Categories of Information in Social Sciences
It would be useful, particularly in social sciences, to group information into three categories:
• Statistical Information
• Descriptive Information
• Analytical or Interpretative Information
Let us go back to the example of national income statistics mentioned earlier. The table showing the data about national income over a period is statistical information. If someone merely describes the changes that had taken place during those years, we may call it descriptive information. In Unit 5 of the Block 2 we shall refer to review literature. This type of document contains primarily descriptive information. When an author analyses and interprets the data within the framework of economic theory and his/her views on the subject, we would call it analytical or interpretative information. Analytical information is, thus, essentially based on statistical as well as descriptive information, data and facts being interpreted to arrive at a conclusion.