Official Statistics

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  • Created by: FatCat3
  • Created on: 14-03-22 19:48
what are official statistics?
O.S are a firm of secondary data, it already exists and aren't produced by the researcher
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what 2 statistics are there?
.official statistics- collected by the gov
.unofficial statistics- collected by anyone except the gov.
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what are the 2 categories of statistics?
.hard data- collects facts and is used w proven methods
.soft data- involves opinions, feelings and observations
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what is the ONS?
Office of National statistics
-gives gold standards ti statistics that are reliable and thorough
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who prefer O.S?
+positivists prefer this as it has quantitative data
-interpretivists believe statistics are unhelpful
-marxists dislike O.S as they think its collected to serve for the MC so they re biased sources of data
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name the reliability and validity evaluations
-data collected by somebody else for a diff reason
-no control over original data so questionable reliability/ validity
-O.S can be manipulated by gov for political advantage
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continuing w previous card
+O.S can be replicable as ONS requires replicability of statistics
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name the representativeness evaluations
+much larger sample achieved ie entire target populations
-no control over how sample is obtained
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name the practicality evaluations
+easily accessible
+free
+analysed-quickly
-some may cost money to access
->+cheaper then producing results yourself
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name the ethical evaluations
+not many ethical issues
-some data is state surveillance and socially damaging ie schools and league tables
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what issues can be studied for methods of context in education?
-ethnicity, gender, class educational diff
-school attendance, truancy and inclusion
-league tables, marketisation and school performance
-gender + subject choice
-education, work and training
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name the practical evaluations
+saves money +time as data is already published
+can make comparisons between dif social groups
+educational statistics are regulated and kept in frequent intervals (can see over time)
+gov gather O.S to monitor effectiveness of social polices
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continuing w previous card
-key concepts of sociologists/ statistics can differ
-state may not collect O.S on pupils social classes only ie free school meal (-but those on free school meals may not collect them due to bullying)
->-not all free school meal kids are WC, could be big
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name the representativeness evaluations
+highly representative ie all state schools gas to complete a school census 3x a year
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name the reliability evaluations
+positivists favour this as they can establish a cause and effect rs
-errors may occur in O.S
+can replicate time to time, showing differences over the years
-gov can change definitions/categories
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name the validity evaluations
-interpretivists argue educational statistics are socially constructed so question validity
-schools can manipulate figures by re-defining them ie attendances as being on study leave/work experience, undermining validity
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

what 2 statistics are there?

Back

.official statistics- collected by the gov
.unofficial statistics- collected by anyone except the gov.

Card 3

Front

what are the 2 categories of statistics?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

what is the ONS?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

who prefer O.S?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

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