is: o Primary o Secondary o Qualitative o Quantitative  Tip – work out if it is primary or secondary first, then if it is qualitative or quantitative.  Can you explain your decision?

Solution 1. You have interviewed a representative sample of 13-year-olds in your school. You found that: o 50% of them believed that the contraceptive pill was a barrier against sexually transmitted diseases; o 44% believed it was not; o 6% did not know. 2. You conduct an unstructured interview as part of your study on crime, asking the respondents about some of their experiences of being a victim of crime. 3. You are doing a piece of research entitled 'Why do Teenagers Commit Suicide? One parent has given you the diary of her son whose last entry was the day before he committed suicide. 4. You use some official statistics concerning the number of people defined by the government as living in poverty. Primary quantitative Primary qualitative Secondary qualitative Secondary quantitative

Task 3  Use the IWB to sort the advantages and disadvantages of different types of data into the correct part of the grid.  Write it into your book.

Solution Primary dataSecondary dataQualitative data Quantitative data Advantages Disadvantages One strength of this data is that the researcher can gather precisely the information they want. This data is up to date as it would have been recently collected. Gathering this type of data is time consuming and costly. This type of data is quick and cheap to obtain as it already exists. This type of data is easy to analyse and it is easy to present using graphs and charts. This type of data only shows us ‘how much’, not ‘why’. This data is in- depth, more meaningful and can be used to explain human behaviour. Gathering this type of data is time consuming and costly. This type of data may not be exactly what the researcher needs for their research.

Reliability, validity and objectivity  The data is reliable when another researcher is able to repeat your study exactly the way you did it and get the same results. For example, you’ve carried out a questionnaire into the sexual activity of 16-year-old boys in Lambeth and found that 100% of your respondents said they were not virgins. To check that your study is reliable, I use the same questionnaire as you did and also find that 100% of my respondents are not virgins. As my results are the same as yours and we used the same questionnaire, it proves that your study is reliable.  The data is valid when your results must reflect (show) the ‘true picture’ of the group you’ve studied. If we use the same example as above, even though both our studies showed that all 16-year-old boys in Lambeth have lost their virginity, I still don’t believe that’s true and think the respondents lied to us – this makes both our studies invalid – they do not tell us the truth about sexual activity of 16-year-old boys in Lambeth.  Data is objective when you make sure that your personal opinions and beliefs do not influence the results of your study. You must be unbiased.

Task 4  Work in pairs.  Read each card at a time and decide which option given is more reliable and/or valid and why.  e.g. A woman’s attractiveness rating of a man before and then after he asked her out on a date.  The attractiveness rating given before the woman was asked out is more valid (truthful / accurate) as the man may become more attractive to her once he’s asked her out.

Solution  An eyewitness account of a robbery taken immediately after the event compared with the eyewitness’ account of what s/he saw given to the police three weeks later.  The account taken immediately after the event is more reliable because a different police officer can ask the same questions and will get the same answers as the first officer as the events are fresh in the person’s memory. This also makes the information valid. If you ask them what they saw three weeks later, they will be relying on their memory (invalid) and can give a different answer to different officers (unreliable).  A body temperature taking using a thermometer compared to the body temperature taken using a hand held to the forehead.  The thermometer measure will be more reliable as the temperature will be the same, while the measure taken by someone’s hand will be unreliable as it will depend on the temperature of their hand, e.g. If the hand is cold the temperature of the forehead will seem hotter than if the hand is warm.

Solution  A person’s measure of intelligence according to her/his friends compared to the results of an IQ test.  Results from an IQ test will be more reliable as different friends may have a different opinion about the person’s intelligence.  A student’s explanation for why s/he didn’t do her/his HW compared to her/his parents’ explanation.  The parents’ explanation will be more valid as the student is more likely to not tell the truth in an attempt to avoid detention, while the parents have nothing to lose by telling the truth.

Plenary  If this is the definition, what is the key word?  This is information gathered first hand by the researchers themselves.  This is information expressed in words. It is gathered through methods such as in-depth interviews, observations. It is seen as valid.  This is information expressed numerically. It is gathered through methods such as formal interviews, experiments and questionnaires. It is seen as reliable.  Research achieves this if it produces exactly the same results each time it is carried out using the same method.  This is information that already exists, but the research can use it in their study.  This means that the data gathered through research is a true picture of what was being studied. Primary data Qualitative data Quantitative data Reliability Secondary data Validity