1. Unit 1 Study Guide
Chapter 1: An Introduction to Criminal Justice Inquiry
Learning Objectives:
1. Understand why knowledge of research methods is valuable to criminal justice
professionals.
2. Describe the different ways we know things.
3. Distinguish inquiry as a natural human activity from inquiry through systematic empirical
research.
4. Recognize that much of our knowledge is based on agreement rather than on direct
experience.
5. Explain how tradition and authority are important sources of knowledge.
6. Understand the role of experience and systematic observation in criminal justice research.
7. Recognize that social science guards against, but does not prevent, political beliefs from
affecting research findings.
8. Distinguish the different purposes of research.
9. Understand how to design a research project.
10. Be able to conduct a review of research literature.
11. Describe how to write a research proposal.
Chapter Summary:
• Knowledge of research methods is valuable to criminal justice professionals as consumers and
producers of research.
• The study of research methods is the study of how we know what we know.
• Inquiry is a natural human activity for gaining an understanding of the world around us.
• Much of our knowledge is based on agreement rather than on direct experience.
• Tradition an authority are important sources of knowledge.
• Empirical research is based on experience and produces knowledge through systematic
observation.
• Scientists avoid illogical researching by being as careful and deliberate in their thinking as they
are in their observations.
• The scientific study of crime guards against, but does not prevent, ideological and political
beliefs from influencing research findings.
• Different research purposes are exploratory, descriptive, explanatory, and applied.
• The research process is flexible, involving different steps that are best considered together. The
process usually begins with some general interest or idea.
• A careful review of previous literature is an essential part of the research process.
• A research proposal provides an overview of why a study will be undertaken and how it will be
conducted. It is useful device for planning and it is required in some circumstances.
Key Terms:
Applied Research (Page 13)
2. Conceptualization (Page 17)
Descriptive Research (page 13)
Empirical (page 7)
Explanatory Research (page 13)
Exploratory Research (page 12)
Methodology (page 7)
Operationalization (page 17)
Replication (page 10)
Chapter 2: Foundations of Criminal Justice Research
Learning Objectives:
1. Summarize three fundamental features of social science: theory, data collection, and data
analysis.
2. Describe why social scientists are interested in explaining aggregates, not individuals.
3. Understand that social scientists are primarily interested in discovering relationships that
connect variables.
4. Understand the difference between idiosyncratic and nomothetic explanations.
5. Distinguish between inductive and deductive forms of reasoning.
6. Distinguish between quantitative and qualitative approaches to research.
7. Recognize that intersubjective agreement, not objectivity, is a fundamental norm of
science.
8. Describe the traditional image of social science theory.
9. Understand how scientific inquiry alternates between induction and deduction.
10. Describe how observations contribute to theory development in grounded theory.
11. Discuss how criminological theories draw on other social sciences, and sometimes on the
natural sciences.
12. Describe how theory and public policy can be closely linked.
Chapter Summary:
• Social science involves three fundamental aspects: theory, data collection, and data analysis.
• Social scientists are interested in explaining aggregates, not individuals.
• Although social scientists observe people, they are primarily interested in discovering
relationships that connect variables.
• Explanations may be idiographic or nomothetic.
• Science is a process involving an alternation of deduction and induction.
• Data may be qualitative or quantitative.
• Although people speak of science as being “objective,” it’s more a matter of intersubjective
agreement-- different scientists agree on their observations and conclusions.
• The traditional image of science includes theory, operationalization, and observation.
• Social scientific theory and research are linked through two logical methods: (1) deduction
involves the derivation of expectations or hypotheses from theories, and (2) induction involves
the development of generalizations from specific observations.
• In grounded theory, observations contribute to theory development.
3. • Theory in criminology and criminal justice is frequently adapted from other disciplines in the
social and less often, natural sciences.
• Criminal justice theory, research, and policy are linked in two ways: (1) theory influences basic
research, which may suggest new policy developments, and (2) policies are formulated like
hypotheses and may therefore be subject to empirical tests.
Key Terms:
Aggregates (Page 33)
Attributes (Page 34)
Deductive reasoning (Page 39)
Dependent variable (Page 36)
Grounded theory (Page 46)
Hypothesis (Page 41)
Hypothesis testing (Page 45)
Idiographic (Page 37)
Independent variable (Page 36)
Inductive reasoning (Page 38)
Intersubjective agreement (Page 41)
Nomothetic (Page 37)
Objectivity (Page 41)
Paradigm (Page 41)
Theory (Page 40)
Variables (Page 34)
Chapter 3: Ethics and Criminal Justice Research
Learning Objectives:
1. Recognize how criminal justice research is shaped by ethical considerations.
2. Understand what is ethically “right” and “wrong” in research is ultimately a matter of what
people agree is right and wrong.
3. Understand why researchers may not recognize whether their own work adequately
addresses ethical issues.
4. Summarize how ethical questions usually involve weighing the possible benefits of
research against the potential harm of to research subjects.
5. Understand the norm of voluntary participation and how it can conflict with
generalizability.
6. describe examples of the special ethical questions sometimes raised by criminal justice
research.
7. Discuss how informed consent addresses many ethical questions.
8. Distinguish anonymity and confidentiality as ways to protect the privacy of research
subjects. Summarize ethical principles presented in the Belmont Report.
9. Describe why prisoners and juveniles require special ethical considerations.
10. Understand the role of institutional review boards (IRBs) in protecting human subjects.
4. Chapter Summary:
• In addition to technical and scientific considerations, criminal justice research projects are
shaped by ethical considerations.
• What’s ethically “right” and “wrong” in research is ultimately a matter of what people agree is
right and wrong.
• Researchers tend not to be the best judges of whether their own work adequately addresses
ethical issues.
• Most ethical questions involve weighing the possible benefits of research against the potential
for harm to research subjects.
• Scientists agree that research, in general, should be voluntary. This norm, however, can conflict
with the scientific need for generalizability.
• Criminal justice research may generate special ethical questions, including the potential for
legal liability and physical harm.
• Most scientists agree that research should not harm subjects unless they willingly and
knowingly accept the risks of harm through the principle of informed consent.
• Anonymity and confidentiality are two ways to protect the privacy of research subjects.
• Compliance with ethical principles is promoted by professional associations and by regulations
issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
• HHS regulations include special provisions for two types of subjects of particular to many
criminal justice researchers: prisoners, and juveniles.
• Institutional review boards (IRBs) play an important role in ensuring that the rights and
interests of human subjects are protected. But some social science researchers believe that
IRBs are becoming too restrictive.
Key Terms:
Anonymity (Page 62)
Belmont Report (Page 67)
Confidentiality (Page 63)
Ethical (Page 57)
Informed consent (Page 71)
Special populations (Page 72)
