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Issue in research design. Steps in research. Idea Review of the literature Use of journal articles Using the internet Data bases: psychinfo, proquest (scholarly journals), NCJRS, Lexus-Nexis. Steps. Re-evaluation of the original idea Conceptualization, specification of terms
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Steps in research • Idea • Review of the literature Use of journal articles Using the internet Data bases: psychinfo, proquest (scholarly journals), NCJRS, Lexus-Nexis
Steps • Re-evaluation of the original idea • Conceptualization, specification of terms Gun control Recidivism Violence in prisons Operationalization—how will concepts be measured? Examples
Steps • Population and sample • Research method(s) • Experiments, surveys, observation, record analysis, evaluation • Data processing • Statistical analysis, descriptive and inferential
Steps • Discussion, theoretical and practical applications • APA style
Research proposals & grants • Granting agencies • i.e., MO Department of Public Safety, National Institute of Justice (NIJ), National Institute of Corrections (NIC), Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) • Open grants • Requests for Proposals (RFPs)
Components of a proposal • Abstract or Executive Summary • Introduction: problem, literature review • Method: subjects section, instruments section, procedure (data collection) • Schedule • Budget • Bibliography and appendices
Research article • Abstract, Introduction, Method section with 3 possible subsections (subjects, instruments, procedure), Results, Discussion, Bibliography, Appendices • Research article in the past tense, includes results and discussion • Proposal in the future tense, no results and discussion, but has schedule & budget
Conceptualization • Specify what is meant by a particular term • Dimension: specifiable aspect of a concept • Liberal vs. conservative • What are some aspects of this concept? • Gun control
Operational definition • How a concept will be measured • Prison violence—how will we “count” it? • Incidents • Perceptions • Morale in an agency • Citizen satisfaction/dissatisfaction of police • Trait of aggression
Characteristics of measurement • 1. Levels of measurement • Nominal • Ordinal • Interval/ratio • Must be constructed • Statistical analyses dependent on level of measument
Characteristics of measurement • 2. Reliability: test-retest, inter-rater reliability, split-half • 3. Validity: face, content, criterion-related, construct • Convergent and discriminant validity
Some forms of measurement • Scales and indices • Use of multiple questions, added together to create measurement • MMPI—your responses compared to that of known psychiatric groups. Responses for a particular scale are added together
Forms of measurement • Typologies • Criminal behavior systems.
Measuring crime • UCR • Victimization surveys, NCVS, National Crime Victimization Survey • Self-report
UCR • Major problems • Unreported crime—misinterpretation of crime rates • Dark Figure • Citizens do not report, and sometimes police do not (can be political, use of discretion) • Hierarchy rule
Incident based measures • Supplementary homicide reports (SHR) • Collects information about victims, offenders age gender and race, relationship between victim & offender, weapon, location, circumstances • National incident-based reporting system (NIBRS): broader in terms of offenses, information about offenders and victims
NIBRS • Also includes victimless crimes, attempted and completed, drug related offenses, computer crimes • Requires more time, police may selectively report • Voluntary
NCVS • Conducted by Census Bureau since 1972 • Interview survey technique, face-face • Tends to miss business crimes, victimless crimes, status offenses • Does not include murder • Recall errors-can’t remember, telescoping, acquaintance crimes
Other surveys • Community surveys • Monitoring the future: annual surveys of high school seniors • Self report studies • Use in combination with arrests as a measure of criminal behavior
Other CJ records • Arrests • Convictions • Recidivism • All are affect by discretion and by changes in policies • Juvenile statistics are particularly vulnerable to these problems