CCJ 4700 Exam 1 Study Guide 2 sources of agreement reality 1 Tradition the way things are Social norms 2 Authority Validity of knowledge depends on the status of the discoverer Ex Driving on the right side of the road Key Note By accepting what everybody knows we are spared the overwhelming task of starting from scratch in our search for regularities and understanding Knowledge is cumulative and an inherited body of information and understanding is the jumping off point for the development of more knowledge Ex You are more likely to believe a judge who declares that your next traffic violation will result in a suspension of your driver s license than your parents when they say the same thing Key Note New knowledge appears every day Throughout life we learn new discoveries and understanding from others However our acceptance of this new knowledge often depends on the status of the discoverer Errors in personal inquiry and their solutions Inaccurate observation Keystone of inquiry is observation Incorrect observations will lead to inaccurate assumptions about the world Effect of priming Things can subconsciously effect your behavior Ex effect of weather on your mood Solution scientific observation A systematic and conscious activity which uses measurement Overgeneralization Occurs when you come to a conclusion based on few or devices poor observation Overgeneralization leads to misrepresentations Solution Assumption that similar events are evidence of a general pattern high value of large samples and Replication Repeating a study checking to see whether similar results are obtained each time Solution to overgeneralization is Large sample size or Replicate your study o Selective observation Once we make a decision we often only see and remember details that support our world view Attitudinal These observations play a role in the maintenance of specify in advance the number and kind of observations to prejudices Solution be made Ex If you believe there are UFO s and then you see something weird in the sky then you will probably think it is a UFO o Biological Intentional blindness intentional blindness scientist name for it it s either we take in one or the other Ex looking out the window of a car admiring the scenery then focusing on your reflection in the window Ex if you play one song in one ear and another song in the other you can only hear one o Illogical reasoning way things are You can only focus on one at a time not both The way we handle problems may contradict our judgments about the Gambler s fallacy consistent run of good or bad luck is presumed to foreshadow its opposite Ex in horror movies the person always choses to go into the creepy basement that they hear screams are coming from instead of running away o Ideology and politics Can undermine objectivity in scholarly research Solution stay objective 4 purposes of research Exploration explore a specific problem An exploratory question is a question that has never been asked Description focused on the how of behavior phenomena Counts and documents observations Rates and statistics Ex UCRs Explanation focused on why things occur Criminal theories attempt to explain why criminals behavior occurs Ex why do some people believe that the police are doing a good job Application focused on policy implications and others do not Evaluations Uses social scientific methods to test the results of a program or policy change etc Ex evaluating the effects of specific criminal justice programs Policy problem analysis Attempts to anticipate the future consequences of alternative actions Ex Problem oriented policing crime analysts work with police and other organizations to examine recurring problems 2 types of support that must present before scientists can agree on the reality of something Importance of logical and empirical support in determining the scientific validity of a reality you have never experienced o For something to be scientifically correct it must make sense and agree with empirical support o Epistemology is the science of knowing or o Methodology is the science of knowing how why the science of finding out Ex how social scientific methods can be used to better understand crime and criminal justice policy Theory definition formal vs substantive theory grounded theory Theory A set of interconnected statements or propositions that explain how 2 or more events or factors are related to one another o Substantive theory is developed for a specific area of social concern To study test or develop substantive theory you can examine cases within the same substantive area Ex You could observe several different gangs but not attempt to say something about delinquency in genera Could be thought of as shared theories among experts in a certain subfield Focused field of expertise o Formal theory is developed for a broad conceptual area in general theory If you want to study test or develop general theory you can compare cases within the same formal area Ex To study white collar crime you could examine various forms of crime like property violent white collar Often times our observations help us create and craft theories for how the world works Ground theory o Take observations and for theories based on those observations o In other cases theories provide general statements about social life that are used to guide research o Theories are used in the generation of hypotheses expectations about reality based on theory that can be tested Hypothesis definition 3 conditions that must be met in order for a statement to be considered a hypothesis Hypothesis An expectation about the nature of things derived from a theory 3 things you need for a hypothesis 1 Expectation about reality 2 Based on a theory 3 It can be tested Independent and dependent variables definitions be able to identify them in a hypothesis Independent variable IV the variable that is manipulated the cause or Dependent variable DV the variable that is measured the effect or Ex You want to see how ice cream effects crime rates predictor outcome o IV ice cream o DV crime rates 4 different longitudinal designs cross sectional designs vs longitudinal designs strengths and weaknesses of both Longitudinal studies o Directly incorporates time o More powerful for measuring change o Weaknesses More costly and difficult o Panel attrition cut down on useable data you can draw conclusion from For example a yearly study can t give the same results due to various reasons that participants
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