Official Statistics

• What are official statistics a form of?

  Quantitative data
• From which research methods are official statistics compiled?

  Questionnaires, census, opinion polls
• What types of data do official statistics include?

  Births, deaths, marriages, migration
• What is the purpose of official statistics for the government?

  To plan spending for future years
• How do increases in birth rates affect government planning?

  More schools need to be built
• Who collects official statistics in the UK?

  Office for National Statistics
• How do sociologists use official statistics?

  To back up findings or investigate areas
• In which areas are official statistics widely used?

  Education, crime, health, work
• What are the advantages of using official statistics?

  • Easy to access and regularly updated
  • Provide trends over time
  • Highlight differences based on demographics
  • Highly reliable and frequently published
• How has the internet improved access to official statistics?

  Updates are hosted on gov.uk website
• What do official statistics help sociologists identify?

  Inequality and diversity in society
• What is a practical issue with official statistics?

  Time needed to interpret large data sets
• What is a limitation of census data?

  It can be out of date
• Why might definitions in official statistics differ from sociological needs?

  Statistics are not made for sociological research
• What is a challenge in operationalizing variables in official statistics?

  Governments have finite criteria for definitions
• What ethical issues are associated with official statistics?

  Manipulation by governments for political points
• How is poverty defined in the UK according to official statistics?

  Earn less than 60% of median wage
• If the median wage is £25,000, who is considered in poverty?

  Those earning less than £15,000
• What happens to the definition of poverty if the median wage drops?

  Fewer people are classified as poor
• What are the theoretical issues with official statistics?

  • Validity concerns: social construction of statistics
  • Dark figures: unreported actions or behaviors
  • Criticism from different theoretical perspectives
• What do interpretivists believe about official statistics?

  They are a social construction
• What are dark figures in official statistics?

  Unreported or unrecorded actions
• Which social issues are commonly associated with dark figures?

  Crime and domestic violence
• How do functionalists view the use of official statistics?

  They approve of their use
• How do Marxists and feminists view official statistics?

  They suggest manipulation for capitalism and patriarchy
• What does the census provide statistics on?

  Household structure, beliefs, employment
• How often are crime statistics updated?

  Quarterly
• What do educational league tables show?

  Levels of educational achievement
• What is the purpose of publishing exam results annually?

  To demonstrate quality of education
• What is the conclusion of the sociology topic video on research methods?

  • Examines official statistics
  • Discusses advantages and limitations
  • Highlights theoretical perspectives