¶ … Criminology: Comparative criminology is an area of study in criminology that examines the social trends of crimes across different cultures in order to identify the similarities and differences in crime patterns. This area has continued to develop in the recent years because modern criminology attaches great significance to the social context of crime, particularly the impact of the wider society. The need for conducting comparative criminology has been brought by the increase in crime rates across the globe making criminologists to realize the need for sharing and learning from each other.

In order for criminologists to conduct effective comparative study in criminology, they need to make adequate preparations. These preparations include the identification of an effective source for gathering crime data in the areas to be analyzed and an understanding of the crime rates in the different regions. The various sources utilized to gather crime data can be divided into two main categories as explained below

Primary Sources:

The...

Uniform Crime Reports contain crime record data that has been gathered by the local law enforcement agencies while the National Crime Victimization Survey is an estimation of the total number of annual crimes. Self-Report Surveys provide information regarding the individual characteristics of criminals that are unavailable in other sources (Siegel, 2011, p. 38).
Secondary Sources:

These sources of crime data include cohort research, experimental research, and observational and interview research. While cohort research basically involves observing a group of people with similar characteristics over time, experimental research is used to gather data on the cause of crime. On the other hand, observational and interview research helps criminologists to gain insight about the motives and activities of criminals.

Importance of Comparative Criminology:

In view of a globalized world, comparative criminology has become…