Transcript
Chapter 2
The Nature of Science and Research
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Alternatives to Research-Based Knowledge
1. Authority Knowledge:
A basis of knowledge in which we rely on what someone in a position of authority says.
2. Traditional Knowledge:
A basis of knowledge in which we accept as being true because of a long-running custom or belief.
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3. Common Sense Knowledge:
A basis of knowledge in which we rely on commonly accepted, ordinary reasoning.
4. Media Knowledge:
A basis of knowledge in which we rely on the media’s construction of the truth, which often relies on claims made by politicians and government officials.
Alternatives to Research-Based Knowledge
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5. Personal Experience Knowledge:
A basis of knowledge in which we rely on our own lived experiences.
Alternatives to Research-Based Knowledge
Four Errors of Personal Experience
1. Overgeneralization:
Statements that go far beyond what can be justified based on the data or empirical observations that one has.
2. Selective Observation:
Making observations in a way that simply reinforces preexisting thinking, rather than attempting to observe in a balanced and critical manner.
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Four Errors of Personal Experience
3. Premature Closure:
Making a judgment or reaching a decision and ending in an investigation, before one has the amount or depth of evidence required by scientific standards.
4. Halo Effect:
Allowing the prior reputation of persons, places, or things to color one’s evaluations, rather than attempting to evaluate in a neutral, equal manner.
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Kuhn’s Progression of Knowledge
The idea that scientific knowledge does not progress in a simple linear and cumulative fashion; rather, knowledge progresses in the context of a community, meaning that professional, personal, and cultural interests play important roles.
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Theory, Data, and Evidence
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Theory: A system of interconnected ideas that condenses and organizes knowledge for purposes of understanding and/or explanation.
Data: The empirical evidence or information that one gathers carefully, according to rules or procedures.
Empirical Evidence: Observations that people experience through the senses—touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste.
Norms of the Scientific Community
1. Universalism:
The scientific norm that says research should be judged only on the basis of scientific merit.
2. Disinterestedness:
The scientific norm that mandates that researchers should strive to be impartial and open to unexpected findings and new ideas.
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Norms of the Scientific Community
3. Communalism:
The scientific norm that says that producing knowledge is a public act and the finding should be available for all to use. In order for it to be accepted into the community, it must be rigorously reviewed.
4. Research Honesty:
The scientific norm that demands the utmost honesty in all aspects of the research process; dishonesty, fraud, or cheating is a major taboo.
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Journals of Criminal Justice
Crime and Delinquency
Criminal Justice: The international Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Criminology
Critical Criminology
American Criminal Law review
Crime, Media, Culture
Journal of Criminal Justice
Justice Quarterly
Policing and Society
Punishment and Society
Theoretical Criminology
Journal of Gangs
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice
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Steps in Research Process
1. Select a topic
2. Focused research question
3. Design the study
4. Collect data using the research method selected
5. Statistical analysis
6. Interpret the data
7. Inform others: write a report or article
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Scientific Research and Time
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Cross-Sectional Research: Any study that examines information on many cases at one point in time.
Longitudinal Research: Any research that examines information from many units or cases across more than one point in time.
Types of Longitudinal Research
1. Time Series Research:
Longitudinal research in which information can be about different cases or people in each of several time periods.
Example: 1950 1965 1980 1995
A,B C,D E,F G,H
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Types of Longitudinal Research
2. Panel Study:
Longitudinal research in which information is about the identical cases or people in each of several time periods.
Example: 1985 1995 2005
A,B A,B A,B
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Types of Longitudinal Research
3. Cohort Study:
Longitudinal research in which information about a category of cases or people that shared a common experience at one time period is traced across subsequent time periods.
Example: 1950 ? 1995
All those married in 1962
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