Research Methods for Criminology and Criminal Justice

Today, social science researchers have a wide range of research methods available for criminology and criminal justice applications, divided generally between quantitative and qualitative methods. Although quantitative and qualitative research methods share some commonalities with respect to their overarching objectives, there are some fundamental differences involved that must be taken into account when selecting an optimal research strategy for a given research enterprise. The purpose of this paper was to provide an overview of quantitative and qualitative research methods applied to criminology and criminal justice settings, including a discussion concerning the similarities and differences involved in these two research paradigms. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings concerning research methods for criminology and criminal justice studies are provided in the paper’s conclusion.
Review and Discussion
Quantitative Research
Many of the same types of quantitative research methodologies that are used for other social science studies are also appropriate for criminology and criminal justice research, depending on the type of data that is needed to formulate informed answers to guiding research questions. Long regarded as the “gold standard” for social science researchers, quantitative research involves collecting and analyzing various types of numeric data (Neuman, 2008). This view about the superiority of quantitative research has been reinforced by the fact that quantitative research methods and procedures are typically clearly specified and frequently follow explicit protocols that enhance the trustworthiness of the findings (Goertz & Mahoney, 2012), making them especially valuable for criminological and criminal justice research (Guinto, 2011).
Although the objectives of quantitative research vary depending on the type of research questions that are involved, this research paradigm is primary focused on identifying the realities of criminological or criminal justice settings (Guinto, 2011). Moreover, it is possible to perform quantitative research in these contexts by developing novel metrics that serve to gauge the incidence of given quantifiable variables. In this regard, Guinto advises that, “To understand this process, several terms must first be identified. Concepts are abstract tags placed on reality that are assigned numerical values, thus making them variables. Variables are then studied to examine patterns of relation, covariation, and cause and effect” (2011, para. 4).
Here again, while the number of variables may vary depending on the quantitative research objectives, there are typically a minimum of one independent variable and one dependent variable involved in this research paradigm (Guinto, 2011). The dependent variable in quantitative research is commonly referred to as the “outcome variable” because it relates to what social science researchers are attempting to predict (Guinto, 2011). Conversely, the independent variable is typically referred to as the “predictor variable” since it is the variable that “causes, determines, or precedes in time the dependent variable” (Guinto, 2011, para. 7). While the process appears straightforward on its face, it is important to consider that the relationships between dependent and independent variables may vary widely depending on factors that may not be taken into account in the quantitative research design, constraining the interpretation of the findings that emerge (Neuman, 2008).
Notwithstanding these constraints, however, a vast body of scholarship has been developing concerning optimal strategies for conducting quantitative research that can help guide the process in order to provide the best possible results. For instance, social science researchers can use quantitative methods to identify the relationship between an independent variable such as impulsivity and a corresponding dependent variable such as criminal behavior (Guinto, 2011). Investigating this type of relationship involves creating a scale that can then be used to measure the concept of impulsivity indirectly, and this scale is then used in order to predict any corresponding involvement in criminal activities (Guinto, 2011).
Likewise, social science researchers that are concerned with investigating the impact of mandatory arrest policies on future domestic violence patterns would use the former as the independent variable and the latter as the dependent variable (Guinto, 2011). The primary focus of such quantitative studies in criminal justice would therefore relate to assessing the impact of arrests versus alternative types of sanctions on future criminal behaviors of the subjects involved (Guinto, 2011). As Guinto concludes, “Thus, quantitative research methods involve a pattern of studying the relationship(s) between sets of variables to determine cause and effect” (para. 8). As noted above, though, establishing cause and effect with any degree of reliability requires more than a purported relationship between independent and dependent variables. According to Guinto, establishing a cause-and-effect relationship involves three criteria as follows:
1. Association: the independent and dependent variables must be related to one another;
2. Time order: the independent variable must precede the dependent variable in time; and,
3. Nonspuriousness: This occurs if the relationship between the independent and dependent variables is not due to variation in some unobserved third variable (2011, para. 9).
Some of the more common types of quantitative research methods that are used in criminological and criminal justice studies include those described in Table 1 below.
Table 1
Commonly used quantitative research methods
Quantitative Research Method
Description
Correlational research
This type of research identifies and evaluates the natural relationship that exists between different variables. According to Groat and Wang, “This characteristic means that it is particularly appropriate in circumstances when variables either cannot be manipulated for practical reasons or should not be manipulated for ethical reasons” (2003, p. 244).
Observational studies
This type of research involves researchers observing the effect of a variable without trying to change who is or is not exposed to it (Observational versus experimental studies, 2016).. Within the field of quantitative methodology, scholars who advocate experiments hold serious reservations about most work that attempts to make causal inferences using observational data (Goertz & Mahoney, 2012, p. 37).
Survey research
This commonly used research strategy is used to collect data from numerous subjects in order to develop an improved understanding concerning the overall sample of interest (Neuman, 2008).
Experimental design
This type of research involves researchers applying some type of intervention to an experimental group and withholding it from a control group and then measuring any corresponding differences in the outcome (Neuman, 2008)..
The research methods set forth in Table 1 above can be used alone or in combination with each other or in conjunction with qualitative research methods as discussed below.
Qualitative Research
In sharp contrast to the numeric data collected in quantitative research, qualitative data consists of “information in the form of words, pictures, sounds, visual images or objects” (Neuman, 2008, p. 542). Because criminology and criminal justice routinely involves some type of qualitative data, it is also vitally important to ensure that the most appropriate qualitative research method is used. As with quantitative research, there are a number of different qualitative research strategies available, including those set forth in Table 2 below.
Qualitative Research Method
Description
Participant observation
This type of research is especially valuable for criminological and criminal justice studies since it is “the only field method that allows researchers to observe what people do in ‘real life’ contexts, not what they say what they do [which] can supply detailed, authentic information unattainable by any other research method” (Li, 2008, p. 101). According to Guinto (2011), qualitative researchers can assume four different positions in participant observation: (1) complete participant, (2) participant-as-observer, (3) observer-as-participant, and (4) complete observer.
Interviews
This qualitative research method is also widely used in law enforcement contexts and involves face-to-face or telephonic questioning of an individual of interest (Neuman, 2008).
Focus groups
Similar to interviews, focus groups are a type of “group interview in which an interviewer asks questions to the group and answers are given in an open discussion among the group members” (Neuman, 2008, p. 535).
Case studies
While this research strategy can assume a number of different forms, it typically involves studying a few people or cases in depth over a specific period of time (Neuman, 2008). Some salient examples of case studies used in criminological and criminal justice settings include the following:
? The Professional Thief (1937) by Edwin Sutherland in which an informant described the world of the professional thief.
? The Jack-Roller: A Delinquent Boy’s Own Story (1930) by Clifford Shaw that tells the autobiographical story of a delinquent's own experiences, influences, attitudes, and values.
? My Life in the Mafia (1973) by Vincent Teresa that provides empirical observations from a member of the Mafia (Guinto, 2011).
Discussion
As noted above, quantitative and qualitative research methods share some similarities as well as differences that extend beyond the type of data that is used, including those set forth in Table 3 below.
Table 3
Similarities and differences between quantitative and qualitative research
Similarities
Differences
? Analysis for both involves inference wherein they both reach a conclusion based on evidence.
? Quantitative analysis is highly standardized and varies little between projects; qualitative analysis has many more possible approaches.
? Both involve comparison, either internally or with related evidence from elsewhere.
? Quantitative analysis tends to test hypotheses through the manipulation of numbers representing 'facts'.
? Both involve a systematic process.
? Quantitative analysis takes place at the end of data collection; qualitative analysis takes place during data collection.
? Both strive to avoid errors, false conclusions and misleading inferences and seek valid description and explanations.
? Qualitative analysis is less abstract, and does not assume that real life can be measured by numbers.
Source: Adapted from Gratton & Jones, 2009, p. 238
As can be readily discerned from the breakdown presented in Table 3 above, quantitative research provides a number of valuable attributers that make it particularly useful for criminological and criminal justice applications, but the process can be improved by combining it with some type of preparatory or follow-up qualitative research (Guinto, 2011).
Conclusion
The research showed that there are some fundamental differences between quantitative and qualitative research that must be taken into account when formulating an optimal research strategy for criminological or criminal justice studies. On the one hand, quantitative research is strictly focused on using some type of quantifiable metric in the form of numbers to develop informed answers to guiding research questions in a highly structured format while qualitative research draws on text, pictures, sounds, objects or visual images for this purpose. In the final analysis, it is reasonable to conclude that the reliability and validity of the findings that emerge from either research paradigm will depend on the research design used for data collection and interpretation, and a combination of both quantitative and qualitative research methods can help provide trustworthy and robust findings.
References
Goertz, G. & Mahoney, J. (2012). A tale of two cultures: Qualitative and quantitative research in the social sciences. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Gratton, C. & Jones, I. (2009), Research methods for sport studies. New York: Routledge.
Groat, L. & Wang, D. (2003). Architectural research methods. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Guinto, W. (2011). Criminology and criminal justice research: Methods - quantitative and qualitative research methods JRank Articles http://law.jrank.org/pages/923/Criminology-
Li, J. (2008, March). Ethical challenges in participant observation: A reflection on ethnographic fieldwork. The Qualitative Report, 13(1), 100-104.
Neuman, W. L. (2008). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches, 6th ed. New York: Allyn & Bacon.
Observational versus experimental studies. (2016). Institute for Work & Health. Retrieved from https://www.iwh.on.ca/what-researchers-mean-by/observational-vs-experimental-studies.
Richards, L. (2011, July). Seek and ye shall find. ABA Bank Marketing, 33(6), 87-90.
.