DEVELOPINGLITERACYIN

QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCHMETHODS
DrChristinaHughes
UniversityofWarwick
C.L.Hughes@warwick.ac.uk
Thesematerialshavetwointerrelatedaims.Theprimaryaimis
todevelopstudents'literacyintheuseandreadingofresearch
thatusesquantitativedata.Thesecondistoenhancestudents'
confidenceintheirunderstandingsofsuchapproaches.To
achievetheseaimsthepackagewillintroducestudentstoa
numberofbasicstatisticaltechniquesthatareusedinsocial
research.Inadditionthematerialswillexploresomecommon
conceptsthatunderpinquantitativesocialresearch.
Thespecificobjectivesare:
Todevelopunderstandingsoftherelationshipbetween
differenttypesofquantitativedataandtheirimplicationsfor
descriptiveandinferentialstatisticaltechniques;
Todevelopunderstandingsofthestatisticaltechniquesof:
measuresofcentraltendency,measuresofdispersion;
Toexplorethemeaningsofcorrelationandcausalityinrelation
toquantitativesocialresearch;
Toexploreuses,andmisuses,ofofficialstatistics.

Quantitativetechniquesaremostcommonlyassociatedwith
surveyandexperimentalresearchdesigns.Asthename
suggests,quantitativeresearchisconcernedwiththecollection
andanalysisofdatainnumericform.Ittendstoemphasize
relativelylargescaleandrepresentativesetsofdata,andisoften
(problematically)presentedorperceivedasbeingaboutthe
gatheringof`facts'.Becauseofstrongassociationsthataremade
betweenstatisticsassocialfactsanddominantideasofscience
asobjectiveanddetached,quantitativestrategiesareoften
viewedasmorevalid.
Manysmallscaleresearchstudiesthatusequestionnairesasa
formofdatacollectionwillnotneedtogobeyondtheuseof
descriptivestatisticsandtheexplorationoftheinterrelationships
betweenpairsofvariables.Itwillbeadequatetosaythatso
manyrespondents(eitherthenumberortheproportionofthe
total)answeredgivenquestionsinacertainway;andthatthe
answersgiventoparticularquestionsappeartoberelated.Such
ananalysiswillmakewideuseofproportionsandpercentages,
andofthevariousmeasuresofcentraltendency(averages)and
ofdispersion(ranges).
Youmay,however,wishorneedtogobeyondthislevelof
analysis,andmakeuseofinferentialstatisticsormultivariate
methodsofanalysis.Therearedozensofinferentialstatistics
available:threecommonlyusedexamplesareChisquare;
KolmogorovSmirnovandStudent'sttest.Thefunctionsof
thesestatisticsvarybuttheyaretypicallyusedtocomparethe
measurementsyouhavecollectedfromyoursamplefora
particularvariablewithanothersampleorapopulationinorder
thatajudgementmaybemadeonhowsimilarordissimilarthey
are.Itisimportanttonotethatalloftheseinferentialstatistics
makecertainassumptionsaboutboththenatureofyourdataand
howitwascollected.Thismeansthatyouhavetobeclear
whetheryourdatais,forexample,nominal,ordinal,intervalor
ratio.Iftheseassumptionsdonotholdthesemeasuresshould

notbeused.
Multivariatemethodsofanalysismaybeusedtoexplorethe
interrelationshipsamongthreeormorevariables
simultaneously.Commonlyusedexamplesincludemultiple
regression,clusteranalysisandfactoranalysis.Whileyoudo
notneedtohaveanextensivemathematicalknowledgetoapply
thesetechniques,astheyareallavailableaspartofcomputer
softwarepackages,youshouldatleasthaveanunderstandingof
theirprinciplesandpurposes.
Onekeypointtobeawareofwhencarryingoutquantitative
analysisisthequestionofcausality.Oneofthepurposesof
analysisistoseekexplanationandunderstanding.Wewould
liketobeabletosaythatsomethingissobecauseofsomething
else.However,justbecausetwovariablesofwhichyouhave
measurementsappeartoberelated,thisdoesnotmeanthatthey
are.Statisticalassociationsbetweentwovariablesmaybea
matterofchance,orduetotheeffectofsomethirdvariable.In
ordertodemonstratecausality,youalsohavetofind,oratleast
suggest,amechanismlinkingthevariablestogether.
[ExtractedfromBlaxter,HughesandTight,1996]
Bibliography
Thisbibliographyincludestextsthatareusefulforstudents
newtoquantitativetechniquesandthosethatareusefulfor
themoreadvanced.Theasterisk(*)indicatesthosethatare
introductory.Thekeypublishersofmethodologytextsare
Sage,RoutledgeandOpenUniversityPress.Ifyouwishto
extendyourreadingorkeepuptodatewithdevelopmentsyou
shouldputyournameonthesepublishers'cataloguemailing
lists.Therearealsoanumberofjournalsthatareprimarily
concernedwithdevelopmentsinmethodology.Theseinclude:
TheInternationalJournalofSocialResearchMethodology

andSocialResearchOnline(http://www.socresonline.org.uk).
Inaddition,secondarysourcesproducedbytheOfficefor
NationalStatisticsfortheGovernmentStatisticalServicecan
beobtainedfromTheOfficeforNationalStatistics,1
DrummondGate,London,SW1V2QQorthroughthe
STATBASEonlinedirectory.
Black,T(1999)DoingQuantitativeResearchintheSocial
Sciences:AnIntegratedApproachtoResearchDesign,
MeasurementandStatistics,London,Sage
Blaxter,L,Hughes,CandTight,M(1996)HowtoResearch,
Buckingham,OpenUniversityPress*
Bowling,A(1997)ResearchMethodsinHealth:
InvestigatingHealthandHealthServices,Buckingham,Open
UniversityPress*
Bryman,AandCramer,D(1990)QuantitativeDataAnalysis
forSocialScientists,London,Routledge
Calder,J(1996)StatisticalTechniques,inRSapsfordandV
Jupp(Eds)DataCollectionandAnalysis,London,Sage,pp
225261
Cramer,D(1994)IntroducingStatisticsforSocialResearch:
Stepbystepcalculationsandcomputertechniquesusing
SPSS,London,Routledge
Denscombe,M(1998)TheGoodResearchGuide:Forsmall
scalesocialresearchprojects,Buckingham,OpenUniversity
Press*
DeVaus,D(1991)SurveysinSocialResearch,Sydney,NSW,
AllenandUnwin

Hek,G,Judd,MandMoule,P(1996)MakingSenseof
Research:AnIntroductionforNurses,London,Cassell*
Hinton,P(1995)StatisticsExplained:Aguideforsocial
sciencestudents,London,Routledge*
Leary,M(1991)IntroductiontoBehaviouralResearch
Methods,Belmont,Calif,WadsworthPublishing
Levitas,RandGuy,W(1996)InterpretingOfficialStatistics,
London,Routledge
Persell,CandMaisel,R(1995)HowSamplingWorks,
NewburyPark,Calif,PineForge
Pilcher,D(1990)DataAnalysisfortheHelpingProfessions:
APracticalGuide,NewburyPark,Calif,Sage
Sapsford,R(1996)ExtractingandPresentingStatistics,inR
SapsfordandVJupp(Eds)DataCollectionandAnalysis,
London,Sage,pp184224
Solomon,RandWinch,C(1994)CalculatingandComputing
forSocialScienceandArtsStudents,Buckingham,Open
UniversityPress*
Stanley,L(Ed)(1990)FeministPraxis,London,Routledge
Townsend,P(1996)TheStruggleforIndependentStatisticson
Poverty,inRLevitasandWGuy(Eds)InterpretingOfficial
Statistics,London,Routledge,pp2644
Traub,R(1994)ReliabilityfortheSocialSciences:Theory
andApplication,ThousandOaks,Calif,Sage
Wright,D(1997)UnderstandingStatistics:Anintroduction

forthesocialsciences,London,Sage*
TYPESOFQUANTITATIVEDATA
Nominaldata
Nominaldatacomefromcountingthingsandplacingthemina
category.Theyarethelowestlevelofquantitativedatainthe
sensethattheyallowlittlebywayofstatisticalmanipulation
comparedwiththeothertypes.Typicallythereisaheadcount
ofmembersofaparticularcategory,suchasfemale/maleor
AfricanCaribbean/SouthAsian.Thesecategoriesarebased
simplyonnames;thereisnounderlyingordertothenames.
Usedforthefollowingdescriptivestatistics:proportions,
percentages,ratios.
Ordinaldata
Likenominaldata,ordinaldataarebasedoncountsofthings
assignedtospecificcategoriesbutinthiscasethecategories
standinsomeclear,ordered,rankedrelationship.Thecategories
are`inorder'.Thismeansthatthedataineachcategorycanbe
comparedwiththedataintheothercategoriesasbeinghigheror
lowerthan,moreorlessthan,etc.thoseinothercategories.The
mostobviousexamplesofordinaldatacomefromtheuseof
questionnairesinwhichrespondentsareaskedtorespondtoa
fivepointLikertscale.Itisworthstressingthatrankorderisall
thatcanbeinferred.Withordinaldatawedonotknowthe
causeoftheorderorbyhowmuchtheydiffer.
Usedforthefollowingdescriptivestatistics:proportions,
percentages,ratios.
Intervaldata
Intervaldataarelikeordinaldatabutthecategoriesareranked

onascale.Thismeansthatthe`distance'betweenthecategories
isaknownfactorandcanbepulledintotheanalysis.The
researchercannotonlydealwiththedataintermsof`more
than'or`lessthan'butalsosayhowmuchmoreorhowmuch
less.Therankingofthecategoriesisproportionateandthis
allowsfordirectcontrastandcomparison.Calendaryearsare
oneexample.Thisallowstheresearchertouseadditionand
subtraction(butnotmultiplicationanddivision)tocontrastthe
differencebetweenvariousperiods.
Usedforthefollowingdescriptivestatistics:measuresofcentral
tendency(mode,median,mean)
Ratiodata
Ratiodataarelikeintervaldataexceptthatthecategoriesexist
onascalewhichhasa`truezero'oranabsolutereferencepoint.
Whenthecategoriesconcernthingslikeincomes,distancesand
weightstheygiverisetoratiodatabecausethescaleshavea
zeropoint.Calendaryears,inthepreviousexample,donotexist
onsuchascalebecausetheyear0doesnotdenotethebeginning
ofalltimeandhistory.Theimportantthingaboutthescale
havingatruezeroisthattheresearchercancompareand
contrastthedataforeachcategoryintermsofratios,using
multiplicationanddivision,ratherthanbeingrestrictedtothe
useofadditionandsubtractionasisthecasewithintervaldata.
Ratiodataarethehighestlevelofdataintermsofhow
amenabletheyaretomathematicalmanipulation.
Usedforthefollowingdescriptivestatistics:measuresofcentral
tendency(mode,median,mean)
[adaptedfromBlaxter,HughesandTight,1996andDenscombe,
1998]
TYPESOFQUANTITATIVEDATA

EXAMPLES
Arethefollowingnominal,ordinal,ratioorintervaldata?
Theincomelevelsofsocialworkers;
Theexaminationscoresofmembersofthiscourse;
Thesexofyourresearchparticipants;
Thebirthpositionofmembersofafamily;
Examgradesreceivedatschool;
Numberofexampasses;
Thetemperaturesofdifferentgeographicalzones;
ThesizeoffamiliesintheUK;
IQscores;
IllustrativeIssue
ALikertscaleiswrittentoconveyequidistantpointsalongan
axis:
*****
VeryFairlyImportantNotveryNotatall
ImportantImportantImportantImportant
Arethemeaningsascribedbyresearchrespondentssimilarly
equidistant?
Issuchdataintervalornominal?
TYPESOFQUANTITATIVEDATA

ACAUTIONARYCOMMENT
Veryimportant1
Fairlyimportant2
Notveryimportant3
Notatallimportant4
Theproblemisthatthe`real'distancebetweentheratings
numbered3and4forarespondentmaybemuchgreaterthan
thedistancetheyperceivebetweentheitemsnumbered1and2.
The`real'distancesbetweeneachoftheratingsmayalsovary
frompersontoperson.Intheory,therefore,suchdatashouldbe
treatedasordinaldata.Mostresearcherstakeapragmatic
approach,however,andcontinuewiththepracticeoftreating
ratingsandpsychologicaltestsasintervaldata.
Onewayofdealingwithdatathataredifficultto`type'
correctlyisthroughtheuseofmodels.Scientistsusemodelsof
weathersystemstostudytherelationshipsbetweendifferent
factorsinordertounderstandbetterwhatthecontributory
factorsare.Inthesameway,statisticiansproducestatistical
modelsbasedontheircurrentunderstandingoftheproblem.
Whentheydonotquiteworkasexpected,theymodifysomeof
theirassumptions.Iftheassumptionofanintervalscaledoes
notwork,thenfurtheranalysescanbecarriedoutonthe
assumptionofanordinalscale.Overtheyears,reviewsofthe
statisticalevidencesuggestedthattheassumptionofequalityof
equalintervalswithinratingscalesisjustified.Butwheresuch
assumptionsaremade,thereisalwaysthepossibilityof
misinterpretationofthedata.Theimportantpointistobeclear
alwaysthattherearedifferenttypesofdata,andthatthiswill
affectthetypeofanalysesthatcanbeusedonthem.(Calder,
1996:229)

MEASURESOFCENTRALTENDENCY
ORMIDPOINTSANDAVERAGES
Therearethreetypesofaverageandthesearecollectivelycalled
`measuresofcentraltendency'.Thesearethemean,themedian
andthemode.
Themean(orarithmeticaverage)
Thisisthemostcommonmeaningof`average'.Itincludesthe
totalspreadandfindsthemidpoint.Tocalculatethemean:
1.Addtogetherthetotalofallthevaluesforthecategory
2.Dividethistotalbythenumberofcases
Themeancannotbeusedwithnominaldata.Forexample,you
cannot`average'names,sexes,nationalitiesandoccupations.
Themeanisaffectedbyextremevalues,oroutliers.Because
themeanincludesallvaluestheaveragecanbepulledtoward
thevalueoftheoutlierortowardthemoreextremevalues.
Themeancanleadtostrangedescriptions,suchas2.4person
households.
Example:Calculatethemeanfromthefollowing:

1471112171747
Themedianormidpoint
Themedianisthemidpointoftherange.Tocalculate:
1.Placethevaluesinascending/descendingrankorder

2.Findthemidpointnumber
3.Withevennumbersofvaluesthemidpointishalfway
betweenthetwomiddlevalues
Themediancanbeusedwithordinaldataaswellasinterval
andratiodata.
Themedianisnotaffectedbyextremevaluesoroutliers.
Themedianworkswellwithalownumberofvalues.
Themaindisadvantageisthatyoucandonofurther
calculationswiththemedian.
Example:Calculatethemedianfromthefollowing:

1471112171747
TheMode
Themodeisthevaluethatismostcommon.Tocalculate:
1.Arrangethedatainascending/descendingorder;
2.Identifythevaluethatoccursmorefrequentlythananyother.
Themodecanbeusedwithnominal,ordinal,intervalandratio
data.Ithasthewidestpossiblescopetherefore.
Itisunaffectedbyoutliersorextremevalues.
Itdoesnotallowanyfurthermathematicalcalculations.
Theremaynotbeany`mostcommon'valuesortheremaybe
morethanone.

Example:Calculatethemodeofthefollowing:
11447111217171747
MEASURESOFDISPERSION
Givensomeoftheproblemsintheaccuracyofconveying
meaningwithmeasuresofcentraltendency,measuresof
dispersionareanimportantadjunctinanydescriptionofthe
data.Measuresofdispersionareusedtoindicatehowwidelythe
dataisspreadandhowevenlythedataisspread.Inotherwords,
howfarfromthecentralpointisthedatadispersed?
Therearethreemainmeasuresofdispersion:therange,fractiles
andstandarddeviation.
Therange
Thisisthesimplest,andaveryeffective,wayofdescribingthe
spreadofthedata.Tocalculatetherange:
Substracttheminimumvalueinthedistributionfromthe
maximumvalue.
Althougheffective,therangecanstillbeaffectedbythevalue
ofanyoutliers.Inconsequenceitcangiveamisleading
impressionofthespreadofthedata.Thisiswhyisitimportant
toincludeanoteofthehighestandlowestscoreinyourwritten
presentationofdata.
Example:Calculatetherangefromthefollowing:
3471112171747
Fractiles
Totakeaccountofthespreadofvaluesacrossthewholerange,
fractiles(egquartiles/quarters,deciles/tenths,

percentiles/hundredths)areused.Thesedividetherangeinto
smaller,equidistantranges.Fractilesareusedwithmedian
values.Tocalculate:
1.Subdividetherangeintoequalparts(egquartiles,deciles,
percentiles)
2.Findthemedian(midpoint)value;
3.Workingfromthemedianpointdivideyourdataintothe
relevantfractiles.
Fractilescaneliminatethehighandlowvaluesthataffect
measuresofcentraltendency.Forexample,byfocusingonthe
casesthatfallbetweenthesecondandthirdquartilereasearchers
knowthattheyaredealingwiththehalfofthevaluesthatfallin
themiddle.Inadditionitallowsthecomparisonofvalues
betweenfractiles.Forexample,thetoptenpercentofearners
canbecomparedwiththebottom.
Example:Thefollowingisincomedataofsocialworkers.
Dividethedataintoquartiles.Findthemedianthatoccursin
eachquartile.Findthemedianthatoccursbetweenthesecond
andthirdquartile.Howwouldyoupresentthisdata?What
wouldyousayaboutthevalidityofthesedata?
Incomeperannum(thousands):
1516172122272747
StandardDeviation(SD)
Thestandarddeviationisusedwiththearithmeticmean.The
standarddeviationusesallthevaluesintherangetocalculate
thespreadofthedata.Itisameasureofthedistanceofthe
scoresfromyourmean.Thelargerthestandarddeviationthe
morespreadouttherangeis.Tocalculate:

1.Findthemean
2.Subtractthemeanfromallyourvalues
3.Squarealltheresults(toturnyourminusesintopluses)
4.Addallthese`squarednumbers'together
5.Dividethisbythenumberofyourvaluesminusone
6.Findthesquarerootofthis
Thestandarddeviationcanbeusedforfurtherstatistical
analysis
Becauseofthisstandarddeviationisanimmenselyimportant
aspectofsocialresearch
Thestandarddeviationcanonlybeusedwithintervalandratio
data.Itismeaninglesswhenusedwithnominalandevenordinal
data.
Exercise:Findthestandarddeviationofthefollowing:

1471112171747
CORRELATION
Correlation
Howcloselyaretwovariablesconnected?Thisquestionis
answeredinstatisticaltermswithcorrelation.Forexample,do
thestudentswhospendthemosttimestudyingachievethe
highestmarks?Dothosewhospendleasttimestudyinggetthe
lowestmarks?Thesequestionareaskingustocomparetwo
variables:studytimeandexaminationperformance.Weare
askingtowhatextentistherearelationshipbetweenthesetwo

variables.
Iftheanswerwasthatthatthosewhospendmosttimestudying
doachievethehighestmarkswewouldsaythatthereisa
positivecorrelationbetweenthetwovariables.Inotherwords
wewouldbesayingthatasthescoreincreasesononevariableit
alsoincreasesontheothervariable.Inaddition,ifthosewho
studyleastachievethelowestmarks,wewouldalsosaythat
thereisapositivecorrelationbetweenthetwovariables.
However,ifwefoundthatthemorestudentsspentstudyingthe
lowertheirmarks,thiswouldbedescribedasanegative
correlation.Thereis,forexample,anegativecorrelation
betweenthevariablesofsmokingandhealth.Themoreaperson
smokesthelesshealthythatpersonislikelytobe.Ifthereisno
relationbetweentwovariablesthenwewouldsaythatthe
variablesareuncorrelated.Forexample,ifthehypothesiswas
thatwearingjeansimprovedexamscoresandtheresults
suggestedthatsomestudentswhoworejeanshadhighscores
andsomewhoworejeanshadlowscores,somestudentswho
didnotwearjeanshadhighscoresandsomewhodidnotwear
jeanshadlowscorestheresultsarelikelytoshowno
correlation.
Tocalculatecorrelationoneplotsthescoresonascatter
diagram.Thisrequiresyoutoplotthescoresofthetwo
variablesalongtheaxesofagraphandmarktheresults.Ifa
straightlinecanbedrawnthereisacorrelation.Thedirectionof
thelinesindicateswhetherthisisapositive(up)correlationora
negative(down)correlation.
Thetwomostcommonlyusedcorrelationstatisticsare
Spearman'srankcorrelationcoefficientthatworksforordinal
dataandPearsons'sproductmomentcorrelationcoefficientthat
worksforintervalandratiodata.

Whenreadingstatisticalresearchyouarelikelytofindthe
followingsigns:
+1thisequalsaperfectpositivecorrelation(asonevariable
goesupsodoestheother)
0thismeansthereisnorelationshipbetweenthevariables
1thisequalsaperfectnegativecorrelation(asonevariable
goesuptheothergoesdown)
Inpracticeanycorrelationcoefficientbetween0.3(weak)and
0.7(strong)suggestsareasonablecorrelation.
Example:Dothefollowingdataindicateacorrelation?
StudentStudyTimeExaminationMark
14058
24373
31856
41047
52558
63354
72745
81732
93068
104769
(fromHinton,1995)

CORRELATIONANDCAUSATION
CORRELATIONDOESNOTMEANCAUSATION
Iftwothingsgotogetheritiseasytoassumethattheyare
causallyrelatedinsomeway.Isthisthecase?Evenifthe
thicknessofacaterpillar'scoatcorrelatescloselywiththe
severityofthewinterweather,canweconcludethatcaterpillars
causebadweather?
Threecriteriaarerequiredtoachievecausalityinstatistical
research:
Covariation
Directionality
Eliminationofextraneousvariables
Covariation
Toconcludethattwovariablesarecausallyrelatedtheyneedto
covaryorcorrelate.Ifonevariablecausestheotherthen
changesinthevaluesofonevariableshouldbeassociatedwith
changesinthevaluesoftheother.Thisis,ofcourse,the
definitionofcorrelation.
Directionality
Toinferthattwovariablesarecausallyrelatedwemuchshow
thatthepresumedcauseprecedesthepresumedeffectintime.
Howeverinmostcorrelationalresearchbothvariablesare
measuredatthesametime.Thereisthereforenowayto
determinethedirectionofcausality.HasXcausesYorY
causedX?
EliminationofExtraneousvariables

Thethirdcriterionforinferringcausalityisthatallextraneous
factorsthatmightinfluencetherelationshipbetweenthetwo
variablesareeliminated.Correlationalresearchneversatisfies
thisrequirementcompleted.Twovariablesmaybecorrelated
notbecausetheyarecausallyrelatedtooneanotherbutbecause
theyarebothrelatedtoathirdvariables.Forexample,does
lonelinesscausedepression?Maybebutathirdvariablethe
qualityofaperson'ssocialnetworkmayreducebothloneliness
anddepression.
Example:Doessmokingcausecancer?
Thereisawealthofresearchthatsuggestsastrongcorrelation
betweensmokingandcancer.Doessmokingcausecancer?
[adaptedfromLeary,1991]
USINGOFFICIALDATASETS
Thereareanumberofimportant,anduseful,datasetscollected
bygovernmentandwhichcanbeusedforsecondaryanalyses.
Theseinclude:
CensusofEmployment
CensusofPopulation
LabourForceSurvey
GeneralHouseholdSurvey
FamilyExpenditureSurvey
TheannualpublicationSocialTrendsisausefulsourcefor
thosewhoareseekingsomesimplestatistics.SocialTrends
compilesitsanalysesfromthesedatasets.Inaddition,theESRC
keepsdataarchivesofbothquantitativeandqualitativeresearch

thatcanbeconsulted.
Careshouldbetakenintheuseofstatisticshowever.For
example,inadiscussionofpovertystatistics,Townsendnotes
howsuccessivegovernmentsintheUKhavechosentoavoid
usingtheterm`poverty'.Ashefurthernotes(1996:26):
Statisticsdon'tfalloutoftheskies.Likewordsofwhichthey
areofcourseanextensiontheyareconstructedbyhuman
beingsinfluencedbycultureandthepredispositionsand
governingideasoftheorganisationsandgroupswithinwhich
peoplework.Statisticalmethodologiesarenottimeless
creations.Theyarethecurrentexpressionofsociety'sattempts
tointerpret,representandanalyseinformationabouteconomic
andsocial(andother)conditions.Astheyearspasstheychange
notjustbecausetheremaybetechnicaladvancesbutbecause
professional,cultural,politicalandtechnicalconventions
changeintermsofretreataswellasadvance...[Thus]Every
studentofsocialscience...needstobegroundedinhow
informationaboutsocialconditionsisacquired.Statisticsform
asubstantialpartofsuchinformation.Acquiringinformationis
muchmorethanlookinguphandbooksofstatistics.Wehaveto
becomeselfconsciousabouttheprocessofselection.
LevitasandGuy(1996)contextualisetheseconcernsintermsof
thefollowing:
Therearedevelopmentswhichmaymakeofficialdatamore
easilyaccessibletoacademicexperts[onlineaccess].Theydo
notmakedatamoreeasilyavailabletothepublicinthe
interestsofinformedpoliticaldebate.Moreover,the(relative)
easeofconductingsecondaryanalysiscarriesthedangerof
forgettingthattheconceptsusedinanyresearchderivefrom
thequestionsandinterestsofitsoriginalintentions.Theextent
towhichsecondaryanalysiscanbenddatasetstotheserviceof
sometimesquitedifferentagendasisnecessarilylimited.(p3)

...Thedebates...showthattheinsistenceontheneutralityand
objectivityoffactsstilldominatesdiscussionofofficialstatistics
andtheirproduction.Thepresentationofstatisticsinparticular
waysforpoliticalends,andtheabolitionofinconvenient
measures,continue.Itisunderstandablethatprofessional
statisticiansshouldtrytocounterthisbyappealstoobjectivity.
Butitisalsoabundantlyclearthatthedefinitionsusedin
officialstatisticsstillproducemeasureswhichembodythe
interestsofthestateratherthanofcitizens.Itisthereforeonly
withtheutmostcarethatsuchdatacanbeinterpretedfor
democraticpurposes.(p6)
TheeditedtextbyLevitasandGuy(1996)outlinesthekindsof
datasetsthatareavailable.Italsocontainsdiscussionsofthe
use,andmisuse,ofgovernmentstatisticsinthefollowingareas:
poverty,unemployment,socialclass,health,safetyatwork,
workingwomen,ethnicity,disabilityandcrime.Anotheruseful
textisthatofStanleyL(Ed)(1990)FeministPraxis,London,
Routledge.Amongsttherangeofissuesdiscussed,thiscontains
discussionsonthewaysinwhichstatisticscollectedonthe
homelessare`compromised'bytheprocessesofturningraw
dataintostatisticalinformation.AchapterbyLizStanley(A
ReferralWasMade)discussesthepoliticsofobjectivity
influencesthepresentationofasocialservice'scase.
USINGOFFICIALDATASETS
EXERCISE
1.Howwouldyouinterpretthefollowingstatement?
"Statisticsonpatternsofhouseholddisposableincomeare
providedinHouseholdsbelowAverageIncomereports...The
bestresponsetolowhouseholdincomeistosustaineconomic
recoveryandtoassistthoseingreatestneed"(Reportedin
Townsend,1996:2728)

2.Howwouldyouinterpretthefollowingconversation?
MsCorston:IsthePrimeMinisterawarethatSocialTrends
1994,aGovernmentpublication,revealsthatasadirect
consequenceofToryGovernmentpolicysince1979theaverage
disposableincomeoftherichest20percentofhouseholdshas
increasedby6,000ayearwhilethe20percentofhouseholds
atthebottomoftheincomescalehavehadtheiraverage
disposableincomecutby3,000ayear?Doesthatrevealthe
hypocrisyofthePrimeMinister'sprofessedcommitmentto
creatinganationateasewithitself?
ThePrimeMinister:Thehon.Lady[MsCorston]wasbeing
selectiveinwhatshesaid[Interruption].Shewasselective
fromthereport.Thenetdisposableincomeofpeopleatall
rangesofincomehasincreasedandtheproportionoftotaltax
paidbythoseontopincomeshasincreased,notbeenreduced.
(ReportedinTownsend,1996:40)