Official statistics

• Official statistics


  A form of quantitative data that has been compiled from other research methods such as questionnaires, opinion polls, and civil service and other departmental data
• Purpose of official statistics


  • To allow the government to plan their spending for future years
  • For example, if there is an increase in the birth rate, they know they need to build more schools
• Office for National Statistics


  The organisation in the UK that collects official statistics
• How sociologists use official statistics


  • To back up their findings
  • To find areas they may want to investigate further
• Areas where official statistics are used


  • Education
  • Crime
  • Health
  • Work
  • Poverty and welfare
  • Families and households
• Advantages of using official statistics


  • Easy to access and regularly updated
  • Provide trends over time to see impacts of social changes
  • Look at differences based on ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and religious beliefs to help spot inequality and diversity
  • Highly reliable as they are repeated often
• Official statistics can become a starting point for lots of sociological research, particularly in examining inequality in contemporary society
• There are practical issues with official statistics, such as the time it can take to interpret and analyze the large amounts of data, the data being out of date, and the definitions used not always aligning with what sociologists are looking for
• Ethically, official statistics are quite sound, but they can be manipulated by governments to prove political or ideological points, which can negatively impact certain groups in society
• Theoretical issues with official statistics


  • Interpretivists would suggest they are a social construction, as it is up to those in power to decide what actions or behaviors fit definitions
  • There are issues relating to 'dark figures' - actions or behaviours that are not reported or recorded anywhere through official channels
  • Marxist and feminist perspectives would suggest they can be manipulated to suit the needs of capitalism and the patriarchy
• Examples of official statistics


  • The census
  • Crime statistics
  • Educational league tables and exam results