Hi, why dont interpretivist sociologists use secondary data?

Question

Hi, why dont interpretivist sociologists use secondary data?

Answer 1

I have no expertise in this field, but I presume that secondary data can be affected in reliability. The information may be false, misheard or biased.

Answer 2

Well, interpretivist sociologists are looking at interpreting society.  If you are looking at interpreting society through reading someone else's take on society, it seems clear that this would be a major problem...

So say you want to study how the Puritans interpreted God during sermons.  If you just read people's discussions of the sermons (and did not actually look at the sermons), you would be restrained by what the secondary authors thought was important, and how they framed the discussion.  By looking at the primary sources, interpretivist sociologists are able to draw their own conclusions about the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions about the individuals they are studying.