Statistics helps in providing a better understanding and description of a situation. It helps us to look at the bigger picture through collecting appropriate quantitative data and coming up with our own conclusions. However, not all statistics can be trusted. Often, misleading statistics, which are sometimes shown in articles and in the media, fools us. (Korn, 2014) Recently, daily mail conducted a survey to show whether men or women are more likely to gossip. According to daily mail (2014), around 1033 people took this survey and it was estimated that 55% of men gossip where as only 46% of women gossip. This shows that more men are more likely to gossip than women. However, the statistics given might be misleading in several ways. Firstly, the statistics given could be unreliable because the article did not state whether an equal sample size of men and women took this survey. In this case, if 800 men took this survey, and 440 of them say they gossip, we might assume that about 55% …show more content…
For example, the survey questions are not given or shown in the article. It is vital to find out what was asked in order to know whether the statistics shown could be trusted. The aim and the points-of-view of the researcher can have a subtle biasness in terms of the way they phrase questions and interpret results. It is essential to take note of the gender equality of the questions asked by the researcher in the survey. Also, it could be that the researcher is a woman and that the questions asked in the survey are more appealing towards women causing women to more willingly cooperate in the survey rather than men. This could disrupt the balance of the sample size creating an inaccurate and imprecise result. Therefore, it is important to find out more about the survey being carried out by understanding more about the researcher and their aims for this survey as it could lead to biasness hence, misleading
In contemporary society, there are various methodologies for collecting data (Linden 2012). That being said, there are pros and cons to each that are based on reliability and validity; where reliability is consistency of the statistics, and validity is a measure of how accurate the results are in accordance with the research topic. This ties in with how this paper will explore the Uniform Crime Report system (UCR); a measure of crime that is used the most. UCR statistics reflect the crimes that are reported to the police throughout the country. victimization and self-report surveys, which are statistics that reinforce the findings revealed by the UCR, will also be explored. Lastly, the issue of media coverage of crime news will be examined.
Joel Best’s Damned Lies and Statistics is a book all about recognizing statistics that are legitimate and others that are really quite horrible. The goal of this book is not that the average every day person be able to read a statistical table from a scholarly journal, but rather that anyone could personally value a statistic he or she may come across in a newspaper article or on a news program. Best was essentially effective in achieving his goal; however, he was effective to the point of overdoing his job of showing that there are bad statistics which give readers cause to evaluate them outside of hearing them on the news.
DeSteno, D., Bartlett, M. Y., Braverman, J., & Salovey, P. (2002). Sex differences in jealousy: Evolutionary mechanism or artifact of measurement? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(5), 1103-1116.
Researches who interview people and perhaps particularly women, need an awareness and a sensitivity to the fact that, although a subject may have agreed to take part in a study, it cannot be known for certain, what that interview will uncover (or) give rise to.
The research is not without its limitations. One of the challenges that would be faced would be establishing the accuracy and bias in the various answers given by respondents. Some of the information may be dishonest, biased and unclear. This would render the report unreliable.
The articles, published after 1996, contain varied methods of research attainment, but share similarities such as being a self-survey, having a small sample size, and being
Quantitative methods in the social sciences are an effective tool for understanding patterns and variation in social data. They are the systematic, numeric collection and objective analysis of data that can be generalized to a larger population and seek to find cause in variance (Matthews and Ross 2010, p.141; Henn et al. 2009, p.134). These methods are often debated, but quantitative measurement is important to the social sciences because of the numeric evidence that can be used to drive more in depth qualitative research and to focus regional policy, to name a few (Johnston et al. 2014). Basic quantitative methods, such as descriptive and inferential statistics, are used regularly to identify and explain large social trends that can then
Quantitative data is collected through surveys and polls leaving less room for emotions and errors in the collection process. As the data found in the surveys is quantitative with the use for qualitative aspects the surveys also follow both positivist and constructionist perspectives. Constructionist perspectives state that crime statistics have little to do with the amount of crime that exits, and the more attention that a particular group is given will lead that group to be caught participating in illegal activity more frequently. While a positivist perspective will argue that the criminal code is a reflection of values, therefore making the report unbiased. (Boyd, N.
The father of quantitative analysis, Rene Descartes, thought that in order to know and understand something, you have to measure it (Kover, 2008). Quantitative research has two main types of sampling used, probabilistic and purposive. Probabilistic sampling is when there is equal chance of anyone within the studied population to be included. Purposive sampling is used when some benchmarks are used to replace the discrepancy among errors. The primary collection of data is from tests or standardized questionnaires, structured interviews, and closed-ended observational protocols. The secondary means for data collection includes official documents. In this study, the data is analyzed to test one or more expressed hypotheses. Descriptive and inferential analyses are the two types of data analysis used and advance from descriptive to inferential. The next step in the process is data interpretation, and the goal is to give meaning to the results in regards to the hypothesis the theory was derived from. Data interpretation techniques used are generalization, theory-driven, and interpretation of theory (Gelo, Braakmann, Benetka, 2008). The discussion should bring together findings and put them into context of the framework, guiding the study (Black, Gray, Airasain, Hector, Hopkins, Nenty, Ouyang, n.d.). The discussion should include an interpretation of the results; descriptions of themes, trends, and relationships; meanings of the results, and the limitations of the study. In the conclusion, one wants to end the study by providing a synopsis and final comments. It should include a summary of findings, recommendations, and future research (Black, Gray, Airasain, Hector, Hopkins, Nenty, Ouyang, n.d.). Deductive reasoning is used in studies...
The study consisted of a significant number of females compared to males, which makes it invalid to conclude that the findings support the general population. A strength was that participants were selected at random. By doing so, the study remained unbiased, thus making the results more credible.
There are several ways for measuring crime rates. “The three major types of statistics used to measure crime are official statistics, victimization surveys, and self-report offender surveys” (Mooney p112). While some find these sources useful and reliable, many do not. Particularly, official statistics have several shortcomings.
...en Goldachre. (2011). The statistical error that just keeps on coming. Available: http://www.guardian.co.uk/. Last accessed 10/12/2011.
This chapter taught me the importance of understanding statistical data and how to evaluate it with common sense. Almost everyday we are subjected to statistical data in newspapers and on TV. My usual reaction was to accept those statistics as being valid. Which I think is a fair assessment for most people. However, reading this chapter opens my eyes to the fact that statistical data can be very misleading. It shows how data can be skewed to support a certain group’s agenda. Although most statistical data presented may not seem to affect us personally in our daily lives, it can however have an impact. For example, statistics can influence the way people vote on certain issues.
The Advantages and Limitations of Social Surveys in Sociological Research To survey something, is to carry out a systematic overview so that a researcher can produce a comprehensive general report on it. Survey method is often used by positivist sociologists seeking to test their hypotheses, and to investigate causes and examine variables. As with every other sociological research, survey has its own advantages and limitations. Positivist research, which is in the scientific tradition, begins with a hypothesis that can be either confirmed or rejected according to the data collected. One of the significant advantages of survey method is that, it can be used to collect data that is a representative of a larger population.
Researchers, professionals and others use statistics to prove their claims or findings. Even though statistics are not an absolute fact because the conclusion is mostly drawn from a sample group – representative of a specific population subjected to the research, it is commonly used as the basis of decision making or alternating choices in daily living, studies, works, scientific research, politics and other planning. The inventor of a documentary film called “An inconvenient truth”, Mr. Al Gore, for instance, in his campaign to educate people about the climate change, used statistics to alert people that everyone on earth is polluting the environment and should participate in solving the problem. He collected data from many different countries with an in...