Research Methods for Criminal Justice



Research Methods for Criminal Justice

CJ 302

Dr. Oberweis Peck Hall, 1231

Fall, 2008 Syllabus and course description

Contacting Me

To reach me, you may

▪ use email toberwe@siue.edu; (preferred)

▪ call my office at 650-3292; or

▪ visit me in my office during office hours or by appointment.

Office hours are: T 12:30-1:30, R 11-12

My office is located in Peck Hall, Room 1231

My preference is that you use email to contact me, but if you haven’t received a response within 24 hours, please email again, as I have not received your message or something has gone wrong.

Course Description

In this course, students will learn the techniques of quantitative research design. Concepts and techniques will be examined in detail and students will learn what goes into designing research, as well as learn how to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of published research designs.

Course Objectives

Students who complete this course should be able to

1) define research terms and concepts

2) use those concepts to evaluate others’ research designs, particularly with regard to causation

3) have a foundation for data analysis.

Required Course Texts

Maxfield and Babbie (2001.) Research Methods for Criminal Justice, 4th Ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

*Available through textbook rental

.

Course Grades

Quizzes: I will give scheduled quizzes throughout the semester. Quizzes generally cannot be made up and there will be no extra credit to compensate for missing a quiz. Quizzes are objective (T/F or Multiple Choice) and will be based on reading and lecture material. To prepare for the first quiz, I suggest reviewing the quiz on reserve at the library. Each quiz is worth 5% of your overall course grade, for a total of 15% for all quizzes combined.

Group Critique: Students will be arranged in groups and each group will review a study that I will provide. Together, the group will identify the method(s) used and provide a methodological critique of at least the conceptualization, operational definitions and the causal inference in the paper. These may be presented for class discussion at any time after they are due. Keep a copy with you and bring it to class in case your group is called.

Exams: There will be two regular exams for this course. Exams will be a combination of objective, practical and list or short answer questions. The objective portion of the exam will be like the quizzes, and therefore, the material on reserve at the library will be useful. Exams will build on material from the previous exam. Therefore, it will be important to study not only the current material, but also that from previously tested chapters. Each exam is worth 25% of your overall course grade, for a total of 50% for all regular exams combined. Staying current with the reading and attending lectures will be necessary for success with these exams. Cramming will not contribute to success. (Note: If you need to leave the room for any reason (bathroom, kleenx, etc.) during an exam, that will end your examination and your test must be turned in.) Cell phones must be turned off and placed inside closed bags or left home on test days.

Final Exam: Your final exam will follow the roughly same format your earlier exams, but will be comprehensive. It will cover the last few chapters, plus test you on all the important concepts (from throughout the course) that you will need for data analysis and for the evaluation of research designs that you may encounter in your professional lives. A review sheet will be provided. This exam will be worth 30% of your overall grade.

Professionalism: Students are expected to treat the classroom experience in a professional manner. Acting with professionalism means arriving on time all the time, being adequately prepared for class, not leaving class during lectures for any reason, not speaking when I or anyone else is speaking and paying attention to and participating in lectures. Students are expected to behave respectfully at all times. Cell phones, pagers, headphones and other electronics are not acceptable during class. Eating in class is not allowed, barring special circumstances coordinated with me in advance. Students who sleep in class will lower their grade in every instance, and students who repeatedly behave unprofessionally in class will be asked to leave the classroom. Continued unprofessional conduct will result in the student being dropped from the course at any point in the semester. Grades may be raised or lowered based on student professionalism.

Assignments must be submitted on time, in a professional format. They must be printed, stapled, etc., prior to submission and must be submitted at the beginning of the class period in which they are due. I do not accept assignment via email, will not print things for students, etc. Each student’s responsibility is to bring completed material to class on time and submit it in a professional way.

Other Classroom Information

Attendance Policy: I will not take attendance at every class meeting. However, without attending class, success in this class is highly unlikely. It is your responsibility to get class notes from any days you do not attend class. Generally, quizzes and tests cannot be made up.

Special Needs: Any student with special circumstances, whatever these are, should see me or contact me so that I am aware of these circumstances. Students living with disabilities, working full time, or in any other special circumstance should let me know as soon as possible to avoid any unnecessary hardship. I am able to work with you to support a variety of special needs, as long as arrangements are made in advance of a graded assignment. Students who fail to coordinate special circumstances with me well in advance of graded work, or who do not supply the appropriate documentation should not expect any exceptions to be made to support such circumstances once a grade has been given.

Make Up Exams: A student with an extreme situation may be able to take an all-essay make up exam/quiz. Students must alert me to the problem before test time, or no make up will be allowed. Simply not showing up and contacting me later will result in a zero. Documentation of a serious illness or other extreme situation is required. No student will be able to make up more than one exam/quiz. A desire to travel, a failure to coordinate a work schedule, failure to adhere to the time change are all insufficient reasons to require a make up exam.

General Classroom Etiquette: Please use the restroom prior to the beginning of class to avoid the disruption during lecture and discussion. When one student is talking, others are expected to respect him/her. Please do not interrupt each other and please treat each other with dignity and respect.

Plagiarism and cheating will not be tolerated. Any student caught plagiarizing or cheating will be turned into the Committee on Academic Dishonesty and will not pass the class. If anyone is uncertain about the proper way to reference others' work in their papers, please come see me about this. It’s simple, but very important. Please make no mistake about this, as cheaters will not be tolerated.

Notes for Success: I expect students to come to class prepared. This means that before you come to class you should have completed the assigned reading and taken notes on the chapter. I strongly recommend that you make an outline of the chapter and use class time to be sure your outline is accurate and complete, as well as to address any questions that arose during your reading. Students who read effectively before class, attend class regularly and ask questions often are likely to be successful.

Grading Policy: A “C” represents “average” performance (and scores between 70-79). A “B” represents “above average” performance (and scores between 80-89). Be aware that it will require effort on your part to achieve at the “above average” level. In particular, it is quite unlikely that students who elect not to do the reading will be able to perform at an “above average” level. An “A” represents “excellent” performance (and scores between 90-100). It will require sustained effort on your part to achieve at the “excellent” level.

Course Calendar

Week 1 Course intro and overview

What is Science?

Read: Ch 1: 1-13

Week 2 5 Errors of Personal Inquiry

3 Tensions in Science

Read: 14-28

Induction, Deduction and the Traditional Model of Science

Read Chap 2: 30-34

Week 3 Some examples of induction and deduction

Read: 35-40

Research Terms

Read: 40-50

Week 4 Quiz 1 Chapters 1-2

SKIP CHAPTER 3

Three Criteria for Causal Inferences

Read: Chapter 4: 79-82

Validity and Causal Inferences

Read: 83-89

Week 5 The Time Dimension

Read: 95-102

Review for Exam I, over Chapters 1,2, and 4

Week 6 Exam I over Chapters 1, 2, and 4

Chapter 5, Conceptualization

Read:114-123

Week 7 Chapter 5, Levels of measurement, Measurement quality

Read: 124-141

Quiz 2, Chapters 4-5

Week 8: Research Evaluations due, presentations

Chapter 6, Measuring Crime

Read:143-163

Week 9 Chapter 6, Measuring Crime

Read: 163-171

Chapter 7: Classical Experiments

Read: p 175-190

Week 10 Chapter 7: Quasi Experiments

Read: p 190-204

Catch up and Review for Exam II, over CH 5- 7

Week 11 Exam II, Chapters 5-7

Chapter 3: Ethics

Read: p 52-74

Week 12 Ethics, continued

Read: p 52-74

Introduction to Sampling, Chapter 8

Read: 209-216

Week 13 Probability Sampling

Read: 217-220, 228-243

Week 14 Fall Break

Week 15 Quiz 3 over Chapters 3 and 8

Chapter 9: Survey Research

Read: 246-278

Week 16 Chapter 10: Field Research

Read: 282-316

Review Session for Final Exam

Final Exam Week COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAM

Wednesday, December 17 8-9:40

Please note that I generally do not accept late assignments, allow make-up tests, or offer extra credit. Extreme circumstances with documentation may, in rare cases, offer exception. In extremely rare cases, attendance at something outside class may result in the entire class being offered an opportunity for extra credit, but absolutely no individual extra credit assignments will be offered, in fairness to other students.

Finally, the syllabus should be regarded as a tentative schedule. I reserve the right to be flexible in the timing of all discussions and assignments, and will alert you in class of any changes.

Research Methods Study Sheet for Midterm Exam

Maxfield and Babbie, Chapters 1-4

Definitions—know these backwards and forwards:

Variable

Attribute

Aggregate

Dependent Variable

Independent Variable

Idiographic

Nomothetic

Empirical

Qualitative

Quantitative

Theory

Hypothesis testing

Deductive reasoning

Inductive reasoning

Grounded Theory

Intersubjective agreement

Replication

Objective reality

Fact

Law

Hypothesis

Paradigm

Probabilistic

Validity

Ecological Fallacy

Reductionism

Cross-Sectional

Scientific realism

Longitudinal

Units of Analysis

Validity

IRB

Voluntary participation

Confidentiality

Anonymity

You should know these concepts and their parts:

Five Errors of Personal Inquiry

Three tensions

Traditional Model

Four purposes of research

Criteria for Causal Inference

Two types of cause (necessary and sufficient)

Two types of causal explanation (molar and micromediational)

Four kinds of Validity Threats

Units of Analysis

Three types of Longitudinal Studies

Approximations for Longitudinal Studies

Guidelines for ethical concerns

Tearoom study

Simulated prison study

Study Guide Exam 2

Research Methods

Maxfield and Babbie, Chapters 5-7

Terms

Concept/Conception

Conceptual definition

Conceptualization

Operational definition

Operationalization

Reliability

Validity

Dimension

Mutually exclusive

Exhaustive

Precision

Incident-based measure

Summary (Offense) based measure

Self-report

Victim-report

Hierarchy rule

Classical Experiment

Control Group

Experimental Group

Experimental Stimulus

Independent variable

Dependent variable

Generalizability/general-ization

Case study

Variable-oriented research

Case-oriented research

Quasi-Experimental design

Comparison Group

Non-equivalent groups

Time series

Richer Concepts

Four types of validity threats

Four levels of measurement

Criteria for measurement quality

Why would we use multiple measures?

Operationalization process

Reaching a conceptual definition

Incident vs. summary or offense based measures

For each of these, know how they work, on whom data are collected and know the validity/reliability issues associated with each:

UCR, Part I and II NCVS and revisions

UCR compared to NCVS NHSDA

MTF ADAM

DAWN

Issues with self-report measures

Experimental design and causal inferences

Benefits of randomization/random assignment

Threats to internal validity

Threats to external validity

Tradeoff between internal and external validity

Research Methods CJ 302

Final Exam Review Sheet

Older terms and concepts:

Criteria for causal inferences

Nomothetic/idiographic

Validity of causal inferences

Units of analysis

Operationalization

Validity

Reliability

Dependent Variable

Independent Variable

Errors of Personal Inquiry

Variable

Attribute

Levels of Measurement

Traditional Model

Theory

Hypothesis Testing

Probabilistic

Hypothesis

Deduction

Current Study Terms:

Unobtrusive

Probability sampling

Sampling bias

Equal probability of selection method

Sample element

Population parameter

Sample statistic

Population

Sampling frame

Sampling units

Sampling distribution

Standard error

Sample

Stratification

Questionnaire

Open/close ended questions

Exhaustive

Mutually exclusive

Contingency question

Matrix questions

Likert scale

CATI

Focus groups

Response rate

Field research

Environmental survey

Broader concepts

Three sources of data

Advantages of probability sampling

6 probability sampling techniques

4 non-probability sampling techniques

Know the sampling strategies for the NCVS and BCS

Guidelines for survey questions

Advantages of 3 different question-asking formats

Illustrations of field research

“Driving While Black”

-----------------------

Summary of grading

Two Exams 25% each 50% Total

Three Quizzes 5% each 15% Total

Research Critique 5% 5% Total

Final 30% 30% Total

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download