discussion board questions/ experimental design activity

missruf

VSUResearchmethodsCh_1.ppt

Home >Law homework help >Criminal homework help >discussion board questions/ experimental design activity

Crime, Criminal Justice, and Scientific Inquiry

Chapter 1

What is Research

Research is the systematic or organized investigation of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.

Components of research includes observation, measurement/analysis, interpretation/results

What is research Methodology

The process used to collect information and data for the purpose of making policy decisions.

The methodology may include publication research, interviews, surveys or historical information.

Why Study Research Methods?

CJ professionals are both consumers and producers of research

Need to know how to critically evaluate research reports and determine whether appropriate methods were utilized

Need to know how to interpret research and how to produce accurate research

Two Realities/truths about Learning

Experiential reality – the things we know from direct experience (e.g., if you step on a piece of broken glass you know it hurts) ie empirical research

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

It is important to remember that agreement reality can be wrong: eg Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment see note

Secondhand Knowledge – agreed on knowledge that others give us

Two important sources of agreement reality are:-

Tradition – “accepting things that everyone knows”

Authority – trusting the judgment of someone with special expertise

Eg. believing a judge who declares that your next traffic violation will result in a suspension of your driver’s than when your parents say the same thing

Both can be problematic - Prevents innovation or questioning of status quo; may simply be inaccurate

Example

One of the problems with gaining knowledge through authority arises when we generalize an expert’s knowledge beyond their expertise.

As presented in the following example, news outlets commonly seek out movie stars, entertainers, and famous athletes to provide commentary on issues outside their expertise.

Example

In a 2003 Tucker Carlson of CNN interviewed Britney Spears. During the interview he asked her whether she was opposed to the Iraq War—a topic that was of great public controversy at the time. Infamously, Britney replied, “Honestly, I think we should just trust our president in every decision he makes and should just support that, you know, and be faithful in what happens.” Although Britney received a great deal of criticism for her response, this is clearly an illustration of the public’s tendency to extend professionals’ expertise. Being a talented dancer, singer and performer does not make Britney a political expert.

See: http://edition.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/03/cnna.spears/

The Role of Science/Scientific Research

Empirical – the production of knowledge that is based on experience or observation

Scientists have certain criteria to be met before the agree on reality of something they haven’t personally experienced

- An assertion must have both logical and empirical support

Epistemology - science of knowing

the investigation of validity

Methodology – science of finding out

Methodology is how social Scientific methods can be used to better understand crime and criminal justice policy

Personal Human Inquiry

Human inquiry seeks to explain events and predict future events.

The key to inquiry/investigation is observation.

We can never understand the way things work without first having something to understand.

Understanding through experience means making observations and seeking patterns or regularities in what we observe.

Eg. we learn that getting education will affect the kind of job we have later in life

Personal Human Inquiry

Most people will like to predict how things are going to be in the future

We use causal (relationship b/w cause and effect) and probabilistic (likelihood of multiple outcomes) reasoning to predict the future

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

Patterns of cause and effects are probabilistic

The effects occur more often when the causes occur than when the causes are absent—but not always

Personal Human Inquiry

Human inquiry seeks to explain events and predict future events.

The key to inquiry/investigation is observation.

Errors in Personal Human Inquiry

These are common errors we make in our own casual inquiry

Inaccurate observation –

when we fail to observe things right in front of us

When we mistakenly observe things

How to reduce this error:

Observe in a more deliberate way

have a conscious plan to observe

record your answers

use measurement devices eg. taking photos

Errors in personal human inquiry

Overgeneralization –

When we assume that a few similar events are evidence of a general pattern

The tendency to overgeneralize is greater when there is a pressure to reach a general understanding

Eg. a new officer reporting vandalism as the greatest problem in his beat without a thorough investigation

How to reduce this error:

Conducting a large sample of observation

Replication of inquiry ie. repeating a study to be sure the same results are found

Errors in personal human inquiry

Selective observation –

This error occurs once we have established a general understanding that a particular pattern exist

We tend to pay attention to future events that corresponds to that pattern eg. racial or ethnic prejudice

How to reduce this error:

Make a specified number of observations

Base conclusions on all the observations not just the first few respondents

Errors in personal human inquiry

Illogical Reasoning –

Reasoning in a way that makes no sense at all

Gambler’s fallacy – a consistent run of good or bad luck at poker is presumed to foreshadow its opposite

An evening of bad luck may kindle a belief that a winning hand is around the corner

How to reduce this error:

use explicit /clear/unambigous systems of logic

Errors in personal human inquiry

Ideology and Politics –

CJ professionals may have problems separating ideology and politics from a more detached scientific study of crime

Ideological beliefs may distort how research problems are defined and how research results are interpreted

How to reduce this error:

guard against its influence

Do not allow ideology & theology to impact the research process

Class Activity

Illustrations of errors in human inquiry.

Write down reasons why you may have not done as well in a particular course as you would have liked.

Classify your reason as either a legitimate reason or an error. If it is an error, identify which of the errors discussed.

Purposes of Research: Exploratory Research

Research in CJ is conducted to explore a specific problem eg exploring the level of bullying in High schools (research topic, see pg. 11 p 2)

CJ prof. research on crime & criminal justice policy in which little is known eg. filicide- killing of one’s child

Also appropriate when some type of policy change is being considered

Might also collect data on some measure to serve as a baseline with which future changes will be compared

Purposes of Research: Description Research

Describe the scope of a crime problem or policy responses to the problem

CJ professionals observes & then describes what was observed. EX. observing criminals in their natural setting & describing how they make decisions

CJ observations and description tend to be more accurate than the causal observations people make about the rate of crime

Descriptive Research are often concerned with counting or documenting observations; exploratory studies focus more on developing a preliminary understanding

Example: Uniform Crime Reports documents and describes crime in the U.S.

Purposes of Research: Explanation Research

CJ research tend to Explain things – answers “Why?”

Examples:

1. Reporting Why some people believe that the police are doing a good job and others do not?

But

Reporting that some people have favorable attitudes toward police is descriptive

2. Reporting why California has the highest auto-theft rate in the nation is explanation.

But

Reporting auto-theft rates for different states is descriptive

Michael Kopf (MK) - move text off left border

Purposes of Research: Application

Applied research is based on a need for specific facts and findings – with implications for policy

Two major types of applied research:

Evaluation research – often used to evaluate the effects of specific CJ programs

Eg. determining if a program designed to reduce burglary was actually effective

Policy/problem analysis – it asks the question “what if” – analysis of general justice policies and more specific problems

Eg. What if ??? – how many new police officers will be hired if a police department shift to a community policing,

Focuses on future events; anticipates future consequences of alternative actions

How to design a Research Project

Designing a research requires planning, several stages

But the stages do not always occur in the same sequence

Designing a Research Project

Beginning points for a line of research

E.g., interests, ideas, theories (set of ideas intended to explain something), new programs

Theories may produce new ideas or encourage researchers to consider new policies

Why does something occur?

Why is this how it is?

What about this possible program?

These questions may lead to others you might like to explore

Getting Started

Find out what research has been done

Read newspaper stories, journal articles, check out the Internet, talk to relevant people

Figure out your objective and intended audience

Generally, your purpose for undertaking research can be expressed in a report

Conceptualization

Conceptualization: what do you mean by the concept being studied? Clarify what you mean

If you are going to study concern about sexual assault:

Police officers may be concerned about sexual assault because it is part of their jobs

College students might be concerned about sexual assault as a social issue or fear being a victim of sexual assault

You need to specify ALL the concepts you wish to study

Choice of Research Method

Each available method has strengths and weaknesses

You may choose one after considering the specific concept you want to study

Interviews, surveys, field research, content analysis, official records

The best studies utilize more than one research method

Operationalization

Operationalization: create concrete ways of actually measuring your concept

Sexual assault:

Questionnaire item: “How worried are you about the risk of being sexually attacked while on campus or at college-related social events?”

Worried or Not worried

Population and Sampling

Exactly who or what will you study?

Population – group (e.g., of people) about whom we want to be able to draw conclusions

Since it is generally unfeasible to study ALL members of that population, how will you take a representative sample?

Sexual assault: Will you include full-time and part-time students? Students who live on and off campus?

Observations

Collect the empirical data

Make the observations that you will process, analyze, interpret, apply, and review

Analysis

Manipulate the data (usually with a software program like SPSS – Statistical Package for the Social Science)

Goal is to draw conclusions that reflect on the interests, ideas, and theories which initiated our research project

You may begin with calculating percentages

Move to examining frequencies of subsets of your population and explanatory analysis

Application

Utilize the research you have conducted and the conclusions you have reached

Make your findings known to others

Develop policy to address your findings

Determine what mistakes were made that could be corrected in the future

Determine how your research might feed into future research

Thinking About Research Problems

One of the most difficult parts of research is developing a research question specific to your interest

Most researchers reword their research questions as they learn more about the topic

Begin by finding out more about the topics in which you are interested

E.g. What policies/strategies are significantly correlated with terrorism incidents in U.S.?

Do sentencing policies discriminate against minorities?

Reviewing the Literature

Learn about what is already known about a topic

Process of accumulating, sorting, and synthesizing information on a topic

Organize search around key concepts

Begin with book or article on topic and search its references

Limit search to academic journals and related publications; stay away from websites unless they are sponsored by a college, government agency, or professional organization

Use the library and librarians to develop strategies

How to Read Scholarly Research

Read the abstract first to get information on the purpose of the research, the methods used, and the major findings

Tells you if you need to read the rest of the article and if it is relevant to your research

Skim to article and read the discussion/conclusions to be sure the article is relevant

If the article is relevant, take notes when reading the entire article and mark passages you might want to quote later

After carefully reading it, skim it again to get a broader understanding of the research

Reading a Book-Length Report

Read the preface or the opening chapter
Skim the entire book
For each chapter read the first and last paragraph
Read it deliberately
When reading the book, take notes and note questions you have
You can skip chapters if they are not relevant to your research

The Research Proposal

Problem or Objective

Literature Review

Research Questions

Subjects for Study

Measurement

Data Collection Methods

Analysis

References

Provide Schedule for the various stages of research or timeline

Budget