CRJU 320 FINAL EXAM

Secondary Data

--> analysis of data collected by someone other than the researcher or the researcher's assistant

Stakeholders

--> individuals and groups who have some basis of concern with the program

[4] major types of Secondary Data

- surveys

- official statistics

- official records

- other historical documents

Social-Network Analysis [SNA]

--> an approach to analysis and a set of methodological techniques that help researchers describe and explore relationships that both individuals and groups have with each other

Social Networks

--> types of relationships that can include many different forms, such as face-to-face, online, and digital, economic transactions, interactions with CRJU agencies

Relational Data

--> measures the contacts, connections, attachments, and ties that relate one unit to the next

Sociogram

--> a graph representing the social configurations w/ individuals represented by points and their social relationships to one another depicted by lines

EX: Imagine a classroom. You ask everyone who their three closest friends are. You then draw a dot (node) for each student and a line (relation) connecting students who picked each other as friends. The resulting graph shows who is popular, who is isolated, and what social groups exist.

Nodes

--> the basic units [people] in a network graph, sometimes called actors or vertices

EX: In the classroom sociogram, each student is a node. If there are 25 students, you’ll have 25 dots (nodes) on your graph.

Relations

--> the connections in a network graph, sometimes called ties, links, arcs, or edges

EX: If Student A and Student B are friends, you draw a line (a relation) between their nodes. These lines show who talks to whom, who likes whom, or who works together, depending on what kind of connection you're mapping.

Nodelist

--> the dataset containing the nodes [units of observation] for an SNA

*THINK OF IT LIKE: a roster or spreadsheet with each person, group, or thing you are looking at

Adjacency Matrix

--> a dataset containing information about the relations between the units of observation

- also called a network matrix

*THINK OF IT LIKE: a grid showing who is connected to whom

Binary Network

--> distinguishes whether a relationship does or does not exist between nodes

*THINK OF IT LIKE: a simple yes/no indicator

Betweenness Centrality Score

--> a statistic that measures the extent to which nodes connect to other nodes that are not directly linked to each other in SNA

EX: In a gang network, if person A doesn’t know person C, but they both know person B, then person B has high betweenness centrality. If you remove B, A and C can’t communicate.

Crime Mapping

--> geographical mapping strategies used to visualize a number of things, including location, distance, and patterns of crime and their correlates

- provides visual & statistical analyses

- links crime data to other data sources

- helps communicate results

EX: A police department maps out all reported burglaries in a city and sees that most of them happen near a particular park at night.

Geographic Information System [GIS]

--> the software tool that has made crime mapping increasingly available to researchers since the 90s

*a special kind of computer software that helps researchers and police create detailed maps showing crime locations, patterns, and other data like population or street layouts

EX: Using GIS, a police analyst can overlay robbery data with locations of bars and see that many robberies happen near certain nightlife areas.

Intelligence-Led Policing

--> using data, analysis, and criminal theory to guide police allocation and decision making

EX: Instead of randomly patrolling, police focus their efforts in areas where data shows a recent spike in drug activity, based on past reports and trends.

Big Data

--> very large dataset [contains thousands of cases], accessible in computer-readable form, that is used to reveal patterns, trends, and associations between variables with new technology

EX: analyzing millions of social media posts and 911 calls to find signs of increasing violence in a neighborhood

Ethical Issues w/ using BIG DATA

- must maintain subject confidentiality

- must examine data for disclosure risk

- must ensure protection of human subjects

Ngrams

--> frequency graphs, produced by Google's database, of all words printed in more than one-third of the world's books over time

EX: You could search “police brutality” in the Ngram viewer and see that the phrase has become more common in books since the 1990s.

Risk Terrain Modeling [RTM]

--> modeling that uses data from several sources to predict the probability of crime occurring in the future, using the underlying factors of the environment that are associated with illegal behavior

EX: By combining data on vacant lots, past shootings, and traffic patterns, RTM shows that a certain street corner has a high risk of future gun violence.

Content Analysis

--> a research method for systematically analyzing and making inferences from text

EX: A researcher wants to see how often the news talks about crime in a negative way. They collect 100 news articles and count how many times words like “dangerous,” “violent,” or “threat” are used when talking about crime. That’s content analysis—it helps the researcher spot trends or messages in the media.

Freedom of Information Act [FOIA]

--> this federal law stipulates that all persons have a right to access all federal agency records unless the records are specifically exempted [released]

EX: A journalist wants to know how often the FBI investigated hate crimes in a certain year. They file a FOIA request asking for those records. If the records aren't classified or private, the agency must share them.

Michigan's Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research [ICPSR]

--> one of the biggest and most trusted places where researchers store and share data about politics, society, and human behavior

Explain how SECONDARY DATA ANALYSIS is different from the methods we have already examined in this book

--> involves using existing data collected by others, like government agencies or previous researchers

- more cost-effective and time-saving [relying on data previously collected by other investigators]

Understand how SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS and CRIME MAPPING can be used for intelligence led policing as well as basic research

--> SNA: helps researchers describe and explore relationships that both individuals and groups have w/ each other

--> CM: provides visual & statistical analyses of the spatial nature of crime

- allows the linkage of crime data to other data sources such as census info on poverty or school info, allowing relationships among variables to be established

- provides maps to communicate analysis results visually

* CM is being used by the majority of urban law enforcement agencies to identify crime hot spots

- knowing where crime is more likely to happen helps agencies send help to the right places, especially to stop crime before it happens

Understand how computer technology has ushered in our ability to analyze BIG DATA and the effects this has had on CRJU related research

--> technological advancements in computing power over the past decade have made analyses of these huge datasets more available to everyone, including government, corporate, and research

- many researchers state that "BIG DATA holds great promise for improving efficiency and effectiveness of law enforcement and security intelligence agencies"

Describe the necessary steps when performing a content analysis

1. Define the research question and select the content to analyze

2. Determine the unit of analysis

3. Develop a coding scheme to categorize the content

4. Pilot test the coding scheme and refine as necessary

5. Code the entire content systematically

6. Analyze the coded data to identify patterns or trends

7. Interpret the findings in the context of the research question

Define each of the types of evaluation research and explain when each is appropriate

* is the program needed? (evaluation of need)

* can the program be evaluated? (evaluability assessment)

* how does the program operate? (evaluation of process)

* what is the program's impact? (evaluation of impact)

- how efficient is the program? (evaluation of efficiency)

Needs Assessment

--> a type of evaluation research that attempts to determine the needs of some population that might be met with a social program

Evaluability Assessment

--> a type of evaluation research conducted to determine whether it is feasible to evaluate a program's effects within the available time and resources

Process Evaluation (program monitoring)

--> evaluation research that investigates the process of service delivery

- a type of evaluation research that looks at how a program or service is being delivered — not whether it works (that's outcome or impact evaluation), but how it's being carried out

Impact Evaluation

--> analysis of the extent to which a treatment or other service has the intended effect

- type of research or analysis used to find out whether a program, treatment, or service actually works—in other words, did it do what it was supposed to do?

Efficiency Analysis

--> type of evaluation research that compares program costs with program effects; it can be either a cost–benefit analysis or a cost-effectiveness analysis

- means it's used to assess how well a program is working

- “Is the program worth the money we’re spending on it?”

Cost-Benefit Analysis

--> type of evaluation research that compares program costs with the economic value of program benefits

- requires that the analyst identify whose perspective will be used to determine what can be considered a benefit rather than a cost

- type of evaluation research used to find out if a program is worth the money spent on

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

--> a type of evaluation research that compares program costs to actual program outcomes

- type of evaluation research used to assess the relative costs and outcomes of different programs or interventions to determine which one provides the most benefit for the least cost

Describe the history of evaluation research and it's current status

- it was not until the end of the 1950s that social research became immersed in the workings of government with the common goal of improving society

- during the 1960s, the practice of evaluation research increased dramatically, not only in the United States but also around the world

- the mid-1970s, evaluators were called on not only to assess the overall effectiveness of programs but also to determine whether programs were being implemented as intended and to provide feedback to help solve programming problems as well.

Diagram the evaluation research process as a feedback system

INPUTS --> PROGRAM PROCESS --> OUTPUTS --> OUTCOMES

Explain the concept of BLACK BOX EVALUATION and the value of OPENING THE BLACK BOX

--> the focus of the evaluation researcher is on whether cases seem to have changed as a result of their exposure to the program between the time they entered the program as inputs and when they exited the program as outputs

- evaluation researcher focuses on determining whether cases appear to have changed as a result of their involvement in the program, comparing the inputs at the time of entry with the outputs upon exit

--> opening the box reveals mechanisms, improving theory and practice

Discuss the role of program theory and its value in evaluation research

--> describes what has been learned about how the program has its effect

- when a researcher has sufficient knowledge before the investigation begins, outlining a P.T can help to guide the investigation of the program process in the most productive directions

--> specifies how a program is to produce its effects and so improves understanding of the relationship between the independent variable (the program) and the dependent variable

Applied Research

--> research that has an impact on policy and can be immediately utilized and applied

Outcomes

--> the impact of the program process on the cases processed

Program Process

--> the complete treatment or service delivered by the program

Inputs v Outputs

--> IN: resources, raw materials, clients, and staff that go into a program

--> OUT: the services delivered or new products produced by the program process

Stakeholder Approaches

--> an orientation to evaluation research that expects researchers to be responsive primarily to the people involved with the program

Social Science Approaches

--> orientation to evaluation research that expects researchers to emphasize the importance of researcher expertise and maintenance of autonomy from program stakeholders

- emphasize the importance of researcher expertise and maintenance of some autonomy to develop the most trustworthy, unbiased program evaluation

Integrated Approaches

--> an orientation to evaluation research that expects researchers to respond to concerns of people involved with stakeholders, as well as to the standards and goals of the social scientific community

Present arguments for and against stakeholder-driven evaluation

FOR:

- ensures relevance

- increases buy-in

AGAINST:

- bias results

- reduces objectivity

Understand why a true experimental design is the strongest method for conducting impact evaluations

--> is considered the strongest method for conducting impact evaluations because it allows researchers to establish causal relationships between an intervention (the independent variable) and outcomes (the dependent variable)

- offer high internal validity, meaning we can be confident that the intervention caused the observed effect

Quasi-Experimental Design

--> research design in which there is a comparison group that is comparable with the experimental group in critical ways, but subjects are not randomly assigned to the comparison and experimental groups

Nonequivalent Control Group Design

--> a quasi-experimental design in which there are experimental and comparison groups that are designated before the treatment occurs but are not created by random assignment

Policy Research

--> a process in which research results are used to provide policy actors with recommendations for action that are based on empirical evidence and careful reasoning

Evidence-Based Policy

--> A policy that has been carefully tested using strong research methods and has been shown to actually work

Petrosino & Lavenburg define SYSTEMATIC REVIEW as:

--> researchers attempt to gather relevant evaluative studies, critically appraise them, and come to judgments about what works using explicit, transparent, state-of-the-art methods

- include detail about each stage of the decision process, including the question that guided the review, the criteria for studies to be included, and the methods used to search for and screen evaluation reports

Campbell Collaboration

--> group producing systematic reviews of programs and policies in many areas, including criminal justice, social work, and education

Taylor & Woods defined FORCE by an officer by:

--> "physical strike or instrumental contact with a person by an officer or any significant physical contact that restricted the movement of a person by an officer, including the discharge of firearms, use of a CED, use of chemical spray, use of any other weapon, choke holds, or hard hands, taking the suspect to the ground, and deployment of a canine"

Explain the differences between applied and basic research

APPLIED: to address specific, practical issues within the criminal justice system

-solves specific problems

- impact on policy

BASIC: expand theoretical understanding and knowledge about crime, criminal behavior, and justice systems

Review the history of mixed methods and explain the appeal of this approach

--> developed in the 1980s/90s to address limitations of single-method studies

- combines both quantitative and qualitative methods

- take advantage of the unique strengths of each methodological approach when engaged in different stages of the research process

- to add unique insights about the intervention process that cannot easily be obtained from the primary method used in an investigation

Explain the philosophy of PRAGMATISM and its relevance for mixed methods.

--> serves as a philosophical foundation that allows for the integration of both qualitative and quantitative approaches

- emphasizes the practical application of ideas by acting on them to test their validity and by focusing on the outcomes of these actions

- supports the use of multiple methods to explore research questions, emphasizing the research problem and the consequences of the research

- allows researchers to draw on the strengths of both qualitative and quantitative methods to gain a more comprehensive understanding of complex research problems

Identify in a table or diagram the major features that distinguish the [4] major types of mixed methods.

1. Convergent Parallel Design: in mixed methods research, when quantitative and qualitative methods are implemented at the same time; the findings are integrated and interpreted together

2. Explanatory Sequential Design: quantitative method is implemented first, followed by the qualitative method

3. Exploratory Sequential Design: qualitative method is implemented first, followed by the quantitative method

4. Embedded Design: in mixed-methods research, when the primary method is qualitative or quantitative, but the researcher adds the other component to gain additional insight

State at least one reason for the use of each major type of mixed method

1. Convergent Parallel Design: to compare and corroborate findings from both data types to provide a comprehensive understanding of the research problem

2. Explanatory Sequential Design: particularly useful when initial quantitative results need further exploration to understand underlying mechanisms or contextual factors

3. Exploratory Sequential Design: use this approach when developing instruments or hypotheses based on qualitative insights that require testing or generalization

4. Embedded Design: is employed when a secondary data set is needed to support or enhance the primary research method, such as using qualitative interviews within a quantitative experiment to gain deeper insights

Meta-Analysis

--> is a quantitative method for identifying patterns in findings across multiple studies of the same research question

Effect Size

--> standardized measure of association—often the difference between the mean of the experimental group and the mean of the control group on the dependent variable, adjusted for the average variability in the two groups

Meta Synthesis

--> this type of analysis requires not just gathering findings from different qualitative studies but also reinterpreting the data once in aggregate

Thick Description

--> a method used in case reports that clarifies the context and makes it possible for the reader vicariously to experience it

Define triangulation and explain its value

--> the use of multiple methods to study one research question; also used to mean the use of two or more different measures of the same variable

- suggests that a researcher can get a clearer picture of the social reality being studied by viewing it from two different perspectives or two different methods

Describe the [3] basic goals of research reports

1. Designing a Proposal

2. Negotiating access to research setting

3. Feedback about research

Identify unique problems that must be overcome in writing student papers, theses, applied research reports, and journal articles

1. STUDENT PAPERS: are written for a particular professor or for a thesis committee and often are undertaken with almost no financial resources and in the face of severe time constraints

2. THESES: must be prepared to integrate the multiple perspectives and comments of committee members into a plan for a coherent final report

3. APPLIED RESEARCH REPORTS: are written for an organization or agency that usually also has funded the research and has expectations for a particular type of report

4. JOURNAL ARTICLES: are written for the larger academic community and will not be published until they are judged acceptable by some representatives of that community

Peer Review

--> a process in which a journal editor sends a submitted article to two or three experts who judge whether the paper should be accepted, revised and resubmitted, or rejected; the experts also provide comments to explain their decisions and guide any revisions

List the major sections of research article

1. Abstract

2. Introduction

3. Literature Review

4. Methods

5. Results

6. Discussion

7. References

Describe the elements that should be considered in writing research reports to ensure adherence to the ethical standard of honesty

- Provide an honest accounting of how the research was carried out and where the initial research design had to be changed

- Maintain a full record of the research project so that questions can be answered if they arise

- Avoid "lying with statistics" or using graphs to mislead

- Acknowledge the sponsors of the research

- Be sure that the order of authorship for coauthored reports is discussed in advance and reflects agreed-upon principles

Discuss the motivations for plagiarism & the ways of avoiding suspicions of plagiarism

MOTIVATIONS:

- When students are motivated only by the desire to ace their tests and receive better grades than others, they are more likely to plagiarize and use other illicit means to achieve that goal

AVOID:

- to maintain careful procedures for documenting the sources that you rely on for your own research and papers, but you should also think about how best to reduce temptations among others

- Awareness is the first step

Identify major steps in the review of research reports

1. Understanding Research Report Goals

2. Identifying Types of Research Reports

3. Organizing and Writing the Report

4. Displaying Data Effectively

5. Reporting QUAN or QUAL Research

6. Addressing Ethics and Politics in Reporting

7. Communicating with the Public

8. Avoiding Plagiarism

Understand the need to display results without redundant information using compressed displays

--> compressed displays are tools like tables, charts, or graphs that summarize complex data into a more digestible format

- the goal is to highlight key findings without overwhelming the reader with excessive or repetitive information

- not only enhances the readability of the research report but also aids in effective communication of results to diverse audiences, including policymakers, practitioners, and the general public

Compressed Frequency Display

--> a table that presents cross-classification data efficiently by eliminating unnecessary percentages, such as the percentage corresponding to the second value of a dichotomous variable

- compressed table shows data in a clear and efficient way by leaving out extra percentages—like not repeating the same value for a yes/no (dichotomous) variable—so it's easier to read and understand

Combined Frequency Display

--> a table that presents together the distributions for a set of conceptually similar variables having the same response categories; common headings are used for the responses

- a summary table that shows the answers for several related questions, using the same set of answer choices and column labels

Reverse Outlining

--> Outlining the sections in an already written draft of a paper or report to improve its organization in the next draft

Constructivist Paradigm

--> methodology based on the rejection of a belief in an external reality; it emphasizes the importance of exploring the way in which different stakeholders in a social setting construct their beliefs

- this methodology doesn’t assume there’s one single reality. Instead, it focuses on how different people in a social setting create their own beliefs and understandings about the world

Participatory Action Research (PAR)

--> research in which the researcher involves some organizational members as active participants throughout the process of studying an organization; the goal is making changes in the organization

Transformative Design

--> Cresswell and Plano Clark (2011) suggest that the unique feature is that it uses a theoretical perspective with a social-justice focus, such as feminist research or participatory action research

- Such research is done to improve the well-being of vulnerable populations

Multiphase Design

--> this design involves a series of quantitative and qualitative designs

- Each design and its findings inform the next phase

Which type of question should be avoided on a questionnaire?

--> ambiguous questions

Rapport is the process of...

--> connecting w/ participants

Clarification Probe

--> used to better understand material