Official Statistics

• Official Statistics:

  Pre-existing quantitative secondary data, often produced by the government or other official bodies. Producing statistics on many areas: births, deaths, marriages, exam results, school exclusions, crime, suicide, unemployment, etc. The Census of the entire UK population is a major source of statistics, collected every 10 years. Governments collect this for their own purposes, such as policymaking. Various non-state organisations produce statistics too, such as churches stating their membership and attendance.
• Practical Advantages:

  They are a free source of large amounts of data, as only the state has the resources to conduct large-scale surveys. Additionally, only the state has the power to compel individuals to supply certain data (e.g. parents are required to register births, and heads of the household must complete the Census form). Reducing the issue of a low response rate (the last Census had a 5% refusal rate).
• Practical Advantages:

  Official statistics enable comparisons between groups. E.g. the Census covers the whole UK population and asks individuals the same core questions. Standardisation makes it easier to compare different social groups, regions, etc. As they are collected at regular intervals, they can show trends and patterns over time. They can then be used to identify correlations between variables, suggesting possible cause-and-effect relationships (Positivism).
• Practical Disadvantages:

  Government create statistics for their own purposes, not the benefit of the sociologist, meaning there may be no available data on certain sociological topics. E.g. the French state doesn't collect data on the race, religion, or ethnicity of its citizens; meaning there are no official statistics on issues such as the religion or ethnicity of those in prisons. As the data is secondary, there may be mismatches in the samples used when comparing two sections of data in the aims to study a specific population.
• Practical Disadvantages:

  Definitions used by the state may differ from that of the sociologist; for example 'homelessness' or 'truancy' can be defined in various ways. Leading to different views of how large the problem is. It may be in the state's interest to make the problem appear smaller through redefining it. Also, the state may change their definitions over time, this then makes comparisons across different countries or looking in the past more difficult. Some statistics are collected infrequently, like the 10 year Census, meaning there isn't always a current picture of social trends.
• Theoretical Issues: Positivism

  Representativeness- their aim is to make generalisable statements about society as a whole and how this shapes our behaviour, meaning samples need to be representative; official statistics are large-scale, often covering entire populations (e.g. birth and death statistics). The samples are larger than typical sociological studies. The Crime Survey for England and Wales interviews around 50,000 people. Great care is taken over the sampling procedures, making them a more sound basis for generalisations and hypothesis testing.
• Theoretical Issues: Positivism

  Reliability- seen as a reliable source of data as they are complied by trained staff who use standardised categories and collection techniques. This set procedure can then be replicated. The surveys are carried out using a standardised measuring instrument such as a written questionnaire, which is administered in the same way to all. Categories (such as social class) are operationalised, meaning conduct of classification is consistent.
• Theoretical Issues: Interpretivism

  Interpretivists, such as Cicourel, reject the Positivist claim that statistics are real, objective social facts. Claiming that they are merely social constructs that represent that labels officials attach to people. E.g. those stated as having a mental health disorder in official statistics have been through a series of social interactions to define them in this way; their plea either accepted or ignored by professionals. They therefore claim that these statistics are merely the total number of decisions by doctors to label someone as mentally ill.
• Theoretical Issues: Interpretivism

  Soft Statistics- tend to give a less valid picture of reality, often complied from administrative records created by state agencies (like the health service, police, schools). Representing a record of decisions made by these agencies (e.g. who they class as truanting, rather then the number who have truanted). They often neglect an unknown 'dark figure' of unrecorded cases; schools may keep a record of racist incidents, but not all pupils report all incidents and teachers may not report all they are told.
• Theoretical Issues: Interpretivism

  Hard Statistics- provide a more valid picture. They include incidents on births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. While a small number of births and deaths go unrecorded, there is an overall high level of trust over the validity of hard statistics. Because: there is little dispute over the definitions of each category; and they are often created from registration data, some of which are legal requirements to fill out (like births and deaths).
• Theoretical Issues: Marxism

  Marxists see official statistics as serving the interests of capitalism. The state isn't neutral in the conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, instead it serves the interests of the ruling class. These statistics are linked to Althusser's ISA which are institutions which produce the ruling-class ideology, functioning to conceal or distort reality to maintain capitalist rule.
• Theoretical Issues: Marxism

  Ideological Functions- politically sensitive data which would reveal the exploitative nature of capitalism may not be published. E.g. since 1980s, data analysed from the Census no longer includes class differences in death rates. Definitions can conceal capitalism's nature- the state have frequently changed their definition of unemployment. Social class categories are based on occupation. This then gives the impression of a gradual hierarchy of several classes, rather than the conflict between two.
• Theoretical Issues: Marxism

  AO3- Though critics claim that not all official statistics reflect the interests of capitalism. E.g. statistics on differences in illness and life expectancy show clear evidence of class inequality (Left Realism).
• Theoretical Issues: Feminism

  Oakley and Graham reject the use of quantitative survey methods as they regard is as a 'masculine' or patriarchal model of research. As official statistics are created by the state, which they regard as maintaining patriarchal oppression, official statistics are then a form of patriarchal ideology- concealing or legitimating gender inequality which then maintains women's subordination. E.g. few statistics are collected about the unpaid labour done within the home, belittling full-time housewives by defining them as 'economically inactive'.
• Theoretical Issues: Feminism

  Though some statistics collected don't reflect the patriarchy, such as those reporting earnings from work, demonstrate gender inequality. Recently changes have been made so that the person who rents/owns the home is the 'household reference person' (HRP) and their job determines the household's class. If the house is jointly earned, it is the person who owns the highest- this then increases the chance of a women's occupation determining her family's class.
• Theoretical Issues: Feminism

  However, men are still more likely to be the homeowner and the one who earns highest, making them the 'household reference person' (HRP). Therefore official statistics continue to give a distorted picture of gender and social class. Hence many feminists argue that official statistics should allocate women and men to their social class individually, rather than as a household.