Summary
Contents
What is qualitative secondary analysis? How can it be most effectively applied in social research? This timely and accomplished book offers readers a well informed, reliable guide to all aspects of qualitative secondary analysis. The book: Defines secondary analysis. Distinguishes between quantitative and qualitative secondary analysis. Maps the main types of qualitative secondary analysis. Covers the key ethical and legal issues. Offers a practical guide to effective research. Sets the agenda for future developments in the subject. Written by an experienced researcher and teacher with a background in sociology, the book is a comprehensive and invaluable introduction to this growing field of social research.
Official Statistics
Official Statistics
Official statistics are numerical data-sets, produced by official governmental agencies mainly for administrative purposes, including the Census, crime figures, health data, income and employment rates, as well as those based on government-sponsored social surveys.
Section Outline: Governments publish quantitative data. Printed tables on wide range of topics. Recent availability of raw data. Advantages of official statistics: cheap; wide coverage; reliable; available. Disadvantages of official statistics: rigid; definitions; selective; sampling. The social construction of official statistics. Example: crime and criminal statistics. The state's view of what is important. Fiddling the official figures. Example: unemployment. Cicourel's critique. Excessive distrust of official statistics. Desktop computing revolutionises data access.
In Britain, government departments routinely collect and publish quantitative socio-economic information covering England and Wales, and often Scotland and Northern ...
