Advantages and Limitations of Official Statistics

Official Statistics

• Easy to get hold of.
• Generally cheap (or even free) –for the user that is – can be laborious and expensive for the Government to collate.
• Provide researchers with large scale, representative data.
• Good on reliability (Government and ONS can churn out the same stuff year on year).

Those are the good points.

Undoubtedly they are useful, but official statistics also present a few problems.

There are always questions about the validity of official statistics.

In the case of crime statistics or education league tables, for example: do they give a true picture of reality? Not all crime is reported and the police definition and categories of criminal offences can distort things.

In the case of school league tables there are arguments about whether league tables can ever present a fair picture which can iron out the effects of social disadvantage and simply present a ‘scientific’ view of which schools provide the best teaching and education.

Reference: http://www.tutor2u.net/links/index.php/sociology/comments/revision-methods/#extended