Untitled Flashcards Set

Chapter 9

Things to review:

• Know the difference between qualitative and Quantitative methods.

  • Qualitative: focus on words and meanings 

    • Used to understand thoughts, feelings, or experiences

    • Example: Interviews or open-ended questions 

  • Quantitative Methods: focus on numbers and statistics 

    • Used to measure and compare data 

    • Example: surveys with yes/no or multiple-choice questions, counting how often something happens

•  Know the different types of participant observation and their strengths/weaknesses.

  • Complete participant 

    • The researcher joins the group without telling anyone they are a researcher

    • Strengths- gets natural behaviors, people act normally

    • Weaknesses- can be dishonest or unethical, hard to take note of secretly 

  • Participant as Observer 

    • The researcher joins the group and tells them they are studying them 

    • Strengths: build trust researcher can ask questions 

    • Weaknesses: People might change their behavior because they know they are being studied

  • Observer as participant 

    • The researcher mostly observes and only joins in briefly 

    • Strengths: good for short studies; less involvement means less bias 

    • Weaknesses: might miss deeper insights or connection with the group 

  • Complete observer

    • The researcher only watched and didn’t join in at all 

    • Strengths: No influence on the group; totally objective 

• Be familiar with the sampling strategies associated with participant observation.

  • Purposive sampling 

    • Choosing  people or setting on purpose because they are important to the study 

    • example: observing police officers who work with people experiencing psychosis

    • Why use it: focuses on the most relevant subjects 

  • Snowball sampling 

    • Asking participants to refer others to join the study 

    • Example: one officer introduces the researcher to other officers 

    • Why use it: helpful when studying hard-to-reach groups 

  • Convenience sampling

    • Studying whoever is easiest to access 

    • Example: observing people at a nearby community center 

    • Why use it: quick and easy, but not always the most accurate 

  • Theoretical sampling 

    • Choosing new participants based on what the research is revealing so far 

    • Why use it: helps develop a theory as you go 

• Review intensive interviewing and focus groups.

  • Intensive interviews = deep with one person

  • Focus groups = broad with group interaction.

Chapter 10

Things to review:

• Secondary data analysis, associated challenges, and examples of such data

  • Using data someone else collected

  • Example: government stats, surveys, hospital records

  • Challenges: The data might not fit your question 

    • It could be old or incomplete 

• The different forms of comparative methods

  • Cross-national: compare countries 

  • Historical: compare time periods 

  • Case-oriented: compare a few detailed cases 

  • Variable-oriented: compare specific variables across many cases 

• Review material related to content analysis.

  • Studying texts, media, or speech 

  • Quantitative: count words or topics 

  • Qualitative: look for meanings or themes 

  • challenges: time-consuming, may miss deeper meaning 

Chapter 11

Things to review:

• Understand social-network analysis and associated terms.

  • Studying how people or groups are connected

  • Example: mapping out criminal networks ( who knows who) 

• Be familiar with GIS mapping, hot spot policing, and the related research covered in class.

  • GIS mapping: using maps to show where crimes happen 

    • Example: identifying crime hotspots to focus police attention 

  • Hot spot policing: focusing police efforts on areas with a lot of crime

    • Goal: reduce crime in those specific areas 

• Big data and its use in policing

  • Using large amounts of data(crime records, social media) to predict and solve crimes 

  • Example: predicting where crime will happen next 

Chapter 12

Things to review:

• Know the purpose of evaluation research and why we need it?

  • Evaluating programs or policies to see if they are working 

  • Why do we need it? Helps decide if a program is effective, efficient, and worth funding 

• Be familiar with the standards for evaluation that research should meet.

  • Research should meet these standards: 

    • Validity: Is the research measuring what it's supposed to? 

    • Reliability: Can the results be repeated and trusted 

    • Ethical: Are the research methods fair and respectful of participants? 

• Review the basics of evaluations, including inputs, program process, outputs, outcomes, feedback, and stakeholders.

  • Inputs: the resources needed for the program(money, staff, equipment). 

  • Program Process: the activities that make up the program 

  • Outputs: what the program produces ( e.g., number of people trained) 

  • Outcomes: the results of the program ( e.g., better skills, lower crime rates) 

  • Feedback: information from participants or staff to improve the program

  • Stakeholders: people or groups who care about the program ( e.g., funders, community members) 

• Know the five types of evaluations: needs assessment, evaluability assessment, process evaluation, outcome evaluation, and efficiency evaluation.

  • Needs assessment: 

    • Purpose: find out what the community or group needs

    • Example: assessing if there's a need for a new youth crime prevention program

  • Evaluability Assessment: 

    • Purpose: check if the program can be evaluated based on its goals and data 

    • Example: determining whether there is enough data to assess the success of a new mental health program for police 

  • Process Evaluation 

    • Purpose: check if the program is being implemented as planned 

    • Example: reviewing if police officers are following new training protocols on mental health 

  • Outcome Evaluation: 

    • Purpose: assess if the program is achieving its goals ( e.g., reduced crime, improved health) 

    • Example: measuring if a police training program reduces arrests of people with mental illness

  • Efficiency Evaluation 

    • Purpose: determine if the program is cost-effective

    • Example: evaluating if the resources used for a crime prevention program lead to enough crime reduction to justify the cost