Study Guide Chapter 1 Crime Criminal Justice and Social Inquiry Research methods are the study of how we know what we know Criminal Justice Professionals are both producers and consumers of research Agreement Reality things that we know because somebody told us it was that way Kansas City Preventative Patrol experiment shows how agreement reality can be misleading Experience Reality things that we know because we personally experienced it Empirical knowledge is based on experience or observation And assertion must have logical and empirical evidence Epistemology science of knowing Methodology science of finding out Tradition Things that everybody knows Authority trusting judgment from a higher power Both help with our inquiry Avoid inquiry errors such as generalization by replication Science is logico epirical meaning we must have logic and observation Social scientific theory determines what is not what should be Aims to find patterns of regularity in life that represent probabilistic patterns Social scientists study aggregates not individuals Attributes are characteristics that help to group variables Ex male is an attribute of gender Causation is when a person s attributes affect another Independent Variable the cause defense attorney Dependent Variable the effect prison sentence Study Guide We research because it helps form policy or solve problems Why does a certain problem exist Two types applied research helps answer criminal justice questions 1 Evaluation research 2 Policy analysis compares goals to results prospective analysis of future results Idiographic explanation unique or specific to one case Nomothetic explanation can be generic for a class of situations Deductive reasoning vs inductive reasoning Quantitative vs qualitative Empirical research ends with measurement and interpretation Chapter 2 Theory and Criminal Justice research Observation may become before theory and vice versa Theory Systematic explanation for the observed facts laws that relate to a particular aspect of life o Theories are comprised of statements Scientific theories are not objective but they are intersubjective agreements where researchers studying the same problem arrive at the same conclusion Hypothesis Specific expectations about empirical reality derived from propositions Paradigm Fundamental model or scheme that organizes our view of something a lens through which we view a certain piece of reality in our world 3 elements of scientific model our interest in the real world 1 Theory 2 Operationalization 3 Observation steps or rules to measure variables systematically view the world 2 logical systems Study Guide 1 Deductive Inductive 2 general to specific grounded theory specific to general Crime is a social problem research driven by theory is linked to public policy Theory structures research which in turn is consulted to develop policy Research guides the ways in which the government and public respond to crime Policies often take the form of if then statements and are subject to empirical tests Situational crime prevention helps prevent specific forms of crime Chapter 3 ethics and criminal justice research Ethical behaviors conforming to the standards of a group No harm to participants Dilemma of balancing benefits and harm Perrone drug use in NY dance club Must have voluntary participation Anonymity When researcher cannot identify a given piece of information with a given person Confidentiality A researcher can link information with a subject but promises not to do so publicly Do not deceive subjects The National Research Act 1974 signed into law after a few highly publicized examples of unethical practices in medical and social science research The Belmont Report 1979 a brief but comprehensive set of ethical principles for protecting human subjects o Respect for Persons o Beneficence o Justice Institutional Review Boards IRB create guidelines and procedures that protect welfare of subjects Informed consent Requires that subjects both have the capacity to understand and do understand the research risks side effects benefits to subjects and procedures used Special populations Specific regulations exist for juveniles and prisoners Study Guide Many social research designs are exempt from the IRB standards Tea Room Study Laud Humphreys was the watch queen and observed homosexual behavior and gathered personal information about the participants Stanford Prison Experiment ended after 6 days because of aggression and anxiety shown Consent was attained for the experiment Chapter 4 Issues in Research Design Causation is a main element in conducting a research study It is the focus of explanatory research Causation is inherently probabilistic Criteria for causality 1 Variables must be correlated 2 Temporal order one before other 3 No alternative explanations Necessary cause must happen in order for effect to happen Sufficient cause guarantees an effect will happen When examining a causal relationship we are concerned with its validity or truth Some threats to validity exist Bias Generalizations Statistical conclusion validity can the change in cause and effect be statistically correlated Internal validity effect cannot be due to any other variables threatened when 3rd variable exists External validity can the effects be applied to different locations projects Construct validity generalizing and observing real world settings Temporal order shows which comes first Scientific realism bridges the gap between idiographic and nomothetic by looking at cause and effect relationship in specific contexts Units of analysis what or who is being studied Study Guide Ex individuals groups or organizations Issues of logic Ecological fallacy Danger of making assertions about individuals based on the examination of groups or aggregations Individual fallacy Using anecdotal evidence to make an argument Reductionism Failing to see the myriad of possible factors causing the situation being studied Sequence of time is critical in determining a causal relationship Cross sectional studies easy and cost effective Longitudinal studies long periods of time o Trend Those that study changes within some general population over time UCR o Cohort Examine more specific populations as they change over time Wolfgang study o Panel Similar to trend or cohort but the same set of people is interviewed on two or more occasions NCVS panel attrition Retrospective research looks back in time but could be faulty because people lie or
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