Primary and Secondary data

Strengths of primary data

• You have sound knowledge of where the data came from

• Ethical advantages

• Valid - using qualitative

• Reliable - using quantitative

Weaknesses of primary data

• May not be reliable - bias

• Time consuming

• Sample size will not be representative

Qualitative secondary data

• Can include personal diaries - gain greater insight

• Written for personal purposes - high in validity

• May contain personal biases

• Not representative of society

Wilmott and Young (1961)

• Persuaded families to keep detailed diaries

• Being used for research makes them less valid - awareness might influence what people include

Quantitative secondary data

• Official statistics - collected by government

• Not everybody will report crime- statistics are socially constructed

• Have already been collected - quick and cheap

• Provide large amounts of data - representative

• Identify trends - changes observed over time

• Could be biases in how collected

• No depth or detail