Key Features
- Whether you plan to be a researcher or a consumer of research, you need to understand the decisions researchers must make and the underlying issues.
- Discussion questions at the end of each chapter help spark thought, review and debate.
Description
This book of original essays presents students with challenging looks at some of the most basic, and sometimes most difficult, decisions faced by criminal justice researchers. Each chapter presents an overview of a foundational question/issue in the conduct of research, and discussions of the options to resolve these controversies.
Controversies in Criminal Justice Research, 1st Edition
Introductory Chapters
1. Should (Does) Criminal Justice Research Influence Social Policy?
2. The Value of Purely Theoretical Research vs. More "Practical" Research
3. How to Know if a Piece of Research Is Good/Valuable
Quantitative Methods
4. Methodological Yin and Yang: Value of Qualitative and Quantitative Research in Social Science
5. Original vs. Secondary Data Collection: The New Dilemma for Research
6. Does Theory Really Guide Survey Research? Why Is Theory Important in Surveys?
7. Macro and Micro Research Aproaches: Which Makes More Sense?
Qualitative Methods
8. Getting In and Getting On: Entrée Strategies and the Importance of Trust and Rapport in Qualitative Research
9. Interviews as Data Collection Method: But, Which Type Should I Use?
10. Validity of Participant Observational Data/Research
11. Utility of Case Studies
