Research Methods in Criminology

1.Assignment # 12.Research 3.Research methods

Why conduct research?

Some want to answer practical questions (“Will a reduction in average class size from 25 to 20 increase student writing skills?”)

Others want to make informed decision (“Should our school introduce extracurricular activities to reduce deviant behavior of students?”)

Still others want to change society (“What can be done to reduce rape?”)

Critics of scientific research in criminology view it as a detailed elaboration of what any person with common sense know

Sense and Nonsense about crime (Walker, 1989)

Females and the elderly fear crime because they are the most heavily victimized of all groups

Victims of crime seldom know their offenders

The typical criminal offender is either unemployed or on welfare

The larger the city, the greater the likelihood its residents will be victims of crime.

Rates of victimization are higher for males than females and for younger people

In a large proportion of violent crimes, victims know their offenders

Knowledge of imprisoned criminals indicates that most criminals have jobs and very few are welfare dependent

The residents of smaller cities have higher rates for certain crimes: assault, personal larceny, and residential burglary

Demographic characteristics (victims and offenders, 1976-2002)

Victims Offenders Population Victims Offenders

Under 14 4.7% .5% 20.6% 1.8 .2

14-17 5.1% 10.6% 6.1% 6.7 15.6

18-24 23.7% 36.2% 11.0% 14.5 29.7

25-34 29.0% 28.7% 16.0% 17.2 16.1

35-49 22.7% 17.2% 20.2% 9.0 7.7

50-64 9.3% 5.2% 13.9% 5.4 3.3

65+ 5.4% 1.7% 12.2% 3.5 1.3

Rate per 100,000 population

Demographic characteristics (victims and offenders, 1976-2002)

Victims Offenders Population Victims Offenders

Male 76.4% 88.6% 48.8% 12.7 16.4

Female 23.6% 11.4% 51.2% 3.7 2.0

White 51.1% 45.9% 84.0% 4.9 4.9

Black 46.8% 52.1% 12.2% 30.9 38.5

Other 2.1% 2.0% 3.8% 4.4 4.7

Rate per 100,000 population

Sense and Nonsense about crime (Walker, 1989)

Females and the elderly fear crime because they are the most heavily victimized of all groups

Victims of crime seldom know their offenders

The typical criminal offender is either unemployed or on welfare

The larger the city, the greater the likelihood its residents will be victims of crime.

Rates of victimization are higher for males than females and for younger people

In a large proportion of violent crimes, victims know their offenders

Knowledge of imprisoned criminals indicates that most criminals have jobs and very few are welfare dependent

The residents of smaller cities have higher rates for certain crimes: assault, personal larceny, and residential burglary

The Victim-Offender Relationship Three types of relationships are often identified:A. Familial (especially spouses and siblings)B. Acquaintances (including friends, girlfriends,

boyfriends, neighbors, and coworkers)C. Strangers

UCR data The majority of homicides known to police

involve acquaintances (57%) Relatives (22%) Strangers (21%)

Homicides committed by women Female-perpetrated homicides account for 10-

12% of the overall homicides Who do women kill? The answer is those closest to them, with whom

they live (intimate partners, or ex-partners and family members)

Over the period 1995-2001, intimate partners accounted for 32% of female-perpetrated homicides

Offender characteristics Typical intimate partner killer is one aged

b/w 25 and 40, with below-average level of educational attainment, who is likely to unemployed and from lower-class background (Mann, 1996, Goetting, 1987)

Method of killing Women usually kill their partner with a

knife or sharp instrument (78%) Poisoning (6.2%) Blunt instrument (2.6%) Arson (2.2%) Shooting (2.0%)

Weapon use in Murder A firearm (handgun) is used in about two-thirds of

all homicides (predominantly males) Knives or other cutting instruments

(predominantly females) Personal weapons (hands, fists, and feet) Blunt objects Strangulation Contrary to media images, poison and explosives

are rarely used as murder weapons

Sense and Nonsense about crime (Walker, 1989)

Females and the elderly fear crime because they are the most heavily victimized of all groups

Victims of crime seldom know their offenders

The typical criminal offender is either unemployed or on welfare

The larger the city, the greater the likelihood its residents will be victims of crime.

Rates of victimization are higher for males than females and for younger people

In a large proportion of violent crimes, victims know their offenders

Knowledge of imprisoned criminals indicates that most criminals have jobs and very few are welfare dependent

The residents of smaller cities have higher rates for certain crimes: assault, personal larceny, and residential burglary

Homicide rates

The proportion of intimate homicides differs by type of area

Intimate homicides (spouses, ex-spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends) made up a larger percentage of murders in rural areas than in suburban or urban areas

Research as an attack on common sense

Hirshi and Stark (1969) in “Hellfire and Delinquency” have found a weak relationship b/w church attendance and nondeliquency

“damned if you do and damned if you don’t” Study was attacked as false, stupid, or an

illustration of inadequate methods Had they found a strong relationship, they would

have been accused of wasting time on the common sense knowledge

Research as the use of standardized systematic procedures in the search of knowledge Pure research for the sake of scientific

knowledge Construction of theories

of models that allow for a better understanding of criminal behavior

No immediate direct relevance

Applied research Practical goal in mind Development of

strategies intended to address the problem of crime

Purposes of Research Exploration, Description, and Explanation

(Earl Babbie, 1999) Exploration provides beginning familiarity

with a topic A. To satisfy the researcher’s curiosity B. To test the feasibility of undertaking a

more extensive studyC. To develop the methods to be employed

in any subsequent study

Description Describe situation or events U.S. Census, UCR Computation of crime rates for different

cities Many qualitative studies aim primarily at

description

Explanation Explain things Reporting why some cities have higher

crime rates than others involve explanation

Quantitative and Qualitative

Hypothesis Data are in the form of

numbers from precise measurement

Theory is largely causal and deductive

Replication is possible Analysis proceeds by

using statistics, tables, or charts

No hypothesis Data are in the form of words

and images from documents, observations, and transcripts

Theory noncausal and inductive

Replication is rare Analysis proceeds by

extracting themes or generalizations (although numbers are possible)

Quantitative and Qualitative Two logical systems Deductive logic-(hypothesis,

observations, empirical generalizations, theory)

Inductive logic (observations, empirical generalizations, theory)

A model of the Research Process

THEORY

HYPOTHESISFINDINGS

DATA GATHERING

RESEARCH DESIGN

Deduction

Operationalization

Measurement

Induction

Analysis

Qualitative Research on Diversity Educational system Manners and everyday interactions Friendship and social activity

Manners and everyday interactions “Americans ask routinely ”How are you doing”

but they are not interested in how I am doing” “American smile” has a different meaning than

smile in my culture. Here it is a polite greeting, nothing more…”

“I feel that people who smile at me are insincere because their smile appears suddenly and then disappears also suddenly”

Manners and everyday interactions “Americans are obsessed with cleaning of their

bodies, but they routinely put their feet on a chair or even small coffee table….this does not go along with hygiene”

“All my Americans friends do not take off their shoes at home. It seems to me that they can bring a lot of bacteria and viruses into their homes”

Friendship and social activity “If I cook my real national food, no one from my

department will try it…I need to Americanize my native food to make it attractive to my American class-mates”.

“It is to difficult for us to make American friends. Although, Americans are talkative and friendly, they are not opened to new relationships”

“Usually it takes much more time to establish a friendship with Americans than with people of my own culture”

Research Methods in Criminology Experiments Survey research Field research Content analysis Existing data research Comparative research Evaluation research

Classic Experiment At least two groups (control and experimental) Randomly assign people to groups Treat the experimental group by manipulation the

independent variable Observe the effect of the treatment on the

dependent variable in the experimental group Compare the dependent variable differences in the

experimental and control groups Control is crucial (to eliminate alternative

explanations)

Experimental research Researchers use deception to control what the

subjects believe is occurring Researchers intentionally mislead subjects

through verbal or written instructions It may involve the use of confederates or stooges

–people who pretend to be subjects but who actually work for the researcher

For realistic deception, researchers may invent false treatment and dependent variables to keep subjects unaware of true ones (ethical issues)

Laud Humphrey’s “Tearoom Trade” (1970)

Study of impersonal sexual activity between male homosexuals

“Where the average guy go just to get a blow job” and “Who are they”

Observational research (how men approach each other and how they negotiate sex)

License plate numbers Health care research

Laud Humphrey’s “Tearoom Trade” (1970) Middle class High educational level Mostly married with children Only one nonconventional thing about

them-”tearoom” for anonymous sex Great scandal (police could demand the

names of the subjects)

The Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment (1983) Goal was to find the most effective strategy Three groups: two with different treatment and

control Police officers volunteering to take whatever

action was dictated by a random system: instruction in an envelope

Three different instructions: (1) arrest the suspect; (2) separate or remove the suspect from the scene for 8 hours; (3) advise and mediate

Experimental group I

Arrest O1 X1 O2 19%

Experimental group II

SeparateO1 X2 O2 33%

Control group

Mediate O1 O2 37%

Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment

1. Victims have been interviewed every two weeks for the next 6 months, police records have been monitored as well

2. Most influential policy experiment

3. Arrest works more effectively in deterring domestic violence

Experiments in Criminology Not always possible (ethical issues) Long-term study Quasi-experiments or natural experiments Example: Effect of the decision to conduct

crackdown on drinking and driving by a local police force (planned interventions)

Occasionally, natural events (catastrophe or tornadoes) might substitute planned interventions

Strengths Weaknesses

the only method that allows us to test the causal relationships between variables

Random assignment of subjects to experimental and control groups allows us to test our hypotheses

In real life, only rarely one variable actually a cause of another one

Difficult to test very complex hypotheses (difficult to manipulate and control more than one or two variables)

Ethical issues

Survey Research Survey is a series of questions asked of a

number of people and designed to measure the attitudes, beliefs, values, and personality traits

Based on sampling

Different research designsCross Sectional

Design

1990

41-50

51-60

61-70

71-80

Cohort Study1990 200041-50 41-5051-60 51-6061-70 61-7071-80 71-80

Trend Study1990 200041-50 41-5051-60 51-6061-70 61-7071-80 71-80

Panel Study1990 200041-50* 41-5051-60* 51-60*

61-70* 61-70*

71-80* 71-80*

+81*

Denotes comparison

* Denotes same individuals

Observation Observation is a research technique in

which a researcher directly observe the behavior of individuals in their usual social environments

Observational research is often called field research

Different strategies Complete Participant –researcher goes

“undercover” and does not tell people being observed that he/she is doing research

Complete Observer –researcher views things from a distance or one-way mirror

Participant Observer – people know that they are observed

Strengths Weaknesses

Observation of behavior in natural context

Get information about those individuals who cannot fill out survey or respond orally (children)

Relatively small groups can be observed at once

Labor-intensive Can be subjective Hawthorne effect

(participation in research can influence subjects)

Life history and case studies In-depth analysis of one or a few cases Qualitative research Sutherland’s “The Professional Thief”

(1937) Shaw's “The Jack-Roller” (1930)

Unobtrusive Research

Unobtrusive methods are strategies for studying people’s behavior in ways that do not have an impact on the subjects

Homicide rate

Unobtrusive methods Artifacts (archeologists use) Use of existing statistics Content analysis

Strengths Weaknesses We do not need

cooperation of people being studied

Research does not affect the behavior of people being studied

Study social things only after they have occurred and left traces

These traces must solid enough to last until can be observed

If we use secondary data we do not have control over the quality of these data

Triangulation

Every method has both strengths and weaknesses

Whenever possible researchers use more than one method to obtain data

Triangulation – methods are combined so that the strengths of one method overcome the weakness of another method

Example of Triangulation

Suppose you study the impact of neighborhood problems on youth development

Census information (unobtrusive) about poverty level in neighborhoods

Survey among youth and parents Observations