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Statistics

Sociology: AQA GCSE, topic 6.1.11

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.
Patterns and trends

Patterns and trends

  • Sociologists try to draw patterns and trends after collating their data.
  • To do this, they try to find the relationship between the variables.
  • Statistical tests of significance show the probability of a relationship existing between the variables.

Test yourself on Statistics

  • What type of data describes the number of times something has occurred?

  • Which term is used to describe the middle value after the data is ordered in ascending or descending order?

  • What do we call a bar chart that has no gaps between the bars?

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