IGCSE Development studies notes

Investigating development

Primary - Is data collected in the filed by the person or group doing the investigation

Advantages

Disadvantages

Reliable as the researcher is in full control of the research

Needs a large enough sample to be able to generalize

Up to date - gathered recently

Time consuming and expensive

More relevant to the investigation

Difficult to tell if there is an error as there is nothing to compare to

Does not carry third party bias or opinions

Secondary - Is data already obtained and published by a person unconnected with the investigation

Advantages

Disadvantages

Cost and time effective

Data may be outdated

Official statistics are likely to be more reliable

Data may be biased by other sources

Can compare and check data

lack of control over data

May not apply to demographics

cannot tell how reliable it is

Validity of data - the accuracy of the data; wether it is trustworthy, authentic and without any bias

Official statistics - data collected by governments or specialist organizations

Quantitative (objective) - Is data measured or counted and is therefore in numerical form and can be presented on a graph

Advantages

Disadvantages

Quick and simple to analyze

requires large sample size

Easy to record and collect

Limited outcome

Can be presented visually in graphs

Very short, undetailed

Qualitative (subjective) - Is data obtained using the judgement or opinion of person and is often descriptive

Advantages

Disadvantages

In great detail and depth

Time consuming

Creates openness: responses can open new topics that were not initially considered

Difficult to interpret and record

Focus on small groups so less expensive

People may be hesitant to share personal opinions

Cannot be generalized usually

Depends on researchers skill

Pilot study - a small-scale of a complete survey or a pretest for a particular research. It is required to :

test out the questionsto see if the wording is correct to see if the questions can be understood to see if questions are ambiguous

Sampling techniques