According to Ken Browne "Sociology is the systematic study of human groups and social life in modern societies”. Sociology attempts to figure out how social institutions work, and how they are linked. Sociologists try to “describe and explain the patterns of inequality, …show more content…
This theory focuses on the inequalities of power, wealth and status, creating the conflicts between individuals and small groups which is strength. Marx introduces this as a two class system, bourgeoisie (the ruling class owns the most important means of production) and proletariat (wage slaves). Marx argued that the owner’s mean of production are capitalists, and are a continual mean of profit. Marx states that there is a two class divide between the rich and the poor. A weakness would be that Marxism doesn’t look at the free will that a person can have, it 's noted as being deterministic in terms of class, gender, race and …show more content…
Examples of quantitative data being measured is, age, height, shoe size and qualifications. The format can be processed through pie charts, bar charts, graphs and statistical tables. Qualitative data is more interested in qualities; people 's feelings on an issue or certain event. Sociologists try and understand the way people see things from their prospective. The format of data can be viewed by, personal letters, diaries, photographs, video, newspapers, reports, e-mails and interview data. This data can be collected from Secondary or Primary sources. Primary and Secondary sources are ways that sociologists receive and gather their information. Primary data is the information that the sociologist has gathered themselves, it is first hand - the data only exists due to the collection by the researcher. This information is usually gained by a social survey that has been taken place, or by a participant or non-participant observation. Secondary data is information which others, not the sociologists themselves have created. Official statistics such as a census, health, crime, unemployment, education and suicide statistics are ways this information can be achieved. Another procedures to obtain secondary data is by the Mass Media, this involves magazines, TV, radio, internet, films and newspapers. Newspapers are still one of the popular secondary sources used today.