Criminology: Assignment support: Honours students

This volume of the series was designed to provide a comprehensive primer on the existing best practices and emerging developments in the study and design research on crime and criminology. The work as a whole includes chapters on the measurement of criminal typologies, the offenders, offending and victimization, criminal justice organizations, and specialized measurement techniques. Each chapter is written by experts in the field and they provide an excellent survey of the literature in the relevant area. More importantly, each chapter provides a description of the various methodological and substantive challenges presented in conducting research on these issues and denotes possible solutions to these dilemmas. An emphasis was placed on research that has been conducted outside of the United States and was designed to give the reader a broader more global understanding of the social context of research. The goal of this volume is to provide a definitive reference for professionals in the field, researchers, and students. This volume in the Handbooks in Criminology and Criminal Justice series identifies the principal topical areas of research in this field and summarizes the various methodological and substantive challenges presented in conducting research on these issues. In each chapter, authors provide a summary of the prominent data collection efforts in the topical area, provide an overview of the current methodological work, discuss the challenges in the measurement of central concepts in the subject area, and identify new horizons emerging in data collection and measurement. We encouraged authors to discuss work conducted in an international context and to incorporate discussion of qualitative methodologies when appropriate.

An indispensable resource for all levels, this handbook provides up-to-date, in-depth summaries of the most important theories in criminology. Provides original, cutting-edge, and in-depth summaries of the most important theories in criminology Covers the origins and assumptions behind each theory, explores current debates and research, points out knowledge gaps, and offers directions for future research Encompasses theory, research, policy, and practice, with recommendations for further reading at the end of each essay Features discussions of broad issues and topics related to the field, such as the correlates of crime, testing theory, policy, and prediction Clearly and accessibly written by leading scholars in the field as well as up-and-coming scholars

Snapshots of Research: Readings in Criminology and Criminal Justice is a supplemental textbook comprised of scholarly articles exemplifying research methods in criminology and criminal justice. The variety of readings will provide the student with a grasp of the fundamentals of research, as well as a more in depth understanding of each of the specific methods used in everyday life. Each chapter in the book will have an introduction preceding each article discussing the basic procedures of the method along with its strengths and limitations. The research articles are some of the most recent and best examples of research that have been published in academic journals.

The eleven chapters in this volume of Sociology of Crime, Law and Deviance discuss a variety of issues of methodological significance in research in the fields of criminology and criminal justice studies. As scholarly work on various aspects of crime, deviance, criminal justice, and social control has progressed tremendously in recent decades, both in terms of scope as well as with respect to theoretical approaches, the employed methods of investigation have also broadened and advanced to be as sophisticated as those used in any other area of contemporary social-science inquiry. The authors in this volume demonstrate the methodological maturity and diversity of current empirical research in criminology and criminal justice in a number of areas, such as general trends of crime, criminal networks, violence against women, sex work, elder financial exploitation, school safety, immigrant detention, extremism on the internet, and human trafficking.  Presenting a state-of-the-art overview of criminological and criminal justice methodologies today, this book is of interest to a wide range of scholars and students in the fields of criminology, sociology, justice policy, and criminal justice.

Surveys enjoy great ubiquity among data collection methods in social research: they are flexible in questioning techniques, in the amount of questions asked, in the topics covered, and in the various ways of interactions with respondents. Surveys are also the preferred method by many researchers in the social sciences due to their ability to provide quick profiles and results. Because they are so commonly used and fairly easy to administer, surveys are often thought to be easily thrown together. But designing an effective survey that yields reliable and valid results takes more than merely asking questions and waiting for the answers to arrive.Geared to the non-statistician, the Handbook of Survey Methodology in Social Sciences addresses issues throughout all phases of survey design and implementation. Chapters examine the major survey methods of data collection, providing expert guidelines for asking targeted questions, improving accuracy and quality of responses, while reducing sampling and non-sampling bias. Relying on the Total Survey Error theory, various issues of both sampling and non-sampling sources of error are explored and discussed. By covering all aspects of the topic, the Handbook is suited to readers taking their first steps in survey methodology, as well as to those already involved in survey design and execution, and to those currently in training. Featured in the Handbook:* The Total Survey Error: sampling and non-sampling errors.* Survey sampling techniques. * The art of question phrasing.* Techniques for increasing response rates * A question of ethics: what is allowed in survey research?* Survey design: face-to-face, phone, mail, e-mail, online, computer-assisted.?* Dealing with sensitive issues in surveys.* Demographics of respondents: implications for future survey research.* Dealing with nonresponse, and nonresponse biasThe Handbook of Survey Methodology in Social Sciences offers how-to clarity for researchers in the social and behavioral sciences and related disciplines, including sociology, criminology, criminal justice, social psychology, education, public health, political science, management, and many other disciplines relying on survey methodology as one of their main data collection tools.

Developmental and life-course criminology are both concerned with the study of changes in offending and problem behaviors over time. Developmental studies in criminology focus on psychological factors that influence the onset and persistence of criminal behavior, while life-course studiesanalyze how changes in social arrangements, like marriage, education or social networks, can lead to changes in offending. Though each perspective is clearly concerned with patterns of offending and problem behavior over time, the literature on each is spread across various disciplines, includingcriminology and criminal justice, psychology, and sociology.The Oxford Handbook on Developmental and Life-Course Criminology offers the first comprehensive survey of these two approaches together. Edited by three noted authorities in the field, the volume provides in-depth critical reviews of the development of offending, developmental and life-coursetheories, development correlates and risk/protective factors, life transitions and turning points, and effective developmental interventions from the world's leading scholars. In the first two sections, the contributors provide overviews of specific criminal career parameters, including age-crimecurve, prevalence/frequency of offending, and co-offending, and review the main theoretical frameworks in the developmental and life-course criminology areas. They further summarize some of the empirical literature on known developmental correlates and risk/protective factors associated withlongitudinal patterns of offending in the next section. The fourth section focuses on life transitions and turning points as they may relate to persistence in-or desistance from-criminal activity into adulthood, while the final section examines the genesis of antisocial, delinquent, and criminalactivity, its maintenance, and its cessation.A state of the art overview on the topic, this Handbook aims to be the most authoritative resource on all issues germane to developmental and life-course criminologists and provides next steps for further research.

A Beginner's Guide to Statistics in Criminology and Criminal Justice Careers   Statistics for Criminology and Criminal Justice, Second Editionis an introductory statistics text for undergraduate criminology and criminal justice majors. The topics and engaging presentation style are targeted to students who have a basic background in algebra but who have had little or no exposure to the study of statistics. The overarching goals of the book are to demonstrate to students that statistics used in criminal justice can be enlightening and eye-opening and, that pre-conceived notions of their academic inadequacies coming into the course are false.   The fully updated Second Editionincludes new learning objectives and learning checks to help guide students through the material and ensure content understanding and retention. Coverage of the fundamental areas in statistics begins with descriptive statistics, moves into probability, and ends with regression to make the content easier for students to follow. By use of real data and research, emphasis is placed on balancing thoroughness with ease of understanding in order to show students the importance and relevance of statistics in their future criminal justice careers.

Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology connects key concepts to real field research and practices using contemporary examples and recurring case studies that demonstrate how concepts relate to students' lives.

Frank Hagan's Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology, Fifth Edition, is a classic in its field. The new edition continues the tradition of featuring both standard and contemporary examples of research in criminal justice and criminology. In addition to learning how to do it, students are also exposed to a rich variety of actual research studies.

This brief introduction to research methods combines accessibility and a conversational writing style with Michael G. Maxfield's expertise in criminology and criminal justice. In fewer than 400 pages, the text introduces you to the basics of criminal justice research utilizing real data and featuring coverage of such key issues as ethics, causation, validity, field research, and research design.

Adapted from the author's Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology, 6th ed., this core edition eliminates the last two chapters of the parent text for instructors who do not wish to cover statistics and evaluation research. Hagen (Mercyhurst College) uses real criminological and crimina