Criminological Research for Social Science Student (RGBUSTR005)
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Summary of all key facts and bullet points of additonal literature + powerpoint slides of all lectures
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Criminological Research for Social Science Student (RGBUSTR005)
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Universiteit Utrecht (UU)
In this document all key facts and important bullet points out of all the additional literature are summarized, additionally all powerpoint slides from the lectures are summarized.
Criminological Research for Social Science Student (RGBUSTR005)
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Lecture 1:
Literature
H. Bows – Methodological approaches to criminological research
3 broad research strategies:
Descriptive research describes people, situations, or phenomena.
Explanatory research intends to explain why a phenomenon occurs
and is usually developed to test a particular hypothesis.
Exploratory research is often used when little is known about a
phenomenon. This type of research seeks to create hypotheses rather than
test one.
Methodology = framework for your research + the approach to studying the
research topic/turning the research questions into projects
Ontology = the way in which you view the world and reality
Epistemology = the type of knowledge you seek to gain + the way you gain the
knowledge
Qualtitative vs quantitative methodology:
Qualitative Quantitative
What does it do? Exploring behaviour, Measuring or testing
opinions, persectives, existing ideas or theories
feelings and experiences (hypotheses)
of people
View on reality Reality does not exist Reality exist
independently of people, independently of human
but rather is socially construction and
constructed. experiences
Type of epistemology Constructivist Positivistic epistemology
epistemology
Random fact Does not seek to test out Reliability and validity
preconceived ideas or are central and scientific
theories methods are viewed as
the best methods to gain
valid and reliable
knowledge.
Triangulation (1) across method = combining both quantitative and
qualitative data collection, (2) within method = the use of different approaches
within either qualitative or quantitative methods
4 broad types of triangulation are:
1. Data triangulation involving time, space and people
, 2. Investigator triangulation involving multiple observers of the same object
3. Theoretical triangulation involving multiple perspectives on the same set
of objects
4. Methodological triangulation, either within method or mixed method
Primary data collection = collecting data which does not currently exist
Secondary data collection = the collection of materials, evidence or data
which already exists but may not have been collected or analyzed previously
Surveys:
- Generally collects data on different variables, which van be organized into
three groups:
(1.) Attributes demographic information, such as gender, etc.
(2.) Behaviour questions on the what, when and how often
(3.) Opinions, beliefs or attitudes
- Open or closed questions (closed is yes or no, or likert scale questions)
- Advantages: (1) A lot of information from a large sample of people in a
single instrument (2) cost-effective and (3) relatively quick
- Disadvantages: (1) attempts to convert a social process into a series of
quantifiable moments which do not adequately reflect the experiences or
feeling of those interviewed (2) reliance on coding-isolated responses
strips them of any remaining context
Interviews:
- Usually associated with qualitative methodology
- Semi-structured or unstructured
- Used to gain in-depth data by placing the interviewee at the heart of the
research and inductively obtaining information in a natural setting
- Purpose is to provide descriptions which can inform theory, rather than
testing predetermined hypotheses or theories
- Disadvantage: The difficulty to generalize
Focus group:
- A collective discussion and interaction between a group of people
- Advantages: (1) participants help to stimulate and develop data through
their discussions with each other (2) it allows the researcher to gather a
large amount of data in a short period of time
- Disadvantages: (1) certain people are more vocal, or controlling of the
discussion than others (2) in some environments people may not feel
comfortable answering questions honestly (3) may not be appropriate for
all research topics
- ^ some issues can be mitigated by the researcher ‘chairing’ the discussion
effectively
Ethnography = Umbrella term for a methodology which incorporates a number
of different approaches, including:
- Observation a form of fieldwork
- Participation observation
- Autoethnography
- Interviews
,Secondary research involves the analysis of existing data (literature review,
systematic review, meta-analysis, rapid evidence assessment and scoping
reviews)
5 key ethical responsibilities:
1. General responsibilities
2. Responsibilities of researchers toward the discipline of criminology
3. Researchers responsibilities to colleagues
4. Researchers responsibilities towards research participants
5. Relationships with sponsors
H. Becker – Whose side are we on?
The phenomenon of hierarchy of credibility in any system of ranked groups,
participants take it as given that members of the highest group have the right to
define the way things really are.
J. Ferrell – Criminological Verstehen: Inside the immediacy of crime
Verstehen a process of subjective interpretation on the part of the social
researcher – a degree of sympathetic understanding between researcher and
subjects of study
Criminological verstehen a researcher’s subjective understanding of crime’s
situational meanings and emotions within the large process of research
A methodological understanding criminologist should situate themselves as
close to the (inter) action as possible if they are to catch the constructed reality
of crime + this also means that they must be present affectively in criminal
subcultures and situations, to participate in the collective experiences, emotions
and meanings of those they study
L. Potter & G.R. Potter – “Snitches get stitches”: researching both sides
of illegal markets
Choosing sides can have methodological implications for the research process
specifically when researchers seek to study a phenomenon from multiple angles
and conduct research with populations that are on opposing sides.
^ researchers rarely study illegal markets from both sides they tend to favor
law enforcement perspectives over the criminal’s
Problems of relying on law enforcement perspectives:
- The police have different aims to academics academics: aim to
understand crime, police: aim to successfully convict
- They often cannot discuss active ongoing investigations so cases that
they can discuss may already be available for analysis (covered in media)
- Law enforcements knowledge about criminal markets comes from what
they have gained through active policing, or worse, systemic bias their
knowledge is likely partial and their understanding maybe shaped by their
own goals and ideologies
, ^ if researchers just studied law enforcement perspectives, they would run the
risk of perpetuating myths
Problems with offender research:
- The difficulty of identifying criminals and encouraging them to talk openly
about their activities common approach is to engage with criminals that
have been caught, BUT those who have been caught are “failed criminals”
and therefore don’t fill the gap of knowledge about current criminal
behaviors unknown to law enforcement
- Ethnography is seen as important for trying to understand those involved
with deviant behavior, but there are difficulties with methodological
practical, legal and ethical concerns for example identifying and gaining
access to willing participants
- Research into any type of illegal market may put researcher’s personal
safety at risk
- This type of research can take its toll on the researcher’s personal life and
emotional/mental wellbeing
- Problems with validity and reliability
- criminals may withhold information to keep their activities hidden or
glorify their acts to impress the researcher
- the researcher is not able to identify all members of a target
population and the individuals that do agree to participate in
research may be further unrepresentative in some way
- researching active offenders often involves using snowball sampling,
which results in findings not being generalizable
Guilty knowledge = having information about crimes that have happened or
might be committed in the future
Advantages of researching both sides:
- Combined research provides greater insights than separate, uncoordinated
efforts
- Perspectives complement each other to create a more complete picture of
the phenomenon
- It enables us to identify, explore and offset biases, assumptions and
stereotypes
- It minimizes the likelihood that different perspectives or different findings
are explained by the fact that different projects, even looking at the same
market, are run by different researchers using different methods at
different times
- If researching both sides at the same time researcher can go back and
forth between the different groups to clarify understanding as the picture
emerges from both sides (can raise practical issues)
Triangulation in social science research = when the researcher approaches a
topic from multiple perspectives in order to extend, validate or challenge existing
knowledge
Data triangulation = combining data from multiple sources, or at different
settings or different times or with different people
Investigatory triangulation = using several different researchers or evaluators
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