strengths

• Practical – Time and Cost

  They are a free source of huge amounts of quantitative, representative data. Only the state can afford to conduct large-scale surveys costing millions of pounds, such as the ten-yearly Census covering every household in the UK. Likewise, only the government has the power to compel citizens to provide it with information, for example by requiring parents to register births. Sociologists can make use of this data, saving them both time and money.
• 1. Practical – Access to historic data

  • Official agencies collect data over a long period of time, over decades or even longer. This mean historic data exists that a researcher would otherwise not be able to access. 

  Official statistics can be used to show trends and patterns over time. This means sociologists can use them for "before and after' studies to show cause-and-effect relationships.
• Theoretical - Representativeness

  • official statistics often cover very large numbers (even the entire population), and because care is taken with sampling procedures, they often provide a more representative sample than surveys conducted with the limited resources available to the sociologist. They may thus provide a sounder basis for making generalisations.
• 1. Theoretical - Reliability

  • Official statistics are generally seen as a reliable source of data. They are compiled in a standardised way by trained staff, following set procedures. For example, government statisticians compile death rates for different social classes following a standard procedure which uses the occupation recorded on each person's death certificate to identify their class. Official statistics are therefore reliable because, in principle, any person properly trained will allocate a given case to the same category.