6.1.11

Statistics

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Statistics

Statistics take the form of quantitative data. You need to be familiar with the following terms and ideas.

Statistics

Statistics

  • Official statistics:
    • Produced for the government (e.g. marriage rates, death rates, crime rates).
  • Non-official statistics:
    • Produced for non-governmental organisations (e.g. media).
Data

Data

  • Nominal data:
    • The number of times something has occurred.
  • Ordinal data:
    • Data that falls under ordered categories where the distances between the categories are unknown (e.g. eye colour).
Data cont.

Data cont.

  • Interval data:
    • Incremental quantitative data (e.g. temperature, time).
  • Ratio data:
    • Like interval data but they start from zero.
  • Raw data:
    • Data that hasn’t been processed.
Averages

Averages

  • Average: a measure of central tendency.
  • Mean: an average by adding up the total number and dividing by the number of students for example.
  • Median: the middle value when the data is ordered in ascending/descending order.
  • Mode: the most common value.
  • Standard deviation: a measure of data variation with respect to the arithmetic mean.

Quantitative Data

Quantitative data is presented in charts and tables.

Charts and tables

Charts and tables

  • Quantitative data is presented in charts and tables.
  • Charts have a horizontal axis (x), where the independent variables are inputted.
  • The vertical axis (y) depicts the dependent variables.
  • Tables are used to present nominal data.
Bar charts

Bar charts

  • Bar charts are used to compare categories or the frequency of an occurrence.
  • Bar charts usually have gaps between them.
  • If a bar chart doesn't have gaps between them, then they are called histograms.
Other charts

Other charts

  • Pie charts show the different proportions of various categories.
  • Scatter graphs show the relationship between two variables.
  • Line graphs show trends in the data.
Jump to other topics
1

The Sociological Approach

1.1

Introduction to Sociology

1.1.1What is Sociology?1.1.2Culture & Socialisation
1.2

Sociological Approaches

1.2.1Marxism1.2.2Marxism 21.2.3Functionalism1.2.4Feminism
1.3

The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate

1.3.1The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate1.3.2End of Topic Test - The Sociological Approach
2

Families

2.1

Functions of Families

2.1.1Functionalist Views on Family2.1.2Marxist Views on Family2.1.3Feminist Views on Family
2.2

Family Forms

2.2.1What is a Family?2.2.2Nuclear Family2.2.3Families in a Global Context2.2.4The Rapoports & Family Diversity2.2.5Causes of Family Diversity2.2.6End of Topic Test - Family Forms
2.3

Conjugal Role Relationships

2.3.1Conjugal Roles
2.4

Changing Relationships Within Families

2.4.1Timeline2.4.2Domestic Abuse2.4.3Symmetrical Family
2.5

Criticisms of Families

2.5.1Functionalist Views of Families2.5.2Marxist Views of Families2.5.3Feminist Views of Families2.5.4Declining Marriage Rate2.5.5End of Topic Test - Criticisms of Families
2.6

Divorce

2.6.1Reasons For Rise in Divorce Rate2.6.2Consequences of Divorce2.6.3Functionalist Views2.6.4Marxist Views2.6.5Feminist Views2.6.6End of Topic Test - Divorce
3

Education

3.1

Roles & Functions of Education

3.1.1The Functionalist Approach3.1.2Evaluating Different Perspectives3.1.3Types of School3.1.4Alternative Education3.1.5State & Private Schools
3.2

Processes Within Schools

3.2.1Internal Processes3.2.2External Processes
3.3

Educational Achievement

3.3.1Measuring Educational Success3.3.2Social Class & Education3.3.3Social Class & External Factors3.3.4Gender & Education3.3.5Ethnicity & Education3.3.6Parental Choice3.3.7History of UK Education Policy3.3.8Recent UK Education Policy3.3.9End of Topic Test - Education
4

Crime & Deviance

4.1

The Social Construction of Crime

4.1.1Defining Crime & Deviance4.1.2Sociological Explanations of Crime4.1.3Interactionist Explanations of Crime4.1.4Alternative Explanations of Crime
4.2

Social Control

4.2.1Informal Social Control4.2.2Formal Social Control4.2.3End of Topic Test - Social Construction of Crime
4.3

Criminal & Deviant Behaviour

4.3.1Explanations of Crime4.3.2Social Class & Crime4.3.3Gender & Crime4.3.4Ethnicity & Crime4.3.5Age & Crime4.3.6Criminal Responsibility4.3.7The Prison System4.3.8Media Reporting of Crime4.3.9Functionalist Explanations of Crime
4.4

Data on Crime

4.4.1Measuring Crime4.4.2End of Topic Test - Criminal & Deviant Behaviour
5

Social Stratification

5.1

Social Stratification

5.1.1What is Social Stratification?5.1.2Functionalism5.1.3Socio-Economic Class5.1.4Socio-Economic Class 25.1.5Life Chances5.1.6The Affluent Worker5.1.7End of Topic Test - Social Stratifictaion
5.2

Poverty as a Social Issue

5.2.1Defining Poverty5.2.2Factors Affecting Poverty5.2.3Explanations of Poverty5.2.4Impact of Globalisation5.2.5End of Topic Test - Poverty as a Social Issue
5.3

Power & Authority

5.3.1Weber5.3.2Sociological Perspectives5.3.3Power Relationships5.3.4End of Topic Test - Power & Authority
6

Sociological Research Methods

6.1

Research Methods

6.1.1Research Design6.1.2The Scientific Method6.1.3Other Considerations6.1.4Primary Sources6.1.5Secondary Sources6.1.6Surveys6.1.7Sampling6.1.8Questionnaires6.1.9Interviews6.1.10Observation6.1.11Statistics6.1.12Case Studies6.1.13Longitudinal Studies6.1.14Ethnography6.1.15Experiments6.1.16Small Scale Research6.1.17End of Topic Test - Research Methods

Practice questions on Statistics

Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

  1. 1
    What type of data describes the number of times something has occurred?Multiple choice
  2. 2
    Which term is used to describe the middle value after the data is ordered in ascending or descending order?Multiple choice
  3. 3
    What do we call a bar chart that has no gaps between the bars?Multiple choice
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Observation

Case Studies