CCJS Final Exam

confederates

research assistants who pose as subjects in a study

content analysis

systematic classification and analysis of data such as the content of mass media

debriefing

after completion of a study (particularly one involving deception), reassurance of subjects and explanation of the purposes of the research

disguised observation

informed consent of subjects is not sought and researchers pretend to be apart of the study group

meta-analysis

(analysis of analysis) statistical analysis of data from many different studies dealing with the same research question in order to determine general findings

non reactivity

research conducted in such a manner that subject reactivity, or awareness of being studied is eliminated

physical trace evidence

type of unobtrusive measurement that involves the analysis of deposits, accretion of matter, and other indirect substances produced by previous human interaction. archives, diaries. investigation.

secondary analysis

reanalysis of data that were gathered for other purposes

stimulation

situation or game that attempts to mimic key features of reality

unobtrusive measures

(non reactive methods) ways of studying groups that they remain unaware of being studied, thus eliminating reactivity

construct validity

accuracy of the scale or measurement in tapping the correct concept or construct. " instrument measures what it's been made to do"

content validity

accuracy of individuals items in a scale in measuring the concept being measured. examine each item, content of instrument, judge which measures the concept

convergent-discriminant validity

different measures of the same concept should yield similar results (convergence), whereas the same measures of different concepts should yield different results (discrimination).

drug use forecasting (DUF)

NIJ research program that asks volunteer arrestees to provide urine specimens for drug usage

face validity

accuracy of the instrument in measuring (on face value) that which is intended

multiple forms

involves the administration of alternate forms of the instrument to the same group

pragmatic validity

accuracy of the measuring instrument in predicting current status (concurrent validity) or future status (predictive validity). " does instrument work"

Reliability

consistency and or stability of measuring instrument

split-half reliability

each half of the scale is analyzed as if it were a separate scale

test-retest method

ability of the same instrument, when administrated twice to the same population, to produce the same results, thus demonstrating the stability (reliability) of the measure

Triangulation

the use of multiple methods to study one research question

validity

accuracy of measurement, does the instrument in fact measure that which its purports to measure

Salient Factor Score

sentencing/parole prediction scheme by the U.S Parole commission to predict recidivism. 10 point scale

scaling

refers to attempts to increase the complexity of the level of measurement of variables from nominal to at least ordinal and hopefully interval/ratio

scientific methods scales

five point scale that evaluates the methodological rigor and type of research designs of studies

Sellin-Wolfgang Index

procedure for assigning crime seriousness weights. accounts for both quality and quantity of an act. a point system

semantic differential

usually a seven or nine point bipolar rating scale; respondents are asked to indicate their perception of the tag or description provided. ex. good__:__:Bad. reveals three dimensions, evaluation, potency, and oriented activity

Thurstone Scales

attitude scales that rely on ratings by judges of scale items

UCR index

refers to the Uniform Crime Reports index that features an attempt to combine the most serious and best measures of recorded crime. is arbitraru and unweighted

Unidimensionality

Requirement of the Guttman scales that the items measure only one dimension (or concept); this is assumed if ninety percent reproducibility is achieved.

nominal level variables

measurement that places in mutually exclusive categories and has no mathematical meaning. simplest level

ordinal level variables

Placement of objects into ranks, for example, first, second, and third. contains all characteristics of nominal, ranking system. stats: ANOVA, chi-square, spearman

prediction scales

attempts to forecast crime commission or success or failure on probation/parole

Q-sort methodology

an attitudinal scale procedure in which the respondents sort questions (on cards) into predetermined categories. newer variation of Thurstone

Rand Seven-Factor Index

A self-report scale of inmates that resulted in an arbitrary scale to predict recidivism. aimed at selective incapacitation

ratio level variables

interval level measurement that also has a fixed, meaningful zero point. contains all of them. ex. age, weight, income, years of education

likert scales

simple summated attitude scales consisting of five point bipolar response scheme. ranging from strongly agree to disagree. doesnt use judges

lethality assessment screening scale

a scale to predict the likelhood of future violence. domestic violence, LAPD protocol is to take this survey

item analysis

assessing the ability of each item to discriminate and predict scale outcomes

internal level variables

(level measurement) measurement in which equal distance (or intervals) between objects on a scale is assumed

Guttman Scaling

a scale that researchers use after data are collected to reveal whether a hierarchical pattern exists among responses, such that people who give responses at a "higher level" also tend to give "lower-level" ones. the scale should measure one dimension only

equal appearing intervals

Thurstone's method that used judges to decide scale scores by sorting items into categories

Crime Seriousness Scales

procedures that assign weight or severity rating to various crimes

Arbitrary Scales

scales developed by the researcher based primarily on face validity and personal judgement. Ex. Hagan of a social class scale includes values from the variables income, education, and occupation added together.

assessment

the enumeration of the need for an activity or resource. method of finding service delivery gaps and substantiating unmet needs in a community, and is used to establish priorities for addressing problems

Evaluability Assessment

assessing whether a program is evaluable

evaluation research

applied branch of social science that is intended to supply scientifically valid information with which to guide public

impact evaluation

Examination of relationship between outcome and input, activities and results of a program.

Monitoring

similar to auditing; assessment of whether a program is doing what it is supposed to be doing in terms of process or program activities

policy analysis

study of the causes and consequences of government behavior

process evaluation

Establishment of casual relationships between results and project inputs and activities.

Systems Model

all parts of an organism, organization, or program are interrelated and consist of a series of inputs and outputs

Advantages of Unobtrusive Measures

• Non reactivity - More natural behavior

• Avoids the over reliance on attitudinal data (verbal descriptions by respondents about their behavior)

• Use of recording hardware increases accuracy (Permanent record)

• collection of physical evidence is inconspicuous/anonymity

• observation is 1st hand

non reactive is best way to study phenomena

disadvantages of unobtrusive

invasion of privacy, respondents may be unresponsive, time and resources (need a lot of both), observer bias, issues of accuracy (records may be biased)

scaling procedures

using more than one question to measure complex. developing sets of questions

why would we want to use multi question measures

single indicators is hard, good for ordinal level, indexes and scales are efficient for data analysis

simple rating scales

respondents rate crime on an ordinal scale from 1 (not serious) to 9 (extremely serious)

magnitude scales

attempts to develop scales at the interval or ratio levels fo measurement

career criminal programs

attempts by both police and prosecutors to predict patterns of future criminal behavior

policy experiments

applied field experiments that addressed to immediate, practical policy questions

NIJ mission statement (policy analysis)

develop knowledge about crime, its causes, and control

model

a simplfied schema that outlines the essential part of a theory

inputs of model

resources, guidleines, rules, and operating procedures

activities of model

what is done in the project with these inputs

results of model

specific consequences of the project

outcomes of model

accomplishment of broader range societal goals

feedback of model

recycling of results/outcomes

is the project evaluable?

researcher is concerned with the existing design, objectives, other programmatic elements

steps in evaluation research

Problem formulation, Design of Instruments, Research Design, Data Collection, data Analysis, Findings and Conclusions, Utilization

what did congress do in 1996

required attorney general to provide a $3 billion in grants to assist state/local law enforcement to see how they could prevent crime

Exhibit 11.1 what works

evaluation research has been done.

11.1 infants

frequent home visits by nurses/professions

11.1 preschoolers

classes with weekly home visits by teachers

11.1 for delinquents

family therapy and parent training

11.1 for schools

organization development, communication, social competency skills being taught, coaching high risk youth

11.1 older male sex offenders

vocational training

11.1 for rental housing with drug dealing

nuisance abatement action on landlords

11.1 for high crime hot spots

extra police patrols

11.1 high risk repeat offenders

monitoring by specialized police units

11.1 for domestic abuser who have a job

on scene arrests

11.1 for convicted offenders

rehab programs

11.1 drug using offenders in prison

therapeutic community treatment programs

11.1 what doesn't work

gun "buyback" programs, DARE, community mobilization, shifting crime from one place to another, day after visits of domestic dispute

11.1 whats promising?

proactive drunk driving arrests, community policing to set priorities

Campbell Collaboration

an international organization that conducts meta-analyses in order to discover what works in criminology

Blueprints Initiative

violence prevention. effort to model violence-prevention programs

the policy process includes

identification, formulation, legitimization, implementation, evaluation

before an evaluation is undertaken, three critical questions must be answered...

will the findings be used?(active support) is the project evaluable?(assessment) who can do this work?(in house or external)

pitfalls of evaluation

poor design, poor data analysis, unethical evaluations, poor staff, poor relationships...

whats the important committee

national advisory committee on criminal justice standards and goals

can scales and indexes be interchangable?

yes

how to begin arbitrary scales

with ordinal or intervals scales

is UCR arbitrary?

yes

What does the UCR measure?

homicide, larceny, forcible rape, car theft, robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, arson

attitude scales

thurstone, likert, guttman

method of paired comparisons

a number of judges are presented with all possible pairs of items used in scale. and then they are rated by what is more favorable

whats the advantage of guttman over likert

the final scale score one should be able to predict the exact pattern of item endoresement

coefficient of reproducibility

the percentage of original responses that could be reproduced by knowing the scale scores used to summarize them

CrimeSolutions.gov

determines which programs work, effective, promising, no effects

advantages of scales

\-Enable more exact measurement of phenomena

\-Scales good for replication studies and longitudinal measurement

\-Encourage more rigorous thinking about measurement