Lesson 4.1.3.2

4.1.3.2 Sources of data and primary and secondary data Quiz: AQA Sociology, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 4.1.3.2, Sources of data and primary and secondary data: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Sociology (7192), Unit 1: Education with Theory and Methods, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What is the key difference between primary and secondary data?

    • Primary data is always quantitative, while secondary data is always qualitative in form and content
    • Primary data is always collected from official sources, while secondary data is always collected from pupils
    • Primary data is collected by the researcher for the study, while secondary data was collected earlier by others for another purpose
    • Primary data is always more valid than secondary data, because it is never affected by any bias

  2. Which of the following is an example of primary data?

    • A published academic journal article reviewing research on gender and subject choice
    • A national census table showing the proportion of households containing lone parents
    • Field notes made by the researcher during a year of observation of a sixth-form college
    • Published government statistics on school exclusions across all local authorities in England

  3. Which source of data is most suited to examining the trends in birth rates in the UK since 1900?

    • Official statistics, such as those from the Office for National Statistics and its historical records
    • Participant observation in a single maternity ward carried out over a period of six months
    • A laboratory experiment in which pregnant women are randomly assigned to different diets
    • Unstructured interviews with a small group of parents who have had children in the last year

  4. Which feature is most characteristic of official statistics as a source of data?

    • They are collected by government agencies for administrative purposes, and are often large and systematic
    • They are always limited to a single school, which makes them unsuitable for analysing national trends
    • They are always qualitative, because they record the meanings participants give to their own situations
    • They are collected by the researcher in the field, using interviews and observation of everyday behaviour

  5. Which source of data is most suitable for investigating the private meanings that people give to their family relationships?

    • A government census, which records household size and composition at a single point in time
    • A structured questionnaire with fixed response categories, such as tick-box options for each question
    • Official statistics on divorce, which record the number of marriages dissolved in each year
    • Unstructured interviews, which allow participants to describe their family life in their own words

  6. Which strength is associated with the use of documents, such as diaries and letters, as sources of data?

    • They can offer insight into the perspectives of people in the past, when direct research is no longer possible
    • They are always numerical, so they can be analysed using standard statistical tests without any interpretation
    • They are always up to date, so they reflect the latest attitudes of people in the present day
    • They are always produced under controlled conditions, so their accuracy can be guaranteed by the researcher

  7. Which evaluation of secondary data is most important for a researcher to consider?

    • Whether the data were collected by a researcher with the same name as the new researcher
    • Whether the data were collected for a purpose that fits the new research question, and how they were measured
    • Whether the data are free to access, since any free data is always more valid than data that costs money
    • Whether the data are printed in colour, since colour makes data easier to interpret for analysts

  8. A researcher uses existing school exclusion records from a local authority to study patterns in exclusions. What type of data is this?

    • Secondary quantitative data, collected by the local authority for administrative purposes
    • Primary quantitative data, collected by the researcher through a structured survey of pupils
    • Secondary qualitative data, collected by teachers through personal reflective diaries about their pupils
    • Primary qualitative data, collected by the researcher through participant observation in schools

  9. Which statement about the distinction between quantitative and qualitative data is correct?

    • Quantitative data is always primary, while qualitative data is always secondary in every research study
    • Quantitative data is always collected from pupils, while qualitative data is always collected from teachers
    • Quantitative data is expressed in numbers, while qualitative data is expressed in words, images or other non-numerical forms
    • Quantitative data cannot be analysed statistically, while qualitative data can be analysed with statistical tests

  10. Which source of data would be most suitable for a historical study of the content of school textbooks over the twentieth century?

    • Content analysis of textbooks, which systematically examines how topics and groups are represented in the texts
    • A cross-sectional survey of teachers, which records their current views on textbook content
    • Participant observation of pupils using textbooks in a single classroom in the present day
    • A laboratory experiment in which pupils read different textbooks in controlled conditions

  11. Which problem is most closely associated with using secondary data from official statistics?

    • The data are always qualitative, so they cannot be used to study patterns across large groups of people
    • The categories used may not match the concepts the researcher wants to study, so the measures may be less valid
    • The data are always unavailable to researchers, so they can never be used in any sociological study at all
    • The data are always collected in a way that is so precise that no statistical analysis can be applied to them

  12. Which type of data is most likely to be produced by a participant observation study of a youth club?

    • Quantitative secondary data, consisting of official records of attendance held by the local authority
    • Qualitative primary data, consisting of field notes and detailed descriptions of interaction and meaning
    • Quantitative primary data, consisting of a large set of answers to closed questions about attendance
    • Qualitative secondary data, consisting of the published records of the youth service for the whole country

  13. A researcher combines a national survey of pupils' attitudes with her own interviews with a sample of pupils. What is this approach an example of?

    • Using only secondary data, because the interviews are based on the questions in an existing survey
    • Using only primary data, because the researcher and the survey organisation are the same individual
    • Using only qualitative data, because the national survey is always treated as a numerical source of evidence
    • Using both secondary and primary sources, which can allow the researcher to combine breadth with depth

  14. Which evaluation of data from a single school's published exam results is most appropriate?

    • It is a complete and objective account of everything that pupils learned during their time at the school
    • It is always more reliable than any other source of data, because it is produced by an official body
    • It can show a school's performance, but it does not reveal how pupils' experiences and processes produced those results
    • It cannot be used to draw any conclusions about the school, because it is only a single source of data

  15. Which source of data would give the most detailed insight into the everyday talk and humour of a school's staffroom?

    • Participant observation, which records interaction in its natural setting over an extended period
    • A postal questionnaire, which asks teachers to tick boxes about their general levels of job satisfaction
    • A national census, which records the number of teachers who are employed in each local authority
    • Official statistics on teacher absence, which record the number of days taken off sick each year

  16. Which term describes data that have been collected by an organisation to inform policy, and which are then reused by researchers?

    • Experimental data, which is data collected in controlled conditions to test a hypothesis about cause
    • Primary data, which is data collected by the researcher for the specific purpose of the current study
    • Pilot data, which is data collected in a small trial before the main study takes place in full
    • Secondary data, which is existing data reused for research purposes after its original collection

  17. Which statement about documents as sources of data is most accurate?

    • Documents can only be used by historians, since sociologists cannot analyse any written materials at all
    • Documents are always neutral and objective records of events, so no interpretation of them is necessary
    • Documents must be interpreted in the context of when and why they were produced, as they are not neutral records
    • Documents can only be used in quantitative studies, because they are always collected in numerical form

  18. Which concept describes the use of a researcher's own collected data in combination with data from other existing sources?

    • Verstehen, in which the researcher seeks to understand the subjective meaning of social action
    • Operationalisation, in which abstract concepts are converted into measurable indicators for research
    • Hegemony, in which the dominant ideas of society are accepted by subordinate groups as natural
    • Triangulation, in which multiple sources are combined to check and enrich the findings of a study

  19. Which of the following would be classified as secondary qualitative data?

    • A set of transcripts from interviews the researcher carried out with pupils for the current project
    • A set of observation notes the researcher made during a term of lessons in a sixth-form college
    • A published collection of letters written by parents to a school in the 1950s, analysed by a later researcher
    • A set of questionnaire responses the researcher collected from a sample of teachers last month

  20. Which feature of a national census makes it a useful secondary source for sociologists?

    • It records the private feelings of individuals about their families and friends in their own words
    • It covers the whole population at one point in time, giving detailed information on households and demographics
    • It records only the opinions of respondents about current political issues, with no demographic data
    • It is designed by sociologists for the specific purpose of testing one theory about the family

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