When adapting quantitative methodological procedures to derive specific data, official statistics is often used as a source of sociological evidence to simply enhance or complement practical research methods. However when assessing the merits obtained from the use of official statistics, it is important to recognize attached limitations, which serve as a major hindrance in developing and attaining an unquestionable and flawless research.
Official statistics are one of the many secondary sources of retrieving data and it can simply be defined as information collected from the general public by government agencies or private organizations, usually through a census or a survey- statistical data rounded in official statistics are mainly used for the study of demography, inflation, crime and deviance, unemployment, poverty and suicide.
Shifting to a more theoretical perspective, official statistics has received high praises from positivists as they held the view that research methods should be an objective inquiry and measurement of observable facts and events. As a result, they use statistical data as positivists holds that data derived from the study of society can then be classified. This classification can then allow for quantifying the data, which in turn sets the base for the use of statistical data. The point being emphasized here is that one of the strengths of official statistics as a source of sociological evidence is that it ensures objectivity and data is easily quantifiable.
In light of positivists strong belief in official statistics, Durkheim believe that suicide statistics were sufficiently reliable and valid to measure the extent and social distribution of suicide. Using official statistics he tried to establish correlations between suicide and other "social facts", and ultimately to discover causal relationships and laws of human behavior.
Similarly, many theoretical examinations of crime and deviance have been produced from the superficial appearance of official statistics, as they were termed reliable since the police, courts and other government agencies involved in law enforcement.
