Cover image for Research methods in criminal justice and criminology
Title:
Research methods in criminal justice and criminology
Personal Author:
Edition:
3rd ed
Publication Information:
New York : Macmillan Publishing , 1989
ISBN:
9780023489914

Available:*

Library
Item Barcode
Call Number
Material Type
Item Category 1
Status
Searching...
30000000247829 HV6024.5.H33 1993 Open Access Book Book
Searching...

On Order

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction to Criminal Justice Research Methods: Theory and Methodp. 1
Scientific Research in Criminal Justicep. 2
Common Sense and Nonsensep. 3
Why Study Research Methods in Criminal Justice?p. 5
The Emergence of Science and Criminal Justicep. 6
The Probabilistic Nature of Sciencep. 8
Proper Conduct of Critical Inquiryp. 8
Approaches to Theory and Method in Criminal Justicep. 9
Exhibit 1.1 Merton's "Matthew Effect" in Sciencep. 10
Exhibit 1.2 The Paradigm Shift in Policingp. 11
Pure Versus Applied Researchp. 13
Exhibit 1.3 The Project on Human Developmentp. 16
Exhibit 1.4 Crime Analysis: Applied Criminal Justice Researchp. 18
Qualitative and Quantitative Researchp. 19
Researchese: the Language of Researchp. 20
Conceptsp. 20
Operationalizationp. 21
Variablesp. 21
Dependent and Independent Variablesp. 21
Theories/Hypothesesp. 21
Examples of the Research Processp. 22
Recidivism among Juvenile Offendersp. 24
General Steps in Empirical Research in Criminal Justicep. 24
Problem Formulation: Selection of Research Problemp. 25
Problem Formulation: Specification of Research Problemp. 26
Exhibit 1.5 Feminist Perspectives and Research Methodsp. 27
Exhibit 1.6 The World Wide Web (WWW)p. 30
Chapter 2 Ethics in Criminal Justice Researchp. 33
Ethical Horror Storiesp. 34
Biomedical Examplesp. 34
Social Science Examplesp. 34
Exhibit 2.1 AIDS Research in Africa and Asia: Is It Ethical?p. 37
Researcher Fraud and Plagiarismp. 40
Exhibit 2.2 Legendary Research Scamsp. 41
The Researcher's Rolep. 42
Research Targets in Criminal Justicep. 43
Ethics and Professionalismp. 43
Ethics in Criminal Justice Researchp. 44
History of Federal Regulation of Researchp. 45
The Belmont Reportp. 47
Institutional Review Boardsp. 48
Research Activities Exempt from HHS Reviewp. 49
National Institute of Justice's Human Subject Protection Requirementsp. 51
Confidentiality of Criminal Justice Researchp. 52
Exhibit 2.3 Codes of Research Ethics of the ACJS and the ASCp. 53
Ethical Issues in Criminology/Criminal Justice Researchp. 56
Avoid Research That May Harm Respondentsp. 57
Honor Commitments to Respondents and Respect Reciprocityp. 58
Exercise Objectivity and Professional Integrity in Performing and Reporting Researchp. 58
Protect Confidentiality and Privacy of Respondentsp. 59
Ethical Problemsp. 60
The Brajuha Case (Weinstein Decision)p. 62
The Ofshe Casep. 63
The Hutchinson Casep. 64
Additional Ethical Concernsp. 66
Avoiding Ethical Problemsp. 67
Chapter 3 Research Design: The Experimental Model and Its Variationsp. 70
The Experimental Modelp. 71
Research Design in a Nutshellp. 72
Causalityp. 72
Resolution of the Causality Problemp. 72
Rival Causal Factorsp. 74
Validityp. 75
Internal Factors: Variables Related to Internal Validityp. 75
Historyp. 75
Maturationp. 76
Testingp. 77
Instrumentationp. 77
Statistical Regressionp. 77
Selection Biasp. 78
Experimental Mortalityp. 78
Selection--Maturation Interactionp. 79
External Factors: Variables Related to External Validityp. 79
Testing Effectsp. 79
Selection Biasp. 80
Reactivity or Awareness of Being Studiedp. 80
Multiple-Treatment Interferencesp. 80
Related Rival Causal Factorsp. 81
Hawthorne Effectp. 81
Halo Effectp. 81
Post Hoc Errorp. 81
Placebo Effectp. 82
Other Rival Causal Factors in Criminal Justice Field Experimentsp. 82
Diffusion of Treatmentp. 83
Compensatory Equalization of Treatmentp. 83
Local Historyp. 83
Experimental Designsp. 84
The Classic Experimental Designp. 86
Some Criminal Justice Examples of the Classic Experimental Designp. 86
Candid Camerap. 86
Scared Straightp. 86
Community Policingp. 87
Exhibit 3.1 The Kansas City Gun Experimentp. 89
Other Experimental Designsp. 88
Posttest-Only Control Group Designp. 88
Solomon Four-Group Designp. 91
Preexperimental Designsp. 92
One-Group Ex Post Facto Designp. 92
One-Group Before-After Designp. 93
Two-Group Ex Post Facto Designp. 93
Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Designsp. 94
Exhibit 3.2 The Cycle of Violence and Victims of Child Abusep. 95
Quasi-Experimental Designsp. 96
Time-Series Designsp. 96
Multiple Interrupted Time-Series Designsp. 96
Counterbalanced Designsp. 99
Some Other Criminal Justice Examples of Variations of the Experimental Modelp. 99
The Provo and Silverlake Experimentsp. 99
Exhibit 3.3 Evaluations of Shock Incarcerationp. 101
The Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experimentp. 102
The Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experimentp. 103
The Experiment As a Data-Gathering Strategyp. 104
Advantages of Experimentsp. 105
Disadvantages of Experimentsp. 105
Chapter 4 An Introduction to Alternative Data-Gathering Strategies and the Special Case of Uniform Crime Reportsp. 109
Alternative Data-Gathering Strategiesp. 110
Social Surveysp. 111
Participant Observationp. 112
Life History and Case Studiesp. 113
Unobtrusive Measuresp. 113
Exhibit 4.1 Applied Research: Geographic Information Systems (GIS)p. 114
The Special Case of Uniform Crime Reportsp. 115
The Crime Indexp. 116
Crime Ratep. 117
Cautions in the Use of UCR Datap. 119
Factors Affecting the UCRp. 119
Related UCR Issuesp. 121
Exhibit 4.2 The Crime Dipp. 122
UCR Redesignp. 124
National Incident-Based Reporting Systemp. 124
Exhibit 4.3 The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)p. 125
NIBRS versus UCRp. 127
Chapter 5 Sampling and Survey Research: Questionnairesp. 132
Types of Samplingp. 133
Probability Samplesp. 133
Nonprobability Samplesp. 138
Exhibit 5.1 Crime Profilingp. 142
Sample Sizep. 144
Survey Researchp. 144
Some Guidelines for Questionnaire Constructionp. 146
Questionnaire Wordingp. 147
Pretestp. 151
Organization of the Questionnairep. 151
Mail Surveysp. 152
Advantages of Mail Surveysp. 153
Disadvantages of Mail Surveysp. 154
Ways of Eliminating Disadvantages in Mail Surveysp. 154
Follow-upp. 155
Offering Remunerationp. 156
Attractive Formatp. 156
Sponsorship and Endorsementsp. 157
Personalizationp. 157
Shortened Formatp. 158
Good Timingp. 158
Self-Reported Measures of Crimep. 159
Some Problems With Self-Report Surveysp. 162
Strengths of Self-Report Surveysp. 163
Reliabilityp. 163
Validityp. 163
Use of Other Datap. 164
Use of Other Observersp. 164
Use of Polygraphp. 164
"Known Group" Validationp. 164
Use of Lie Scalesp. 165
Measures of Internal Consistencyp. 166
Use of Interviewsp. 166
Internet Surveysp. 166
Advantages of Internet Surveysp. 167
Disadvantages of Internet Surveysp. 167
Procedures in Internet Surveysp. 167
Chapter 6 Survey Research: Interviews and Telephone Surveysp. 171
Types of Interviewsp. 172
Advantages of Interviewsp. 174
Disadvantages of Interviewsp. 175
Interviewing Aids and Variationsp. 175
Exhibit 6.1 Public Opinion Pollsp. 176
General Procedures in Interviewsp. 178
Training and Orientation Sessionp. 178
Arranging the Interviewp. 178
Demeanor of Interviewerp. 179
Administration of the Structured Interviewp. 179
Probingp. 180
The Exitp. 180
Recording the Interviewp. 181
Telephone Surveysp. 182
Advantages and Prospects of Telephone Surveysp. 182
Disadvantages of Telephone Surveysp. 183
Computers in Survey Researchp. 184
Random Digit Dialingp. 185
Techniques Employed in Telephone Surveysp. 186
Victim Surveys in Criminal Justicep. 187
National Crime Victimization Surveyp. 188
Samplingp. 188
Panel Designp. 189
A Comparison of UCR, Ncvs, and Self-Report Datap. 190
Some Problems in Victim Surveysp. 192
Cost of Large Samplesp. 192
False Reportsp. 192
Mistaken Reportingp. 193
Poor Memoryp. 193
Telescopingp. 193
Sampling Biasp. 193
Overreporting and Underreportingp. 194
Interviewer Effectsp. 194
Coding Unreliability and Mechanical Errorp. 195
Problems Measuring Certain Crimesp. 195
Benefits of Victim Surveysp. 195
A Defense of Victim Surveysp. 196
Controlling for Error in Victim Surveysp. 196
Boundingp. 196
Reverse Record Checksp. 197
Victim Surveys: A Balanced Viewp. 197
Community Crime Victimization Survey Softwarep. 198
Redesign of the National Crime Victimization Surveyp. 198
Exhibit 6.2 The Redesigned National Crime Victimization Surveyp. 199
Chapter 7 Participant Observation and Case Studiesp. 206
A Critique of Experiments and Surveysp. 207
Verbal Reports versus Behaviorp. 207
A Defense of Quantitative Researchp. 209
Participant Observationp. 209
Types of Participant Observationp. 211
Characteristics of Participant Observationp. 212
Objectivity in Researchp. 213
"Going Native"p. 214
General Procedures in Participant Observationp. 215
Field Notesp. 215
Mnemonicsp. 216
Caution in Use of Other Recording Methodsp. 216
Tips on Participant Observationp. 217
Gaining Accessp. 217
Exhibit 7.1 American Skinheadsp. 219
Gatekeepersp. 220
Announcement of Intentionsp. 220
Samplingp. 220
Reciprocity and Protection of Identityp. 221
Concern for Accuracyp. 222
Examples of Participant Observationp. 222
Exhibit 7.2 Islands in the Streetsp. 223
Exhibit 7.3 This Thing of Darkness: A Participant Observation Study of Idaho Christian Patriotsp. 225
Advantages of Participant Observationp. 225
Disadvantages of Participant Observationp. 226
Case Studiesp. 227
Life History/Oral Historyp. 227
Some Examples of Case Studiesp. 228
Journalistic Field Studiesp. 228
Single-Subject Designsp. 229
Chapter 8 Unobtrusive Measures, Secondary Analysis, and the Uses of Official Statisticsp. 233
Major Types of Unobtrusive Methodsp. 234
Physical Trace Analysisp. 235
Use of Available Data and Archivesp. 236
Secondary Analysisp. 237
Personal Documents and Biographiesp. 237
Examples of Secondary Analysisp. 240
Exhibit 8.1 Automated Pin Mapping: Applied Criminal Justice Research Using GIS for Crime Analysisp. 242
Exhibit 8.2 Street Gang Crime in Chicagop. 244
Limitations of Official Datap. 246
Measuring Hidden Populationsp. 246
Historical and Archival Datap. 247
Content Analysisp. 248
Content Analysis by Computerp. 251
Meta-Analysisp. 251
Exhibit 8.3 Applied Criminal Justice Research: Hotspot Analysisp. 253
Sources of Existing Datap. 254
Exhibit 8.4 X-Files at the Federal Bureau of Investigationp. 256
Exhibit 8.5 National Archive of Criminal Justice Datap. 258
Observationp. 259
Disguised Observationp. 262
Simulationsp. 265
Advantages of Unobtrusive Measuresp. 267
Disadvantages of Unobtrusive Measuresp. 268
Chapter 9 Validity, Reliability, and Triangulated Strategiesp. 271
Error in Researchp. 271
Reasons for Lack of Validation Studies in Criminal Justicep. 273
Ways of Determining Validityp. 274
Face Validityp. 274
Content Validityp. 275
Construct Validityp. 276
Pragmatic Validityp. 276
Convergent-Discriminant Validation/Triangulationp. 277
Reliabilityp. 280
Test-Retestp. 281
Multiple Formsp. 281
Split-Half Techniquep. 282
Mythical Numbersp. 282
Phantom Army of Addictsp. 282
Adam (Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program)p. 283
Exhibit 9.1 Adamp. 284
Other Examples of Research Validationp. 286
Chapter 10 Scaling and Index Constructionp. 290
Levels of Measurementp. 290
Exhibit 10.1 Score Yourself General Attitude/Knowledge Surveyp. 293
Scaling Proceduresp. 294
Arbitrary Scalesp. 295
The Uniform Crime Report as an Arbitrary Scalep. 296
Attitude Scalesp. 297
Thurstone Scalesp. 297
Likert Scalesp. 298
Guttman Scalesp. 301
Other Scaling Proceduresp. 305
Q Sortp. 305
Semantic Differentialp. 305
Other Variationsp. 307
Crime Seriousness Scalesp. 308
Sellin-Wolfgang Indexp. 309
Types of Crime Seriousness Scalesp. 309
Prediction Scalesp. 311
The Salient Factor Scorep. 312
Greenwood's "Rand Seven-Factor Index"p. 312
Career Criminal Programsp. 314
Advantages of Scalesp. 315
Disadvantages of Scalesp. 315
Chapter 11 Data Analysis: Coding, Tabulation, and Simple Data Presentationp. 318
Variables Listp. 319
Computersp. 320
Data Managementp. 321
Editingp. 321
Codingp. 322
Coder Monitoringp. 325
Keyboard Entryp. 326
Data Verificationp. 326
Simple Data Presentationp. 326
Ratesp. 328
Proportionsp. 329
Percentagesp. 329
Ratiosp. 330
The Frequency Distributionp. 330
Graphic Presentationsp. 331
Pie Chartsp. 332
Bar Graphsp. 333
Frequency Polygons (Line Charts)p. 334
Crime Clocksp. 335
Table Readingp. 338
Why Bother with Tables?p. 338
What to Look for in a Tablep. 338
Steps in Reading a Tablep. 338
Summary of Table 11.3p. 339
How to Construct Tablesp. 342
Presentation of Complex Datap. 342
General Rules for Percentaging a Tablep. 342
Improper Percentagingp. 347
Elaborationp. 347
Lying with Statisticsp. 349
Chapter 12 Data Analysis: A User's Guide to Statisticsp. 353
Why Study Statistics?p. 354
Types of Statisticsp. 355
Measures of Central Tendency for a Simple Distributionp. 356
Modep. 356
Medianp. 356
Meanp. 357
Measures of Dispersionp. 358
Rangep. 360
Standard Deviation ([sigma])p. 360
Standard Deviation Units (Z Scores)p. 363
Chi-Square (X[superscript 2])p. 365
Calculation of Chi-Squarep. 366
Cautionsp. 368
Chi-Square-Based Measures of Associationp. 368
Phi Coefficient ([phi]) and Phi-Square ([phi superscript 2])p. 369
Contingency Coefficient (C)p. 369
Cramer's Vp. 369
Nature and Types of Statisticsp. 369
Nonparametric Statisticsp. 370
Null Hypothesisp. 370
Tests of Significancep. 371
The t Test (Difference of Means Test)p. 372
Types of t Testsp. 373
Anova (Analysis of Variance)p. 375
Calculation of ANOVAp. 376
Other Measures of Relationshipp. 378
The Concept of Relationshipp. 378
Correlation Coefficient (Pearson's r)p. 379
Interpretation of Pearson's rp. 379
Calculation of Pearson's rp. 380
Statistical Significance of Pearson's rp. 381
Regressionp. 382
Ordinal Level Measures of Relationshipp. 383
Spearman's Rho (r[subscript s])p. 383
Interpretation of Rhop. 385
Gammap. 385
Multivariate Analysisp. 388
Partial Correlationp. 388
Multiple Correlation and Regressionp. 389
Statistical Softwarep. 390
Caveat Emptorp. 391
The Ecological Fallacyp. 392
Chapter 13 Policy Analysis and Evaluation Researchp. 396
Policy Analysisp. 397
Evaluation Researchp. 398
Policy Experimentsp. 399
Policy Analysis: The Case of the National Institute of Justice Research Programp. 400
NIJ Mission Statementp. 400
NIJ Research Prioritiesp. 401
A Systems Model of Evaluation Researchp. 402
Types of Evaluation Researchp. 403
Will the Findings Be Used?p. 405
Is the Project Evaluable?p. 405
Who Can Do This Work?p. 407
Steps in Evaluation Researchp. 407
Problem Formulationp. 408
Design of Instrumentsp. 408
Research Designp. 409
Data Collectionp. 410
Data Analysisp. 410
Utilizationp. 411
What Works in Criminal Justice?p. 412
Exhibit 13.1 Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn't, What's Promisingp. 413
Obstacles to Evaluation Researchp. 415
Researchers and Host Agenciesp. 416
Appendix A How to Write the Research Reportp. 418
Appendix B Table of Random Numbersp. 423
Appendix C Statistics: An Addendum to Chapter 12p. 425
Measures of Central Tendency for Grouped Datap. 425
Standard Deviations for Grouped Datap. 427
Raw Score Approachp. 428
Deviation Score Approachp. 429
Calculation of Anovap. 430
Regression Calculationsp. 431
A Test of Significance for Gammap. 432
Appendix D Answers to Pop Quizzes in Chapter 12p. 433
Appendix E Normal Curve Areasp. 438
Appendix F Distribution of Chi-Square (X[superscript 2])p. 443
Appendix G Proposal Writing and Evaluationp. 444
Proposal Writingp. 444
Funding Agenciesp. 444
Grantsmanshipp. 444
Basic Elements of a Proposalp. 445
NIJ Proposal Format and Contentp. 450
Evaluation of Research Proposalsp. 452
NIJ Evaluation of Proposalsp. 453
Referencesp. 454
Glossaryp. 490
Name Indexp. 495
Subject Indexp. 502