SOC 232 Lecture Notes - Subgroup Analysis, Observational Error, Data Set
Document Summary
Includes documents produced by companies and other private organizations: credibility. Biases based on organizational structure (hierarchy) may lead to a distortion of data: representativeness. Mass media outputs: newspapers, magazines, tv, films, etc, authenticity. Often the actual focus of the media research. Includes websites, email, listservs, discussion groups, chat rooms, etc: authenticity. Anyone can setup a website so their knowledge claim may not be valid. The posted information may not be correct: representativeness. Search engines only access a portion of the available sites on a specific topic: what bias exists in the selection of those sites, meanings. Secondary analysis: analyzing previously gathered data, advantages. Can provide high-quality data representative samples, high response rates, national or large- scale samples, highly experienced researchers with strong control processes. Large sample sizes e. g. comparison of different ethnic or religious groups in the population. More time for data analysis, since no time is spent gathering data.
