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Assess the value of using secondary data in sociological research. (40 marks) Secondary data is data already produced often by someone who is not a sociologist, e.g. Government, Charities, Trade Unions, letters or diaries, TV programmes and e-mails. Official statistics are a source of secondary data. The government produces them. There are both hard and soft statistics. Hard statistics include birth, death and marriage rates. These are registered when they occur by law, so these statistics are entirely objective. Another type of official statistic is called soft statistics, e.g. crime statistics and unemployment figures. These might not seem as objective as they first seem. They are open to manipulation for political ends, and can be considered to have a political use. For example, the methods used to measure unemployment have been changed over 20 times, because not everyone without a job counts as unemployed, e.g. Elderly. The picture that statistics give...

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