Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics Qualitative & Quantitative Research Methodologies

In 1897, the French sociologist, Emile Durkheim, published a case study on research methodology in the social sciences, called ‘Suicide’. In this classic book, he wanted to find an answer to the question of why people commit suicide, using statistical methods in the same way that a physicist or biologist might look at the mass of planets or the structure of plants. In other words, Durkheim believed that suicide notes, diaries, the impressions of the dead person’s family and friends were too personal to provide reliable information on why suicide is more common among some social groups than others.