Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology

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 Material tab at www.routledge.com/9780367508890. Instructors can access password-protected PowerPoint slides, test banks, and exercises at the link under Instructor & Student Resources. 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.

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.

Preface; Acknowledgments; 1. Introduction; 2. Reading and Reviewing Research; 3. Ethics in Criminal Justice Research; 4. Causation, Experimental, and Quasi-experimental Designs; 5. Pre-experimental, Longitudinal, and Cross-sectional Designs; 6. Measurement, Validity, and Reliability; 7. Measuring Crime: The UCR, NIBRS, and NCV; 8. Sampling; 9. Surveys and Interviews; 10. Field Research; 11. Less Obtrusive Methods; 12. Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation