1st Edition
Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology A Text and Reader
This book explains and illustrates criminal justice research topics, including ethics in research, research design, causation, operationalization of variables, sampling, methods of data collection (including surveys), reliance on existing data, validity, and reliability. For each approach, the book addresses the procedures and issues involved, the method’s strengths and drawbacks, and examples of actual research using that method. Every section begins with a brief summary of the research method. Introductory essays set the stage for students regarding the who, what, when, where, and why of each research example, and relevant discussion questions and exercises direct students to focus on the important concepts.
Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology: A Text and Reader features interesting and relevant articles from leading journals, which have been expertly edited to highlight research design issues. The text offers instructors a well-rounded and convenient collection that eliminates the need to sift through journals to find articles that illustrate important precepts. All articles are recent and address issues relevant to the field today, such as immigration and crime, security post-9/11, racial profiling, and selection bias in media coverage of crime. Ensuring a rich array, additional articles are downloadable at the Support Materials tab at www.routledge.com/9780367508890.
The book encourages classroom discussion and critical thinking and is an essential tool for undergraduate and graduate research methods courses in criminal justice, criminology, and related fields.
1. Introduction
2. Reading and Reviewing Research
3. Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
Reading 3-1: Researching the registered: Challenges and suggestions for researchers studying sex offender populations.
J. L. Klein, D. J. S. Bailey, & L. L. Sample
4. Causation, Experimental, and Quasi-experimental Designs
Reading 4-1: The methodological struggles of racial profiling research: A causal question that automobile stop data has yet to answer
S. W. Fallik
Reading 4-2: The impact of hot spots policing on collective efficacy: Findings from a randomized field trial
T. R. Kochel & D. Weisburd
Reading 4-3: Cognitive-behavioral programming and the value of failed interventions: A propensity score evaluation
B. M. Strah, N. A. Frost, J. I. Stowell, & S. A. Taheri
5. Pre-experimental, Longitudinal, and Cross-sectional Designs
Reading 5-1: Knowledge of the 911 Good Samaritan Law and 911-calling behavior of overdose witnesses
A. Jakubowski, H. V. Kunins, Z. Huxley-Reicher, & A. Siegler
Reading 5-2: A comparison between two retrospective alcohol consumption measures and the daily drinking diary method with university students
C. Patterson, L. Hogan, & M. Cox
6. Measurement, Validity, and Reliability
Reading 6-1: Systemic error: Measuring gender in criminological research
J. L. Valcore & R. Pfeffer
Reading 6-2: We don’t like your type around here: Regional and residential differences in exposure to online hate material targeting sexuality
M. Costello, J. Rukus, & J. Hawdon
Reading 6-3: Popping the cultural bubble of violence risk assessment tools
S. M. Shepherd & T. Anthony
Reading 6-4: Fieldwork protocol as a safety inventory tool in public places
V. Ceccato
7. Measuring Crime: The UCR, NIBRS, and NCVS
Reading 7-1: Urban crime rates and the changing face of immigration: Evidence across four decades
R. Adelman, L. W. Reid, G. Markle, S. Weiss, & C. Jaret
Reading 7-2: The consequences of identity theft victimization: An examination of emotional and physical health outcomes
K. Golladay & K. Holtfreter
8. Sampling
Reading 8-1: Methodology matters: Comparing sample types and data collection methods in a juror decision-making study on the influence of defendant race
E. M. Maeder, S. Yamamoto, & L. A. McManus
Reading 8-2: The effect of community-level alarm ownership on burglary rates
J. Roth, S. Lee, & J. Joo
Reading 8-3: Ayúdame! Who can help me? The help-seeking decisions of battered undocumented Latinas
D. Mowder, F. Lutze, & H. Namgung
9. Surveys and Interviews
Reading 9-1: The malleability of attitudes toward the police: Immediate effects of the viewing of police use of force videos
R. Boivin, A. Gendron, C. Faubert, & B. Poulin
Reading 9-2: "Well, there’s a more scientific way to do it!": Factors influencing receptivity to evidence-based practices in police organizations
H. Kalyal
10. Field Research
Reading 10-1: Consumption and community: The subcultural contexts of disparate marijuana practices in jam band and hip-hop scenes
M. Pawson & B. C. Kelly
11. Less Obtrusive Methods
Reading 11-1: "I hate these little turds!": Science, entertainment, and the enduring popularity of Scared Straight programs
J. Maahs & T. C. Pratt
Reading 11-2: A quasi-experimental evaluation of the effects of police body-worn cameras (BWCs) on response-to-resistance in a large metropolitan police department
W. G. Jennings, L. A. Fridell, M. Lynch, K. K. Jetelina, & J. M. Reingle Gonzalez
Reading 11-3: Psychometric properties of the UNCOPE: Screening for DSM-5 substance use disorder among a state juvenile justice population
S. L. Proctor, A. M. Kopak, & Hoffmann, N. G.
Reading 11-4: Looking inside the black box of drug courts: A meta-analytic review
D. K. Shaffer
12. Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation
Reading 12-1: The cannabis effect on crime: Time-series analysis of crime in Colorado and Washington state
R. Lu, D. Willits, M. K. Stohr, D. Makin, J. Snyder, N. Lovrich, M. Meize, D. Stanton, G. Wu, & C. Hemmens
Reading 12-2: Treatment integrity and recidivism among sex offenders: The relationship between CPC scores and program effectiveness
M. Makarios, L. B. Lovins, A. J. Myer, & E. Latessa
Online Supplements
For Chapter 3, Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
Reading 3-A: Sex with informants as deviant behavior: An account and commentary
E. Goode
For Chapter 5, Pre-experimental, Longitudinal, and Cross-sectional Designs
Reading 5-A: Still paying for the past: Examining gender differences in employment among individuals with a criminal record
G. Curcio & A. Pattavina
For Chapter 8, Sampling
Reading 8-A: Homeless women’s service use, barriers, and motivation for participating in substance use treatment
C. C. Upshur, D. Jenkins, L. Weinreb, L. Gelberg, & E. A. Orvek
Reading 8-B: The willingness of people who inject drugs in Boston to use a supervised injection facility
C. León, L. Cardoso, S. Mackin, B. Bock, & J. M. Gaeta
For Chapter 9, Surveys and Interviews
Reading 9-A: The poly-drug user: Examining associations between drugs used by adolescents
R. W. Biggar Jr., C. J. Forsyth, J. Chen, & K. Burstein
Reading 9-B: Ensuring the validity of police use of force training
N. Rajakaruna, P. J. Henry, A. Cutler, & G. Fairman
For Chapter 10, Field Research
Reading 10-A: She got herself there: Narrative resistance in the drug discourse of strippers
M. F. Lavin
For Chapter 11, Less Obtrusive Methods
Reading 11-A: Newsworthiness of missing persons cases: An analysis of selection bias, disparities in coverage, and the narrative framework of news reports
M. N. Jeanis & R. A. Powers
Reading 11-B: Procedural justice, overaccommodation, and police authority and professionalism: Results from a randomized experiment
B. V. Lowrey-Kinberg
Biography
Christine Tartaro is Professor of Criminal Justice at Stockton University. She is an expert in corrections, suicide in correctional facilities, jail design, reentry, correctional treatment of individuals with mental illness, and criminal justice education. She has been teaching research methods since 2004, including teaching both undergraduate and graduate classes, and she writes and grades the research methods questions for her university's Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Program comprehensive exam. Prior to joining Stockton University, Tartaro worked at the New Jersey Department of Corrections, where she evaluated the state residential community release program. She has served as a research consultant to state and local correctional departments and private treatment agencies. She has been published in several journals, including The Prison Journal, Corrections: Policy, Practice, and Research, and The Journal of Criminal Justice Education. Tartaro received her PhD and MA in criminal justice from Rutgers University and her BA in history from the College of New Jersey.
"This book offers an approachable introduction to research methods with plenty of examples within the field of criminology and criminal justice. Students will benefit immensely from the critical review of various research methods and their application to criminal justice topics. Additionally, this book effectively supports instructors in facilitating classroom discussions that encourage the application of critical thinking skills."
Elias S. Nader, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Criminal Justice, University of Baltimore
