research methods

Survey

asks people questions for research purposes

Self-reports

dominant method of studying the etiology of crime, frequency/prevelance

Perceptions and attitudes

to learn how people feel about cj policy and crime

Targeted victim surveys

Used to evaluate policy innovations and program success

Counting crime

Asking people about victimization counters problems of data collected by police

Floaters

respondents who choose a substantive answer when they really don’t know

Survey research

Low validity, high reliability

Qualitative Interview

General plan of inquiry by interviewer, study complex processes, lived experiences, roles and identities

Structured interview

consists of predetermined questions and answer sets

Interview schedule:

the structure of the interview that may have predetermined questions or topical areas to be discussed

Semi-structured interview:

have standardized questions but allow the interviewer to explore themes that emerge during the interview

Unstructured interview:

are the most open style of interviewing; provides the most breadth, depth, and natural interaction with participants

attention probe

lean in

continuing probe

nod

Sensitizing concepts

general references and
guides about what you are looking for

Thinking units:

a simple framework for making
sense of all the stories that emerge

Grounded theory:

stems from an analysis of patterns, themes, and common categories discovered in data. Theoretical sampling might be used to confirm themes that are observed

Theoretical saturation

Occurs when you reach the point when additional interviewing does not yield new
results

Obtrusive or reactive measurement:

research subjects are aware that they
are being studied.

Unobtrusive measurement:

does not involve direct interaction between researchers and subjects, and the latter are unaware that they are being studied.

Complete observer:

observes without becoming a participant

Observer-as-participant:

make known your position as a researcher; do not actually
participate

Participant-as-observer:

make known your position as a researcher and participate with
the group

Complete participant:

participates fully; true
identity and purpose are not known to
subject

go native

going along to get along

Observations

High validity, improve with field notes and transcripts. Hard to generalize. Reliability increase with attention to detail

Evaluation research:

refers to a research purpose rather than a specific method; seeks to evaluate the impact of interventions; if some result was produced

Problem analysis:

designed to help public officials
choose from alternative future actions

Evidence-based policy:

actions of justice agencies are linked to evidence used for planning and evaluation

Evidence generation:

nonprofit organizations that
document and evaluate programming to create
evidence that can be shared with others

policy intervention

an action taken for the purpose of producing some intended
result

Impact assessment:

examines whether policies have the desired effects

Process evaluation:

examines whether policies are being carried out as planned

Policy analysis

used to help design alternative courses of action and choose among them

INPUTS:

Resources, guidelines, rules, and
operating procedures provided for a program.

ACTIVITIES:

Specifies what is done in the project
with the inputs (resources).

RESULTS:

Specific consequences of the project
activities or the program’s specific objectives.

OUTCOMES:

Accomplishment of broader-range
societal goals; these are general consequences of
the specific accomplishments (outputs/results) of the
program

FEEDBACK:

Recycling of results/outcomes into the
operation as additional (or modified) inputs