Chapter 1:

Crime, Criminal Justice, and Scientific Inquiry

1

Learning Objectives

• Understand why knowledge of research methods is valuable to criminal justice professionals.

• Describe the different ways we know things. • Distinguish inquiry as a natural human activity

from inquiry through systematic empirical research.

• Recognize that much of our knowledge is based on agreement rather than on direct experience.

• Explain how tradition and authority are important sources of knowledge.

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Learning Objectives, cont.

• Understand the role of experience and systematic observation in criminal justice research.

• Recognize that social science guards against, but does not prevent, political beliefs from affecting research findings.

• Distinguish the different purposes of research. • Understand how to design a research project. • Be able to conduct a review of research literature. • Describe how to write a research proposal.

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Why Study Research Methods?

• Criminal Justice professionals are both consumers and producers of research

• It is important for Criminal Justice professionals to be informed consumers of research

• Need to understand findings and how to apply those findings to his or her department

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Two Realities

• Experiential reality – The things we know from direct experience (e.g., learning that a burner is hot by touching a stove)

• Agreement reality – Things we consider real because we have been told they are real, and everyone agrees (e.g., sun sets in the West)

• Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment revealed the agreement reality that simply increasing patrols decreased crime was misleading

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The Role of Science

• Empirical research – Knowledge produced based on experience or observation

• Scientists have certain criteria to be met when accepting experiential and agreement realities • An assertion must have both logical and empirical

support

• Methodology – The science of finding out

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Personal Human Inquiry

• Future circumstances are caused or conditioned by present ones

• We use causal and probabilistic reasoning

• The goal is to understand why certain things are related, why patterns occur, to enable us to make more accurate predictions

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Secondhand Knowledge

• Tradition – Things that “everybody knows” • Ex: Driving on the left side of the road in the US is

dangerous

• Authority – Trusting the judgment of someone with special expertise • Ex: You are more likely to believe a judge regarding

your driver’s license suspension than your parents

• Both provide us with a starting point for our own inquiry

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Discussion Question 1

Tradition and Authority are two ways in which people ascertain knowledge. Discuss the possible biases or shortcomings that may be associated with each method of conveying knowledge.

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Safeguarding Against Errors

• Inaccurate Observation – Overcome by using measurement devices

• Overgeneralization – Overcome by replicating the study to see if you get the same results

• Selective Observation – Specify in advance the number and types of observations

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Safeguarding Against Errors, cont.

• Illogical Reasoning – Use systems of logic, consciously and explicitly

• Ideology and Politics – Guard against its influence

• To Err is Human – Take precautions to avoid error

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Discussion Question 2

What are some ways to safeguard yourself from common errors in human inquiry while you are conducting research?

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Purpose of Research: Exploration

• Examine an issue or policy about which little is known

• Might also collect data on some measure to serve as a baseline for later comparisons

• Appropriate when some type of policy change is being considered

• May be simple or complex and can use a variety of methods

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Purpose of Research: Description

• Observe and describe the scope of a problem or policy response

• Make more accurate and formal observations

• Often concerned with counting or documenting observations; exploratory studies focus more on developing a preliminary understanding • Example: US Census, UCR

• Following exploration, we want to know the problem’s frequency/prevalence/degree/scope

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Purpose of Research: Explanation

• Explain things – answers “why?”

• Why have we seen a certain change in scope?

• Why does a certain problem exist? • Ex: Why do some people write computer viruses?,

Why do some people assault their spouses?

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Purpose of Research: Application

• Applied research is often used to evaluate the effects of specific criminal justice programs

• Two major types of applied research: • Evaluation research – Comparing program goals to

results

• Policy analysis – Prospective – Anticipate future consequences of alternative actions

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Discussion Question 3

Name four studies that can be examples of each purpose of research: exploration, description, explanation, and application.

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Thinking about the Research Process

• One of the most difficult parts of the research process is framing your interest into a research question.

• Researchers often have to rework or clarify research problems as they learn more about a topic

• Researchers should begin with their own experiences and observations and then learn more about the existing research

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The Research Process

• Conceptualize: specify what is to be studied

• Operate: perform concrete steps to measure specific concepts

• Observe: collect empirical data • Analyze: draw conclusions from the data • Apply: apply conclusions to original

inquiries

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Reviewing the Literature

• Tells you what is know and what is unknown

• Keep notes of articles as you review them

• Begin with a book or article on your topic

• This is your source document

• Find sources that are cited in the source document and find other sources that have cited your source document

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How to Read Scholarly Research

• Reading an article • Start with the abstract – It will tell you if the article is

relevant to your study

• Next, read the summary and conclusions

• Skim the article paying attention to headings, tables and graphs

• Carefully read the entire article

• Ask for help if you do not understand the article

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How to Read Scholarly Research, cont.

• Reading a book-length report • Start with the preface — It will tell you if the article

is relevant to your study

• Skim the book paying attention to the organization, headings, tables, graphs, and major findings

• Read it closely while taking notes

• If you decide to read the book, repeat the process with each chapter

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The Research Proposal

• Research proposals describe the activities planned and include a budget and timeline

• Certain agencies might have specific requirements for a proposal

• Almost every proposal include some basic elements

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Basic Elements of a Research Proposal

• Problem or Objective — Describes what will be studied

• Literature Review — Summarizes the prior research on the topic

• Research Questions — Specifies what the research will answer

• Subjects for Study — Whom or what will be studied

• Measurement — Identifies the key variables of the study

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Basic Elements of a Research Proposal, cont.

• Data Collection Methods — Explains how observations will be collected

• Analysis — Specifies how the observations will be analyzed

• References — List of materials consulted and cited in the proposal

• Schedule — A timeline for the various stages of the proposal

• Budget — Specifies where money to support the research will be spent

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