CJ586

Research Methods in Criminal Justice

Fall 2003

Text: Frank Hagan. Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology, 6th ed

Instructor: Bob Sigler (205)348-7781 553-3897 fax 348-7178 rsigler@cj.as.ua.edu

Office hours: before and after Class and whenever you can catch me

Home page: bama.ua.edu/~rsigler/home

August 22 course overview,

29 The nature of Research Ch. 1

September 3 types of designs Ch 3, 4, 7, 8

10 statement of the problem

17 Variables Ch. 5, 6

24 Southern Association meetings

31 measuring variables Ch. 10

October 3 instrumentation Ch. 9

10 hypotheses

17 Population

24 Sample (Ch 5)

31 collection of data

November 5 processing and Analysis of data

12 exam

19 Ethical considerations Ch 2

December 1 Paper due

Course Requirements

Exam 25%

Paper 75%

100%

Preparation for the Class

Research and theory are two core courses in virtually all graduate curricula. These courses have two functions (1) introduce the student to methods and theories in use in the discipline and (2) to sharpen the cognitive reasoning skills of the students. In our curriculum, research methods accomplishes the first task at the undergraduate level. The text book assigned is the undergraduate text and you are expected to be familiar with it before Thanksgiving

The second task is accomplished by guiding each of you through the process of developing a research proposal (the prospectus for those of you who choose to do a thesis) and through guided discussion of the proposals that you and your colleagues advance. You begin the research process by identifying a tentative research question. You then review the literature in the area in which you plan to do your project. Your purpose is to find out what is already known about your tentative question. You might find useful information in one of your old term papers. If you choose this approach, be cautious. The review of literature must focus on your tentative research question while your old paper might not. Your review of literature can be based on agency reports, government publications, and your own experience as well as on traditional sources. No more than one half of your reference citations can come from non-refereed Web sites.

Exam CJ586

Fall 2003

1. What is an Institutional Review Board (IRB)?

2. What is the manipulation in experimental research?

3. How are crime rates computed?

4. What are the strengths of telephone interviews?

5. What is a semi-structured interview?

6. What is the participant as observer design?

7. What is trace analysis?

8. What is the difference between validity and precision?

9. How should risk assessment scales be used?

10. What is a needs assessment?