Basics of Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology
, by Maxfield, Michael G.; Babbie, Earl R.Note: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.
- ISBN: 9780495503859 | 0495503851
- Cover: Paperback
- Copyright: 8/1/2008
This brief introduction to research methods combines accessibility and a conversational writing style with Michael G. Maxfield's expertise in criminology and criminal justice. In fewer than 400 pages, the text introduces you to the basics of criminal justice research utilizing real data and featuring coverage of such key issues as ethics, causation, validity, field research, and research design.
Preface | p. xiii |
An Introduction to Criminal Justice Inquiry | p. 1 |
Criminal Justice and Scientific Inquiry | p. 2 |
Introduction | p. 3 |
Home Detention | p. 4 |
What Is This Book About? | p. 4 |
Two Realities | p. 4 |
The Role of Science | p. 6 |
Personal Human Inquiry | p. 6 |
Tradition | p. 7 |
Authority | p. 7 |
Arrest and Domestic Violence | p. 8 |
Errors in Personal Human Inquiry | p. 8 |
Inaccurate Observation | p. 8 |
Overgeneralization | p. 8 |
Selective Observation | p. 9 |
Illogical Reasoning | p. 10 |
Ideology and Politics | p. 10 |
To Err Is Human | p. 10 |
Foundations of Social Science | p. 11 |
Theory, Not Philosophy or Belief | p. 11 |
Regularities | p. 13 |
What about Exceptions? | p. 13 |
Aggregates, Not Individuals | p. 13 |
A Variable Language | p. 14 |
Variables and Attributes | p. 15 |
Variables and Relationships | p. 18 |
Purposes of Research | p. 18 |
Exploration | p. 18 |
Description | p. 19 |
Explanation | p. 19 |
Application | p. 20 |
Differing Avenues for Inquiry | p. 20 |
Idiographic and Nomothetic Explanations | p. 21 |
Inductive and Deductive Reasoning | p. 22 |
Quantitative and Qualitative Data | p. 23 |
Knowing through Experience: Summing Up and Looking Ahead | p. 24 |
Main Points | p. 24 |
Ethics and Criminal Justice Research | p. 26 |
Introduction | p. 27 |
Ethical Issues in Criminal Justice Research | p. 27 |
No Harm to Participants | p. 27 |
Ethics and Extreme Field Research | p. 28 |
Voluntary Participation | p. 31 |
Anonymity and Confidentiality | p. 32 |
Deceiving Subjects | p. 33 |
Analysis and Reporting | p. 33 |
Legal Liability | p. 34 |
Special Problems | p. 35 |
Promoting Compliance with Ethical Principles | p. 37 |
Codes of Professional Ethics | p. 37 |
Institutional Review Boards | p. 38 |
Institutional Review Board Requirements and Researcher Rights | p. 41 |
Ethics and Juvenile Gang Members | p. 42 |
Ethical Controversies | p. 42 |
The Stanford Prison Experiment | p. 42 |
Discussion Examples | p. 45 |
Main Points | p. 46 |
Structuring Criminal Justice Inquiry | p. 49 |
General Issues in Research Design | p. 50 |
Introduction | p. 51 |
Causation in the Social Sciences | p. 51 |
Criteria for Causality | p. 52 |
Necessary and Sufficient Causes | p. 53 |
Validity and Causal Inference | p. 53 |
Statistical Conclusion Validity | p. 53 |
Internal Validity | p. 55 |
External Validity | p. 55 |
Construct Validity | p. 55 |
Validity and Causal Inference Summarized | p. 57 |
Does Drug Use Cause Crime? | p. 57 |
Causation and Declining Crime in New York City | p. 58 |
Introducing Scientific Realism | p. 60 |
Units of Analysis | p. 61 |
Individuals | p. 61 |
Groups | p. 61 |
Organizations | p. 62 |
Social Artifacts | p. 62 |
The Ecological Fallacy | p. 63 |
Units of Analysis in Review | p. 63 |
Units of Analysis in the National Youth Gang Survey | p. 64 |
The Time Dimension | p. 65 |
Cross-Sectional Studies | p. 66 |
Longitudinal Studies | p. 66 |
Approximating Longitudinal Studies | p. 67 |
The Time Dimension Summarized | p. 70 |
How to Design a Research Project | p. 70 |
The Research Process | p. 71 |
Getting Started | p. 73 |
Conceptualization | p. 73 |
Choice of Research Method | p. 74 |
Operationalization | p. 74 |
Population and Sampling | p. 74 |
Observations | p. 75 |
Analysis | p. 75 |
Application | p. 75 |
Research Design in Review | p. 75 |
The Research Proposal | p. 76 |
Elements of a Research Proposal | p. 76 |
Answers to the Units-of-Analysis Exercise | p. 78 |
Main Points | p. 78 |
Concepts, Operationalization, and Measurement | p. 80 |
Introduction | p. 81 |
Conceptions and Concepts | p. 81 |
Conceptualization | p. 83 |
Indicators and Dimensions | p. 83 |
What Is Recidivism? | p. 84 |
Creating Conceptual Order | p. 84 |
Operationalization Choices | p. 86 |
Measurement as Scoring | p. 87 |
Jail Stay | p. 88 |
Exhaustive and Exclusive Measurement | p. 88 |
Levels of Measurement | p. 89 |
Implications of Levels of Measurement | p. 91 |
Criteria for Measurement Quality | p. 92 |
Reliability | p. 93 |
Validity | p. 94 |
Measuring Crime | p. 97 |
General Issues in Measuring Crime | p. 97 |
Units of Analysis and Measuring Crime | p. 98 |
Measures Based on Crimes Known to Police | p. 98 |
Victim Surveys | p. 102 |
Surveys of Offending | p. 103 |
Measuring Crime Summary | p. 104 |
Composite Measures | p. 105 |
Typologies | p. 106 |
An Index of Disorder | p. 107 |
Measurement Summary | p. 109 |
Main Points | p. 109 |
Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs | p. 112 |
Introduction | p. 113 |
The Classical Experiment | p. 113 |
Independent and Dependent Variables | p. 114 |
Pretesting and Posttesting | p. 114 |
Experimental and Control Groups | p. 115 |
Double-Blind Experiments | p. 116 |
Selecting Subjects | p. 116 |
Randomization | p. 117 |
Experiments and Causal Inference | p. 117 |
Experiments and Threats to Validity | p. 118 |
Threats to Internal Validity | p. 118 |
Ruling Out Threats to Internal Validity | p. 120 |
Generalizability and Threats to Validity | p. 121 |
Variations in the Classical Experimental Design | p. 123 |
Quasi-Experimental Designs | p. 124 |
Nonequivalent-Groups Designs | p. 125 |
Cohort Designs | p. 128 |
Time-Series Designs | p. 128 |
Variations in Time-Series Designs | p. 132 |
Variable-Oriented Research and Scientific Realism | p. 133 |
Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs Summarized | p. 135 |
Main Points | p. 136 |
Modes of Observation | p. 139 |
Sampling | p. 140 |
Introduction | p. 141 |
The Logic of Probability Sampling | p. 141 |
Conscious and Unconscious Sampling Bias | p. 143 |
Representativeness and Probability of Selection | p. 144 |
Probability Theory and Sampling Distribution | p. 145 |
The Sampling Distribution of 10 Cases | p. 145 |
From Sampling Distribution to Parameter Estimate | p. 149 |
Estimating Sampling Error | p. 150 |
Confidence Levels and Confidence Intervals | p. 151 |
Probability Theory and Sampling Distribution Summed Up | p. 152 |
Populations and Sampling Frames | p. 153 |
Types of Sampling Designs | p. 154 |
Simple Random Sampling | p. 154 |
Systematic Sampling | p. 154 |
Stratified Sampling | p. 155 |
Disproportionate Stratified Sampling | p. 156 |
Multistage Cluster Sampling | p. 157 |
Multistage Cluster Sampling with Stratification | p. 158 |
Illustration: Two National Crime Surveys | p. 160 |
The National Crime Victimization Survey | p. 160 |
The British Crime Survey | p. 161 |
Probability Sampling in Review | p. 162 |
Nonprobability Sampling | p. 162 |
Purposive Sampling | p. 162 |
Quota Sampling | p. 163 |
Reliance on Available Subjects | p. 164 |
Snowball Sampling | p. 165 |
Nonprobability Sampling in Review | p. 166 |
Main Points | p. 166 |
Survey Research and Other Ways of Asking Questions | p. 169 |
Introduction | p. 170 |
Topics Appropriate to Survey Research | p. 171 |
Counting Crime | p. 171 |
Self-Reports | p. 171 |
Perception and Attitudes | p. 172 |
Targeted Victim Surveys | p. 172 |
Other Evaluation Uses | p. 172 |
Guidelines for Asking Questions | p. 173 |
Open-Ended and Closed-Ended Questions | p. 173 |
Questions and Statements | p. 174 |
Make Items Clear | p. 174 |
Short Items Are Best | p. 174 |
Avoid Negative Items | p. 174 |
Biased Items and Terms | p. 175 |
Designing Self-Report Items | p. 175 |
Questionnaire Construction | p. 177 |
General Questionnaire Format | p. 177 |
Contingency Questions | p. 177 |
Matrix Questions | p. 178 |
Ordering Items in a Questionnaire | p. 180 |
Don't Start from Scratch! | p. 181 |
Self-Administered Questionnaires | p. 181 |
Mail Distribution and Return | p. 182 |
Warning Mailings and Cover Letters | p. 182 |
Follow-Up Mailings | p. 183 |
Acceptable Response Rates | p. 183 |
Computer-Based Self-Administration | p. 184 |
In-Person Interview Surveys | p. 185 |
The Role of the Interviewer | p. 185 |
Coordination and Control | p. 186 |
Computer-Assisted In-Person Interviews | p. 187 |
Telephone Surveys | p. 189 |
Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing | p. 190 |
Comparison of the Three Methods | p. 191 |
Strengths and Weaknesses of Survey Research | p. 192 |
Other Ways of Asking Questions | p. 194 |
Specialized Interviewing | p. 194 |
Focus Groups | p. 195 |
Should You Do It Yourself? | p. 196 |
Main Points | p. 198 |
Field Research | p. 200 |
Introduction | p. 201 |
Topics Appropriate to Field Research | p. 202 |
The Various Roles of the Observer | p. 203 |
Asking Questions | p. 205 |
Gaining Access to Subjects | p. 207 |
Gaining Access to Formal Organizations | p. 207 |
Gaining Access to Subcultures | p. 210 |
Selecting Cases for Observation | p. 210 |
Purposive Sampling in Field Research | p. 212 |
Recording Observations | p. 214 |
Cameras and Voice Recorders | p. 214 |
Field Notes | p. 215 |
Structured Observations | p. 216 |
Linking Field Observations and Other Data | p. 217 |
Illustrations of Field Research | p. 219 |
Field Research on Speeding and Traffic Enforcement | p. 219 |
Conducting a Safety Audit | p. 220 |
Bars and Violence | p. 222 |
Strengths and Weaknesses of Field Research | p. 224 |
Validity | p. 224 |
Reliability | p. 225 |
Generalizability | p. 226 |
Main Points | p. 227 |
Agency Records, Content Analysis, and Secondary Data | p. 229 |
Introduction | p. 230 |
Topics Appropriate for Agency Records and Content Analysis | p. 230 |
Types of Agency Records | p. 232 |
Published Statistics | p. 232 |
Nonpublic Agency Records | p. 234 |
New Data Collected by Agency Staff | p. 236 |
Improving Police Records of Domestic Violence | p. 238 |
Reliability and Validity | p. 239 |
Sources of Reliability and Validity Problems | p. 240 |
How Many Parole Violators Were There Last Month? | p. 242 |
Content Analysis | p. 244 |
Coding in Content Analysis | p. 244 |
Illustrations of Content Analysis | p. 246 |
Secondary Analysis | p. 247 |
Sources of Secondary Data | p. 248 |
Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Data | p. 249 |
Main Points | p. 250 |
Application and Analysis | p. 253 |
Evaluation Research and Problem Analysis | p. 254 |
Introduction | p. 255 |
Topics Appropriate for Evaluation Research and Problem Analysis | p. 255 |
The Policy Process | p. 256 |
Linking the Process to Evaluation | p. 257 |
Getting Started | p. 260 |
Evaluability Assessment | p. 260 |
Problem Formulation | p. 261 |
Measurement | p. 263 |
Designs for Program Evaluation | p. 266 |
Randomized Evaluation Designs | p. 266 |
Home Detention: Two Randomized Studies | p. 269 |
Quasi-Experimental Designs | p. 271 |
Other Types of Evaluation Studies | p. 273 |
Problem Analysis and Scientific Realism | p. 273 |
Problem-Oriented Policing | p. 274 |
Auto Theft in Chula Vista | p. 275 |
Other Applications of Problem Analysis | p. 276 |
Space- and Time-Based Analysis | p. 276 |
Scientific Realism and Applied Research | p. 280 |
The Political Context of Applied Research | p. 282 |
Evaluation and Stakeholders | p. 282 |
When Politics Accommodates Facts | p. 283 |
Politics and Objectivity | p. 284 |
Main Points | p. 285 |
Interpreting Data | p. 287 |
Introduction | p. 288 |
Univariate Description | p. 288 |
Distributions | p. 288 |
Measures of Central Tendency | p. 289 |
Measures of Dispersion | p. 291 |
Comparing Measures of Dispersion and Central Tendency | p. 293 |
Computing Rates | p. 295 |
Describing Two or More Variables | p. 296 |
Bivariate Analysis | p. 296 |
Murder on the Job | p. 298 |
Multivariate Analysis | p. 301 |
Inferential Statistics | p. 303 |
Univariate Inferences | p. 304 |
Tests of Statistical Significance | p. 305 |
Visualizing Statistical Significance | p. 306 |
Chi Square | p. 307 |
Cautions in Interpreting Statistical Significance | p. 309 |
Main Points | p. 311 |
Glossary | p. 313 |
References | p. 321 |
Name Index | p. 332 |
Subject Index | p. 334 |
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