Last Updated on October 10, 2026 by Karl Thompson
This 10-mark (no item) question appeared on Paper 3 (Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods) in June 2024. Questions in this format come at the end of either Paper 3 or Paper 1, so you could see a question on official statistics on either paper.
Below you’ll find the question, a summary of what the AQA mark scheme was looking for, a model answer, and my commentary on why it would score well.
If you would like to attempt this question before looking at the answer, you can review the topic first in my post on official statistics in sociology.
The Question (no item!)
Outline and explain two reasons why some sociologists choose to use official statistics in their research. (10 marks)
The Mark Scheme
The marks are split between knowledge and understanding (AO1, 5 marks), application (AO2, 3 marks) and analysis (AO3, 2 marks).
To get into the top band (8–10 marks) the mark scheme looks for:
- very good knowledge and understanding of two reasons why some sociologists choose official statistics
- two applications of relevant material. The mark scheme’s own examples are that positivists argue official statistics allow the researcher to look for correlations between variables, and that official statistics are often readily available as a source of large amounts of data
- appropriate analysis, for example the extent to which official statistics allow for cause-and-effect relationships
Answers that drift into the advantages of quantitative data in general are capped in the bottom band (1–3 marks). Your reasons have to be about official statistics, not about numbers in general.
The indicative content lists these reasons:
- they may be the only available source of data in a particular area, e.g. suicide statistics
- they show patterns and trends over time on a wide range of behaviours, including births, marriages and divorce
- they allow correlations and comparisons between groups and regions, e.g. the Census
- hard statistics mean official statistics are seen as more objective and value-free
- they are high in reliability, because they are compiled in a standardised way by trained staff
- they are cheap: Office for National Statistics data is free to access
- they are easily accessible, with a wide range available online
- they use large samples, so they are likely to be representative
The sources the mark scheme mentions include Atkinson, Comte, Durkheim, Irvine, the Office for National Statistics, the Census, the Crime Survey for England and Wales, the Labour Force Survey and school league tables.
Note: there are no marks for evaluation on the 10-mark no-item questions. (There are on the “analyse with the item” 10-mark questions.) Don’t waste time explaining the disadvantages of official statistics. Use the time to develop your two reasons fully.
Model Answer
This answer was written for this post. It is not an AQA student response.
One reason some sociologists choose official statistics is that positivists see them as a source of large-scale, reliable data that allows them to identify patterns, trends and correlations between variables. Positivists want to study society scientifically, by treating social phenomena as social facts that can be measured objectively and explained by other social facts. Official statistics suit this approach because they are often collected on the whole population, as with the Census or the registration of births, marriages and deaths. They are also collected in a standardised way by trained staff, which makes them reliable and representative. This allows sociologists to compare different social groups and regions, and to look for correlations between variables. The classic example is Durkheim’s study of suicide, in which he used official suicide statistics from several European countries to show that suicide rates were consistently higher among some groups, such as Protestants, than others, such as Catholics. He argued that these differences were caused by differences in social integration. This shows how official statistics allow positivists to move beyond describing patterns towards looking for cause-and-effect relationships. However, a correlation in the statistics does not on its own prove causation, so this depends on the researcher ruling out other variables. This is why positivists favour hard statistics such as births and deaths, where there is little room for interpretation in what is being counted.
A second reason is practical: official statistics are cheap, quick and easy to access, and often provide data that sociologists could never collect themselves. Most UK official statistics are published online for free by the Office for National Statistics and government departments, so a researcher can access huge data sets without the cost and time of carrying out their own survey. This matters because no individual sociologist or university could afford to collect data on the scale of the Census, which surveys every household every ten years. In some cases official statistics may be the only data available at all: for example, data on suicide, or on long-term trends in marriage and divorce going back many decades. Because many official statistics are collected regularly in the same way, sociologists can also use them to examine trends over time and to carry out “before and after” studies, such as comparing divorce rates before and after a change in the law. This means official statistics allow sociologists to research large-scale social change and historical trends, which would be impossible with small-scale primary methods such as interviews or observation.
Why this answer would score well
Two clearly separate reasons. The first is theoretical (positivists want reliable, representative data to find correlations), and the second is practical (cost, access and scale). Choosing reasons from different factors avoids the common problem of two reasons that are really the same point.
Each reason opens with a clear sentence stating the reason, so the examiner can see straight away what is being credited.
Application. Each reason is applied to specific official statistics: the Census, births, marriages and deaths, suicide statistics and the ONS. These are all on the mark scheme’s list of sources.
Analysis. The answer explains why each reason matters to a sociologist. The first paragraph links official statistics to positivist aims and considers how far they allow cause-and-effect relationships, which is the mark scheme’s own example of analysis. The second explains what official statistics make possible that primary research does not.
No evaluation. The answer doesn’t list the limitations of official statistics, which would earn nothing here.
KT’s Commentary
This is one of the more straightforward 10-mark questions, because the reasons are all standard material from the official statistics topic. The risk is the opposite of what students usually fear. It’s so easy to list reasons that weaker answers give four or five in a sentence each, and end up with breadth and no development. You only need two. Develop each one with an example and a “this means…” sentence, and you’ll get more marks than a list ever will.
The other trap is the one the mark scheme flags: drifting into the general advantages of quantitative data. If your paragraph would work just as well for a questionnaire, it isn’t about official statistics. Name the statistics (the Census, ONS data, crime figures, exam results) and you’re safe.
If I were marking, I’d be looking for students who connect the first reason to positivism explicitly. “They are reliable” is a fact about official statistics. “Positivists choose them because they want reliable data to find social facts” is an answer to the question, which asks why some sociologists choose them.
Related question
Official statistics also came up on Paper 1 in June 2022: “Outline and explain two reasons why official statistics should not be seen as social facts.” (10 marks) That question asks for the opposite side of the debate: the interpretivist case that official statistics are socially constructed. It’s covered in the social facts section of my main official statistics post.
Source: AQA (2024) A-level Sociology 7192/3 Paper 3: Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods, question paper and mark scheme, June 2024. Mark scheme content is summarised and quoted for educational purposes.
Theory and Methods A Level Sociology Revision Bundle
If you like this sort of thing, then you might like my Theory and Methods Revision Bundle – specifically designed to get students through the theory and methods sections of A-level sociology Papers 3 and 1.
Contents include:
- 74 pages of revision notes
- 15 mind maps on various topics within theory and methods
- Five theory and methods essays
- “How to write methods in context essays”
Signposting and Related Posts
This post has been written primarily for students revising theory and methods for the AQA’s A-level sociology Papers 3 and 1.
For the full topic, including the theoretical, practical and ethical strengths and limitations of official statistics, see Official Statistics in Sociology.
For more exam practice, see my sociology past papers and questions page.
Please click here to return to the homepage – ReviseSociology.com
If you like this sort of thing, then you might like my Theory and Methods Revision Bundle – specifically designed to get students through the theory and methods sections of A level sociology papers 1 and 3.
Contents include:
- 74 pages of revision notes
- 15 mind maps on various topics within theory and methods
- Five theory and methods essays
- ‘How to write methods in context essays’.