Research Methods in Crime and Justice

1. Research Methods in Crime and Justice Chapter 12 Qualitative Research Methods

2. Qualitative Research Methods • In the field of criminal justice, many questions can be answered quantitatively. • But there are many questions that demand more in-depth and qualitative answers. • Some of the earliest criminological studies were qualitative.

3. Qualitative Research Basics • Qualitative research is a tradition in scientific inquiry that does not rely principally on numeric data and quantitative measures. • Instead, it attempts to develop a deeper understanding of human behavior. • It is more concerned about how and why humans behave as they do, and how and why they interpret the world as they do.

4. Types of Qualitative Methods • Qualitative research methods include three popular methods in criminal justice research. • Case studies, • Ethnography, and • Grounded theory.

5. Types of Qualitative Methods • A case study is a detailed analysis of a single event, group, or person for the purpose of understanding how a particular context gives rise to this event, group, or person.

6. Types of Qualitative Methods • An ethnography is an in-depth study of a culture for the purpose of understanding that culture and its inner workings.

7. Types of Qualitative Methods • In grounded theory research, a researcher uses the inductive reasoning process to develop a theory that explains observed behaviors or processes. • Grounded theory is more of an approach to qualitative research than a specific method.

8. The Benefits of Qualitative Research Methods • Qualitative methods are effective at; • Providing a nuanced and in-depth picture of a particular phenomenon, • Understanding how perceptions and meanings influence human behavior, and/or • Developing a theory for unexplained social phenomena.

9. The Limitations of Qualitative Research Methods • Qualitative research methods are not effective when; • The researcher wants to generalize the findings of the research to a larger population, • The research is impractical, and/or • The research process could pose ethical challenges.

10. The Qualitative Research Process • A Case Study in Qualitative Research (A Study of Crime and Place) • Patricia L. and Paul J. Brantingham, wanted to know whether the physical environment affected criminal behavior. • Their study was based on case study and grounded theory research and helped establish a research agenda known as environmental criminology.

11. The Qualitative Research Process • A Case Study in Qualitative Research (A Study of Crime and Place) – cont’d • The Brantinghams made two very important observations at the beginning of their research. • First, they noticed that most of the attention on criminal behavior was devoted to explaining individual motivations to commit crime. • Second, they observed that crime prevention strategies that focused on making changes to physical spaces had a very long tradition.

12. The Qualitative Research Process • Asking a Research Question in Qualitative Research • Generally speaking, research questions that get at subjective meaning, individual perception, and cultural context are best suited for qualitative research. • Brantingham and Brantingham set out to understand how crime is related to physical space.

13. The Qualitative Research Process • Conducting a Literature Review in Qualitative Research • The basic literature review in a qualitative study is not much different than that required for a quantitative study. • It is important in either case to review both qualitative and quantitative studies on the subject. • Indeed, reviewing quantitative research from a qualitative perspective can uncover research opportunities.

14. The Qualitative Research Process • Conducting a Literature Review in Qualitative Research – cont’d • The Brantinghams (1993, p. 5) drew on three areas of research in their literature review: • The complex causes or origins (“etiology”) of crime, • Individual crime patterns and how the physical environment influences these patterns, • Aggregate crime patterns and how the physical environment influences these patterns.

15. The Qualitative Research Process • Refining the Research Question in Qualitative Research • If the research is intended to produce exploratory or descriptive information, traditional hypotheses that predict causal relationships are not required. • Instead, you may want to simply explain what you anticipate finding in the research and/or outline a set of research questions.

16. The Qualitative Research Process • Refining the Research Question in Qualitative Research – cont’d • Because the Brantinghams’ approach was more inductive, they did not formulate initial hypotheses. • Instead, they proposed that a relationship existed between individual crime patterns, aggregate crime patterns, and the physical environment. • Their objective was to create a theory that explained this relationship, which subsequent researchers could test through hypothesis-driven research.

17. The Qualitative Research Process • Defining Concepts and Creating Measures in Qualitative Research • Qualitative researchers attempt to define concepts at a deeper and more subjective level. • Brantingham and Brantingham developed conceptual definitions for; • Crime, • Individual crime patterns, and • Aggregate crime patterns.

18. The Qualitative Research Process • Designing a Method in Qualitative Research • Case studies require the researcher to do more than merely report what is happening. We already know what is happening; we want to know why something is happening.

19. The Qualitative Research Process • Designing a Method in Qualitative Research – cont’d • Ethnographic research attempts to understand social phenomena within the context or from the perspective of a particular culture or group. • Ethnographic research is very similar to field research, which relies on observations of people and places in their natural setting. • Ethnographic researchers move beyond covert observation to become a participant observer.

20. The Qualitative Research Process • Designing a Method in Qualitative Research – cont’d • Grounded theory research is a methodological approach whereby the researcher uses qualitative data and inductive reasoning to develop a theory of some human or group behavior. • It is an inductive technique. • Observations are evaluated, compared and analyzed to achieve some theoretical explanation of human behavior.

21. The Qualitative Research Process • Designing a Method in Qualitative Research – cont’d • The Brantinghams’ research has elements of both case study and grounded theory research. • They draw their data from the published literature to explore; • why and how people commit crime, • where crime happens, and • whether or not physical spaces affect crime.

22. The Qualitative Research Process • Designing a Method in Qualitative Research – cont’d • This approach is consistent with grounded theory in that it all but ignores what we already know about a topic • It develops theory from the observations. • This approach is a legitimate research method in situations where researchers do not want to be overly influenced by the previous research on a topic.

23. The Qualitative Research Process • Collecting and Analyzing Data in Qualitative Research • Qualitative data collection requires; • keen observational and interviewing skills, • a great deal of persistence, and • refined notetaking and recording techniques.

24. The Qualitative Research Process • Collecting and Analyzing Data in Qualitative Research – cont’d • In most cases, qualitative researchers analyze written information rather than numeric data. • Two popular analytic techniques in this regard are • coding, in which the researcher identifies major themes, and • memoing, in which the researcher reflects on what the data mean.

25. The Qualitative Research Process • Collecting and Analyzing Data in Qualitative Research – cont’d • Using crime data, the Brantinghams looked to see if certain areas were more or less susceptible to certain types of crime. • These data were organized onto crime maps that illustrated community crime patterns. • These visual representations enabled the researchers to analyze where crime happens and what types of crimes happen where.

26. The Qualitative Research Process • Collecting and Analyzing Data in Qualitative Research – cont’d • Though the researchers do not provide a great deal of insight into their particular analytical strategies, it is clear that they are using a type of spatial analysis to understand how and where crime takes place.

27. The Qualitative Research Process • Interpreting the Results in Qualitative Research • The interpretation of qualitative information represents the researcher’s informed opinion about what the data mean. • Another researcher may interpret the same information quite differently. • The interpretation has to be reasonable and it has to be supported by the data.

28. The Qualitative Research Process • Interpreting the Results in Qualitative Research – cont’d • After evaluating the crime maps that they constructed in the course of their study, the Brantinghams arrived at several conclusions. • An individual’s knowledge of physical spaces influences their decision on where to commit crimes. • Offenders seem to agree on the best places to commit crime. • Thus, crime tends to happen in the same place.

29. The Qualitative Research Process • Communicating the Results of Qualitative Research • Rather than rely on charts and graphs to describe social phenomena, qualitative researchers rely on written narratives and/or storytelling techniques. • In terms of communicating their major findings, the Brantinghams provide a figure that illustrates the relationship between nodes, pathways and edges to describe where and how crime patterns emerge.

30. Getting to the Point • Qualitative research refers to a broad category of research methods that attempt to produce a more detailed understanding of human behavior, including its meaning and its motivation.

31. Getting to the Point • Some of the more popular qualitative research methods include; • case study research, • ethnographic research, and • grounded theory research.

32. Getting to the Point • A case study is a detailed analysis of a single event, group, or person. • An ethnography is an in-depth study of a culture. • Grounded theory is a methodological approach that uses inductive reasoning to develop a theory to explain observed behaviors or processes.

33. Getting to the Point • Qualitative research methods are effective when a researcher wants to develop a deeper or more nuanced understanding of a particular phenomenon. • These methods are effective at determining how perceptions and meanings influence human behavior and for developing theories for previously unexplained social phenomena.

34. Getting to the Point • Qualitative research methods are not effective when a researcher wants to generalize findings of the research to a larger or similar population. • Some qualitative research may not be feasible because of ethical challenges.

35. Getting to the Point • Research questions that require the researcher to probe deeply into social phenomena or to develop new theories for explaining human behavior are best answered using a qualitative research method.

36. Getting to the Point • During the literature review process, qualitative researchers should examine both quantitative and qualitative studies. • Existing quantitative research could be enhanced by a qualitative look at the phenomenon; existing qualitative research could be enhanced by looking at the phenomenon in a different context.

37. Getting to the Point • Grounded theory is distinguishable from other forms of research because the importance of the literature review is somewhat diminished.

38. Getting to the Point • If the qualitative research is intended to produce exploratory or descriptive information, traditional hypotheses that predict causal relationships between variables are not required.

39. Getting to the Point • The process by which qualitative researchers define concepts is much the same as it is for quantitative researchers, except that qualitative researchers attempt to define concepts at a deeper and more subjective level. • In terms of measurement, qualitative researchers do not rely on numbers, focusing instead on subjective meanings and experiences.

40. Getting to the Point • Typical case studies focus on cases that are typical or usual. • Extreme case studies focus on atypical or unusual cases.

41. Getting to the Point • Ethnographic research is very similar to field research, which relies on observations of people and places in their natural setting. • A major difference is that ethnographic researchers actually live and socialize within the culture they are studying.

42. Getting to the Point • In terms of the actual methods used, grounded theory research is not that different from case study and ethnographic research. • It involves archival analysis, observations and qualitative interviews.

43. Getting to the Point • Qualitative data collection requires; • keen observational and interviewing skills, • a great deal of persistence, and • refined notetaking and recording techniques.

44. Getting to the Point • In most cases, qualitative researchers analyze written information rather than numeric data. • Two popular analytic techniques in this regard are; • coding, in which the researcher identifies major themes, and • memoing, in which the researcher reflects on what the data mean.

45. Getting to the Point • Qualitative researchers can make any number of valid interpretations of their data, so long as the interpretation is reasonable and supported by the evidence. • But qualitative researchers should be careful not to overreach their findings.

46. Getting to the Point • One of the key advantages of qualitative research is its ability to describe and interpret social phenomena at a level of detail that numeric measures cannot achieve. • As such, qualitative reports are often longer and more narrative than their quantitative counterparts. • They tend to ‘tell a story’ about the data.

47. Research Methods in Crime and Justice Chapter 12 Qualitative Research Methods