Statistics in sociology are very important. One of the first things you learn in sociology is that nothing can be accepted as fact until it has been proven - and you can basically not prove much without the use of statistics.
Even when studying sociology at high school level, you will be introduced to simple statistical tests such as cai-squared tests. Once the subject of sociology is taken further than high school, students will be introduced to a statistical analysis program specifically designed for this kind of research called SPSS.
SPSS stands for Statistical Package for Social Science and is used widely to interpret data in the fields of sociology, psychology and other similar studies. Without such programs, social sciences would not be considered to be academic subjects, as it would be purely based on points of view.
Quantitative data (based on numerical, comparable data) is essential to sociology. However, qualitative data is also used widely in social sciences and this takes account of spoken word, points of view and more in depth accounts.
Both types of research have their positives and negatives, but without statistics and quantitative data, sociology would not be the scientific subject that it is today. Without the numerical data, research could not be compared or fully analyzed; and we certainly could not say that the results were reliable. It is very difficult to analyze words and this is one of the major flaws with qualitative data. The strongest research cases are those which can combine the two methods to give the most accurate, reliable and valid results.
- Studying sociology
Even when studying sociology at high school level, you will be introduced to simple statistical tests such as cai-squared tests. Once the subject of sociology is taken further than high school, students will be introduced to a statistical analysis program specifically designed for this kind of research called SPSS.
- Statistical Package for Social Science
SPSS stands for Statistical Package for Social Science and is used widely to interpret data in the fields of sociology, psychology and other similar studies. Without such programs, social sciences would not be considered to be academic subjects, as it would be purely based on points of view.
- Quantitative data
Quantitative data (based on numerical, comparable data) is essential to sociology. However, qualitative data is also used widely in social sciences and this takes account of spoken word, points of view and more in depth accounts.
Both types of research have their positives and negatives, but without statistics and quantitative data, sociology would not be the scientific subject that it is today. Without the numerical data, research could not be compared or fully analyzed; and we certainly could not say that the results were reliable. It is very difficult to analyze words and this is one of the major flaws with qualitative data. The strongest research cases are those which can combine the two methods to give the most accurate, reliable and valid results.
