secondary sources of data
'With the exception of official statistics, most forms of secondary data are too subjective to be useful in sociological research.' Explain and assess this view. [25] Secondary data refers to preexisting data that has been produced by someone other than the sociologist involved in the research. Official statistics include data produced by the government or other agencies e.g. trade unions. Other forms of secondary data include life documents or historical documents such as diaries, letters, and suicide notes etc. They are certain cases when there are no alternatives to secondary data - in the case of 'before' and 'after' studies or studies conducted to analyze trends over a long period of time one cannot go back in time and therefore needs to rely on existing data. Official statistics refers to data collected by the government e.g. statistics relating to unemployment. The fact that statistics are already available to the sociologists means that the sociologist does not have to spend time or money collecting his/her own data. The data allows comparisons to be made, which the researcher would find difficult to collect personally such as in the case of cross cultural studies e.g. comparative study of crime rates in different countries. Positivists favor the use of official statistics, as they are useful for identifying correlations. In Durkheim's study of suicide (1897) he was
data handling
Introduction I have chosen three categories, which are the height, hand span and the shoe size from the data. My first hypothesis is that taller people will have bigger feet. My second hypothesis is that taller people will have bigger hand spans. I think that there will be a positive correlation between the height with shoe and hand size because it's common sense. Most people I see on the streets have big hands and feet when they are tall. I think that both correlations will be very high because of this. I picked a sample of 50 people because 50 out of about 261 pupils will be just about 20% of the people. It uses some of the people and 50 is a nice number to work with. I picked the sample of 50 by using stratified sampling since a random choice is not representative. The sample might contain all 50 boys or all 50 girls might it is random. Also, a stratified sample is more representative because it would be accurate by being based on the information, but it is not perfect. The data that I needed to stratify are the date of births and the gender of the pupils because older pupils are normally taller. Months Boys Girls Total Amount September 1 9 20 October 4 6 20 November 7 3 20 December 9 7 26 January 3 6 9 February 7 0 27 March 5 7 32 April 9 8 7 May 9 1 20 June 2 3 25 July 9 6 25 August 4 6 0 29 32 261 I counted
Passwords Data Encryption
Using Passwords Should use a mixture of random numbers and letters. Don't make it hard to remember. Don't use names as they are too easy to search for and relate. Don't write it down on paper - lose it or someone may find it. Could use a mixture of "jumbled" initials and date of birth. If you forget password, it may not be possible to access work. How else can we protect against unauthorised access? Limit access to computers - only allow read or write access to certain individuals. Add a bio recognition device. Use a firewall. Securing Data accessed over Internet Fear of fraud if personal details are intercepted by someone. Opening you computer up to threats from viruses via download programmes - encryption The process of scrambling / encoding messages and information so that they can not be read without the key to the code. Many different types of software that can be used to encrypt data and most use the 'public key' system. Two keys - public and private. The public key is used to encrypt the message or data and the private key is used to decode it. What is its use? Encryption does not stop a hacker getting into a system it stops the hacker from understanding the data, one type of encryption is to jumble letters in the wrong order or to change letters to numbers. Recognise that a site is secure - message on screen or padlock - means any data sent to or
Examine the weakness of different types of documents used in a sociological research. Examine why positivist prefer quantitative data whilst interpretivists prefer qualitative data.
a. Examine the weakness of different types of documents used in a sociological research. (20 marks) Documents are secondary data developed by individuals, groups, and organisations, in which sociologist may find particularly advantageous in their research. Taking that into account, there are two types of documents both personal and public. Public documents are items such as letters, diaries, autobiographies, notes and photo collections. Personal documents may be noted as unrepresentative, because some groups are unlikely to produce personal documents such as diaries and letters, because they have got limited leisure. Therefore, their views may not be represented, whilst those with the time and literacy skills may be overrepresented. When it comes to examining the personal documents, it somehow lacks the authenticity. There may be possibly missing pages, or someone must have reproduced another copy, making it seem fake. For example, there was claim that Hitler diaries were fakes. Personal documents may also potentially lack the credibility. Documents may be difficult to believe, when considering the author's sincerity. For example, politicians may write diaries that inflate the own importance. The availability of personal documents may be difficult for researchers to gain access to. For example, private documents such as diaries are becoming less available sociologist.
The Data Protection Act.
The Data Protection Act The Data Protection act is an act that came into force on 1 March 2000. It gives effect in UK law to the 1995 EC Data Protection Directive. The Act strengthens and extends the data protection regime created by the Data Protection Act 1984, which it replaces. The 1998 Act applies to: * Computerised personal data (like the 1984 Act); * Personal data held in structured manual files (new). It applies to anything at all done to personal data ("processing"), including collection, use, disclosure, and destruction and merely holding data. It was created to protect everyone's civil rights and the information that is kept on them by organisations. Principles of Data Protection The rules Anyone processing personal data must comply with the eight enforceable principles of good practice. They say that data must be: * Fairly and lawfully processed; * Processed for limited purposes; * Adequate, relevant and not excessive; * Accurate; * Not kept longer than necessary; * Processed in accordance with the data subject's rights; * Secure; * Not transferred to countries without adequate protection. Personal data covers both facts and opinions about the individual. It also includes information regarding the intentions of the data controller towards the individual, although in some limited circumstances exemptions will apply. With processing,
The Data Protection Act
The Data Protection Act (1998) The 1998 Data Protection Act was introduced to control the way information is handled and to give rights to people who have information stored about them. It was introduced due to a number of reasons. Towards the end of the 20th century, computers were getting more and more powerful and government and companies began to use them with databases to store large amounts of information about people, such as their customers and staff. Computers were being used instead of paper to keep personal data about people (i.e. contact details). Also, it became easy to access information due to the ease of databases. Also as more and more companies used computers to store personal information, there was a risk that the information could be misused in the wring hands. The main principals of the Act are that data must be: * processed fairly and lawfully * used for the lawful purpose it was collected for * data must be relevant to purpose collected for * kept accurate and up-to-date * kept no longer than necessary * processed within the rights of the data subjects * kept secure * not transferred to other countries without protection We have much information held about us in many places. Without the Data Protection Act, personal information could be misused and shared with anyone, however the Data Protection Act ensures that the companies and
LAN & Topologies & Data Flow
BTEC National Certificate for IT Practitioners Unit 8 Communication Technologies Assignment 3 Introduction In this assignment I am going to list and describe the components that make up a LAN. I will also state how they can be interconnected and interact with each other. I will show some LAN topologies and illustrate them. Finally I will explain and describe how data travels around the various topologies and list the advantages and disadvantages of each topology. LAN I am going to look at the components that make the LAN and describe them. Ethernet, Hardware, NIC's, Hubs/Switches/etc these are the list of components that make up the LAN and now I am going to explain each of these components. NIC's - Network Interface Card are used for connecting a RJ-45 cable. Nearly all the modem PC's or PC's which connect through dial-up connection need a NIC. On either ends is a RJ-45 connector which then allows you connect to another computer on the network or another device. The NIC is interconnected to other hardware such as the motherboard; this allows it to communicate with the computer. There are 3 ways the NIC can be connected to the computer. As mentioned before it can be integrated on the motherboard, connected through a PCI slot or connected using a ISA slot (Industry Standard Architecture). For the NIC's to communicate with each other properly they need to have been
Primary, secondary and tertiary classifications of a business.I will be using Tesco as an example.
Primary, secondary and tertiary classifications of a business. To explain to you what all those area's do I will be using Tesco as an example. Tesco is known for the food it sell and is now moving up by selling more and more every day. For example it has now started selling electronics they also offer many other Tesco is found everywhere in the UK making them a national company Primary: Tesco get's its food from farms around the country side. Farms grow the food and when they are ready they sell what they have grown. For example greens and meet like cow's sheep and many more. (The primary area produces raw materials or extracts raw materials from the earth) Secondary: The goods that have been bought from farms is then sent off to get produced to make food that is ready to eat or is ready to cook. At the factory they are prepared and packed up and ready to be sent to stores to be sold off. (The secondary area manufactures raw materials into finished products) Tertiary: The packed food is then bought by Tesco and then sent to near by Tesco stores. Tesco stores the goods in its where house. Where stays until it is needed. Tesco then puts the goods on show in their stores ready for us the consumers to buy them.(this is where the finished products are sold or shared to the public) Ali Ismail Group A
Managing Research and Information: Data Protection Act
Managing Research and Information First Name: Hanjuan (Vicky) Surname: Deng Title: Data Protection Act The Data Protection Act (DPA) exists to ensure that information relating to people that is stored in computer databases (e.g. PMR systems) or written records (e.g. physical or mental health or condition )is confidential. The 8 Data Protection principles Anyone processing personal data must comply with the eight enforceable principles of good practice. These state that data must be: I. Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully, unless it shall not be processed. For example, the company has got the right to take their details about their date of birth or their credit card number if customers want to book holiday in an agency. It is fairly to exchange the data. Furthermore, their privacy details are protected by the law. Also the company must keep them securely. 2. Personal data shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with those purposes. 3. Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed. For instance, we are doing special offer for the customers who have got best payment records, so we only need to put relevant details about theirs address, telephone number, e-mail address, and good
Education is the main agent of secondary socialisation. How do schools prepare us for social life?
Education is the main agent of secondary socialisation. How do schools prepare us for social life? Whatever the view on education, it is clear that schools are one of the most important agents of secondary socialisation. Peer groups and teachers have a major impact upon the socialisation of schoolchildren. In the case of the former, such groups exert "peer pressure" which influence students to conform to various norms and values. Sociologists often see the relationship between society and education results as similar, but explain them in different ways. Socialisation is the process whereby we learn to become competent members of a group. Primary socialisation is the learning we experience from the people who raise us. On the other hand, secondary socialisation takes place mostly outside the place where we are raised. Functionalists see a relationship between education and other social institutions, and the contribution education makes to meet the functional needs of the social system as a whole; education is viewed as meritocratic whereby it is fair on everyone and the main key agents for success are intelligence and effort. Durkheim argues that education prepares young children to be able to conform to social life. By teaching the children values, norms and to obey authority and understand their role in society, education fulfils the needs of society. School can be viewed
