Types of Data

TYPES of DATA

IGCSE Sociology

​Lesson Objectives

​- Understand and define different types of data:

• Primary and Seconday data

• Qualitative and Quantitative data

​- Describe the strengths and limitations of each type.

Open Ended

How does data help researchers?

​Data

​Classification of Data

• ​Primary and Secondary Data

• ​Qualitative and Quantitative Data

Primary and Secondary Data

​

​Primary data

• ​collected first-hand by the researcher

• ​produced by different research methods suchas surveys, interviews, questionnaires or ethnographic (observation) methods

• ​useful to sociologists because it is original and up to date

​secondary data

• ​data that already exist; produced by another researcher

• ​examples:

  • ​letters, emails, newspapers, diaries, official statistics and existing research

• ​useful to sociologists because it can be quick to obtain and is readily available

For example: Mr. Ebro is researching about ULC.

Question: What makes an ideal ULC student?

To answer his question, Mr. Ebro interviewed and surveyed his participants.

students

teachers

interviews and surveys are primary data

Mr. Ebro used the results of his surveys and interviews in his research paper

research papers are secondary data

Research Paper

Students of Mr. Ebro used his research for their future researches.

research papers are secondary data

Research Paper

interviews and surveys are primary data

students

Open Ended

What's the difference between primary and secondary data?

Qualitative and quantitative data

​

​Quantitative data

• ​numerical data associated with positivist research

• ​can be obtained from a range of research methods:

  • ​surveys, official statistics, structured interviews, and experiments

​Official Statistics

• ​main source of quantitative data for sociologists

• ​produced by national and local governments (official documents)

​

​Official and non-official statistics

​- Official - produced by government

​- Non-official - produced by other organisations

​Hard and Soft Statistics

​Hard - those that are deemed completely accurate (births, marriage, deaths, etc)

​

​Soft - depends on people's decision what to record and how

​How are Quantitative Data presented?

• ​presented through diagrams, charts and tables

​qualitative data

• ​meaningul data associated with interpretivist research

• ​can be obtained from a range of research methods:

  • ​observations, unstructured interviews and diaries (presented in quotes and extracts)

​Historical Documents

​a wide range of documents form the past used as sources of information by sociologists

​

​Examples: letters, photographs, diaries, reports, autobiographies, household accounts, etc.

​MEdia content

​can be a source of information on a topic being researched (documentaries, news, literature, novels, films, etc.)

​

​In using these content, researchers should be aware of bias.

• ​Ways on how to evaluate Qualitative Sources

• ​Who produced the source?

• ​Why was it produced?

• ​Who's the author? What's his purpose?

• ​Does the source seem biased? Why/Why not?

• ​Are there sources that supports or conflict with the source?

​GALLERY WALK

​

​activity: Advantages and disadvantages of quali and quanti data

​Step 1: 15 minutes

​

• Read pp. 38-44 of the textbook; Types of Data Readings

  • G1: Advantages of Quantitative Data

  • G2: Advantages of Qualitative Data

  • G3: Limitations of Quantitative Data

  • G4: Limitations of Qualitative Data​

• Stay with your group members and make a poster about your assigned topic. Feel free to add words, images, etc. to make it more appealing.

​activity: Advantages and disadvantages of quali and quanti data

​Step 2: Group Sharing

​

• ​Students with the same numbers (eg. all #1s) group together and discuss the posters assigned to them. They are also free to add information they think are useful.

• ​The student who made the poster are assigned to discuss the poster.

• ​After 5 minutes, groups rotate to the next poster.

​Group Sharing 1: 5 minutes

​Group Sharing 2: 5 minutes

​Group Sharing 3: 5 minutes

​Group Sharing 4: 5 minutes

Group Activity: Mini-Research Update​

​

Group Activity

​Go to worksheet 4 in collaborative space (Class Notebook) and answer Worksheet 4.

Poll

How confident are you?