Secondary sources essay

Para one – quantitative – official statistics Advantage: : more likely to be representative as comprehensive in coverage- large sample, make generalisations : low as ‘dark figure’ – v Example: Crime rates Low validity – one present a picture of the moment Inaccurate – crimes may not be reported eg domestic violence or petty crime We have a dark figure of crime Only includes crime we are aware of – that has been recorded

Para two – content analysis – quantitative Advantage: Positivists see it as the sources of objective, scientific data from which patterns and trends can be identified eg women are more likely to be shown in adverts with children Disadvantage: low validity Example: counting how many times a women is portrayed in a gender stereotypical way on adverts

Para three – public docs – qualitative Advantage: Public documents tend to be free to access, useful for hard to access groups R: : is not representative cannot make generalisations – only represent literate groups eg letters diaries

Para four: private docs – qualitative Advantage: V: they are not written with research in mind and so can be an authentic statement of their authors view Disadvantage: E: consent may be broke- read someone's diaries without their consent Documents a02 – Thomas and Znaecki Researched attitudes towards immigration Looked at letters sent between polish migrants who moved to new York and their families still in Poland Disadvantage of the study: Exaggeration – not to worry their parent – credibility is low