Full Description
Intuitive, accessible, and filled with real-world testimonials from criminal justice scholars, Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology: A Mixed Methods Approach, second edition, gives students the tools they need to understand the research they read and take the first steps toward producing compelling research projects themselves. Featuring a step-by-step organization that follows the stages of a research project, it emphasizes the actual experience of conducting research and includes a wealth of examples. The text is enhanced by robust pedagogy including chapter objectives, key terms, a running glossary, and chapter-ending discussion questions.New to This Edition:Examples, applications, and exercises from other academic disciplines, including social work and sociologyA greater focus on mixed methods researchA new chapter on qualitative data analysis (Chapter 10), which includes an overview of how new technology has dramatically altered data collection and analysisAn expanded discussion of ethics, including revised examples in several different chaptersThis title is available as an eBook. Please contact your Learning Resource Consultant for more information.
Contents
PrefaceChapter 1. Why Research at All? The History of Research Good, Yet Critical, Science Research DistinctionsCritical Thinking ExercisesChapter 2. The Stages of Research: A General Overview Step One: Selecting a Research Topic Step Two: Identifying a Testable Research Question Step Three: Finding Research Step Four: The Literature Review Step Five: Research Design Step Six: Data Collection and Variable Coding Step Seven: Data Analysis Step Eight: Reporting of Results Step Nine: Conclusion and LimitationsFinal SuggestionsCritical Thinking ExercisesChapter 3. Research Ethics The Quest for a Perfect Study Common Ethical Principles Human Research Protection Program Institutional Review Boards Ethical Guidelines Other Ethical Notes The (Ever-Increasing) Role of the IRB Ethically Questionable StudiesFinal ThoughtsCritical Thinking ExercisesChapter 4. Validity and Reliability: Threats to Research Integrity Validity and Reliability Types of Validity Other Research ThreatsCritical Thinking ExercisesChapter 5. Qualitative Research Strategies Historical Synopsis of Qualitative Research Requisite Qualitative Research Tools Field Research Other Types of Qualitative Research Factors Influencing the Qualitative Data Collection ProcessSummaryCritical Thinking ExercisesChapter 6. Research Designs and Survey Research Operationalization and Coding Composite Measures Choosing a Research Design Experimental Research Experimental, Quasi-Experimental, and Pre-Experimental Designs Other Research Strategies Survey ResearchSummaryCritical Thinking ExercisesChapter 7. Mixed Methods Illustrations of Mixed Methods Mixed Methods for Program Evaluation Steps to Mixed Methods ResearchCritical Summary of the Mixed Methods ApproachSummaryCritical Thinking ExercisesChapter 8. Sampling Strategies Probability or Nonprobability Samples?Critical Thinking ExercisesChapter 9. Elementary and Intermediate Quantitative Data Analysis Basic Quantitative Analysis Univariate and Descriptive Statistics Intermediate Data Handling: Bivariate and Multivariate Statistical Analysis Bivariate Statistics Frequency Distributions Multivariate StatisticsSummaryDiscussion QuestionsChapter 10. Qualitative Data Analysis Critique of Causality Traditional Qualitative Analysis Contemporary Statistical Qualitative Analysis Mixed Methods AnalysisCritical Thinking ExercisesChapter 11. Beyond Research: An Aid to Writing Success Plagiarism Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) Effective Writing Practices Becoming a More Professional WriterWriting Tip SummationCritical Thinking ExercisesGlossaryReferencesIndex
