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127 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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give examples of experimental designs |
- classic + quasi- experiment - random |
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what is a research method? |
strategies used to implement the design |
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give examples of non-experimental designs? |
longitudinal + cross section + case study (matching) |
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what is a classical experiment? |
- provides evidence of causality de to three features: 1. experimental (manipulation) and control groups (no manipulation) 2. random assignment to comparing groups (randomly selected people assigned to equivalent groups) 3. manipulation (measure of change through pre and post tests |
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what is a quasi experiment? |
- non-equivalent group control -manipulation must still occur - may be missing a group |
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what are the ethical issues with experimental designs? |
1. deception (participants should be informed asap) 2. withholding of beneficial treatments or programs |
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what are the advantages of experimental designs? |
- strong evidence of association and timing -ability to reduce non-superiousness |
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what are the limitations of experimental designs? |
-impossible to control everything - casual mechanisms not clear (oversimplification) - artificiality and sample |
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what is the role of experiments in criminology? artificiality vs. naturalistic! |
- Naturalistic setting = important evidence about particular factors and relationships - Less successful in identifyingcausal mechanisms - Artificiality allows forcontrol that enables us to identify causal relationships - Benefits within internalvalidity however limitations regarding external validity |
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what are the 2 approaches in criminological research? |
- positivism - interpretivism |
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what is the positivism approach? |
- takes general statement and tests the empirically - quantatitive (numeric) count no. of convictions -deductive -empirical testing -assumes value free |
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what is interpretivism approach? |
- the effect people and objects have - qualitaative (non numeric data) interview magistrate - inductive - understand meaning - not value free |
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what are the key stages of the research process? |
- research the problem - research question hypothesis - operationalisation (measurement) - sampling - data collection - analysis - interpretation |
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what does a good research design do? |
- minimises threats to the ability to make valid conclusions through causality and generalisability |
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what is causality? |
- why something happens - exposure to violent media> leads to violent acts |
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what are the three conditions for causality? |
- empirical association (violent media related to violent offending) - time order (violent media must precede participation in violence) - non-spurious the relationship between the two (viewing and participating in media), can't be explained by another variable
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what is generalisability? |
- the extent to which the finding can be used to inform us about persons, places or events not studied |
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what are the two aspects of validity and explain |
internal - establishing causality external - establishing how representative |
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two fundamentals of assessing qualitative research? |
Credibility - credible or believable from the perspective of the participant Applicability or Transferability - degree to which can transfer findings to other contexts and settings |
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Theory is... |
§ A set of propositions about the how and why of a particularphenomenon (formal explantions) |
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what is a concept? |
- § words referring to a phenomenon (eg. recidivism, crime) ◦ § building blocks of theory |
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why are concepts important? |
- tools for communication - allows development of a perspective - allow to classy or generalise - components of theories |
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what are the attributions to conceptualisation? |
- § Identify unique elements or qualities of what is defined § Must not be circular § Should be stated positively § Needs to use terms that are clear and commonly understood |
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what is a hypothesis? |
- Statementabout the expected relationship between two concepts |
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what are the characteristics of a hypothesis? |
- clear - specific - testable with available methods - value free (aware of biases and values) |
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what is a research (or alternate) hypothesis |
- States expected relationship in positive terms ◦ - What wehope is the observed outcome |
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what is a null hypothesis? |
- Assumes no relationship between the concepts ◦ Assume nullhypothesis is correcto Until empirical evidence fails to support it |
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aims of a research design? |
- ensuresevidence obtained enables us to answer our research question as unambiguouslyas possible - logic or structure of the research |
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what is a research method? |
- strategies used to implement the design |
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what are the two types of research designs? |
- experimental (classic (lab), Quasi experiments (field)) - non- experimental (longitudinal, cross sectional, case study) |
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what is a classic experiment? three features? |
- most powerful design to provide evidence of causality 1. experimental (manipulation or intervention) and control groups (no manipulation or intervention) 2. random assignment to the comparison groups (randomly select individuals into groups) 3. manipulation or intervention (measure of change) |
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what is a quasi experiment? |
- use non equivalent group control - attempts to mimic control groups by findingsimilar individuals. Sometimes pre existing groups are used. Pre tests areimportant as groups may not be equal to begin with - may be missing a group |
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what are some ethical issues in experimental designs? |
Deception - ifan individual is aware of desired outcome it may alter behaviour - Individualsshould be informed as soon as possible afterwards Withholding ofbeneficial treatments or programs ethical issues depend on: - Level ofknowledge of benefit - Randomisation as a strategy for limited resources |
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Ads and limitations of ethical issues? |
Ads: - strong evidence of association and timing - strong ability to reduce non-spuriousness ( controls for a range of extraneous influences) limitations: - impossible to control everything - causal mechanisms not clear (oversimplification of cause-effect) - artificiality and sample (controlled environments) |
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what is an example of a procedural justice policing experiment? |
- 60 random RBT's |
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what is a cross sectional design? |
- data collection is at a single defined time - less time consuming - less expensive - less resource intensive |
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what is a retrospective design? |
- mimic time - ask participants to recall certain time periods ( memory recall problems) |
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what is a longitudinal study? 3 models |
- data collection occurs at more than one point in time 1) panel design 2) cohort design 3)repeated cross sectional design |
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what is a panel design? |
- Follow one group ofparticipants over time (collect data at two ormore times) - Draws sample (a panel) from population at time1(collect data) - - At time 2 collect data from same sample (the panel),atleast all who could be located and were willing to continue to participate - measurement of change |
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what is a cohort design? |
- longitudinal - Follow a group of people from “cohort” and collect data attwo points in time - Data from a group of peopledefined by a particular event at one point in time (e.g. born same year orplace) - Follow up this same group(or a new sample from the same cohort population) at two or more points in time |
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what are the limitations of panel and cohort designs? |
- Time and money - Panel/cohort attrition (cant locate original participant, orrefuse to participate) - Panel/cohort conditioning (condition people about what willbe asked) |
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what is the difference between a cohort and panel? |
- panel draws sample from target population - cohort draws sample defined by a particular event |
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what is a repeated cross sectional design? |
- longitudinal or trend design - Data gathered two or more times on DIFFERENT groups of participants - Draw sample from population at time 1 (collect data) - Draw second independent sample from SAME population attime 2 - And so on... - Maybe called a trend design |
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Limitations of a repeated cross-sectional design? |
- Can only identify averagechange not individual change - internal validity - Timeand money (cost more money and time then cross sectional) |
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what is a case study design? |
- Analysis of one person, group or organisation - Aim is to study aphenomenon through the perspective of the study participant(s) -Might mix elements oflongitudinal or cross-sectional- - Limitation = limitedgeneralisabilty |
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pros and cons of longitudinal designs? |
pros - better internal validity cons - costly and time consuming - attrition and subject fatigue (don't wanna pacipate and can't find them) |
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pros and cons of a cross sectional design? |
pros: - less expensive, quicker - no need to follow up respondents cons: - weak internal validity |
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difference between experimental and non-experimental? |
Non experimental: - Range of different way ofaccounting for time order - No manipulation(intervention) - May be more feasible - Attrition, non response.. Experimental: - Beter “controls” >causality - Stronger interval validity - More artificial |
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what design has a random selection of groups and manipulation |
- experimental |
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what design has intact selection into groups manipulation |
- quasi experimental |
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what design has intact and no manipulation |
- non-experimental designs |
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Iftwo variables (e.g., X and Y) are correlated, does that mean that one causesthe other ? |
- maybe, but not necessarily |
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what is it called when we change the value of a variable/measurement and later see change in another variable.measurement? |
- a causal relationship |
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what is a dependent variable? |
- the intended outcome |
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what is an independent variable? |
- what predicts or causes the outcome - predictor |
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what is spuriousness? |
- a false cause |
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what is a variable? |
- a concept or its empirical measure that can take on different values - can be categorial ( gender, race, ethnicity) - may be interval (age, IQ, weight, height, income) |
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what are the three steps to measurement? |
- choose topic ( e.g.. the effects of a concept) - conceptualisation ( dictionary definition of each concept) - operationalisation |
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what is operationalisation |
- the defining of concepts in a very precise manner that will allow empirical measurement. - then have to determine is the resulting variable will be interval or categorial |
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what are the types of measurement quality and explain? |
- validity (measuring what claim to be measuring) - reliability (is measurement consistent) |
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if x causes y then what is this an example of? |
- good internal validity |
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can a measurement be reliable without validity? |
- yes, but it cannot be valid without reasonable reliability |
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what are the two types of validity? explain? |
- internal (measurement measuring what its supposed to) - external (generalisation, can the conclusions be applied in situations outside the research context) |
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what are the two types of measurement reliability? |
- test-retest (ifsomething is measured, will we get a similar measurement a second time?) - inter-observer (willdifferent people/observers provide the same measurement?) |
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what is a sample? |
- a subset of the population |
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what is sampling? |
- a process of drawing a number of individual cases from a larger popualtion |
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why use sampling? 2 aspects |
- efficiency -feasibility (usefulness) |
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what is sampling error? |
- the degree to which sample characteristics diverge from population characteristics |
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what are the two types of sampling? |
- probability (Sample drawn in a way that gives every member ofthe population a KNOWN chance to be included) - non probability (Sample drawn in a way that DOES NOT give everymember of the population a KNOWN chance to be included) |
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why is probability important? |
- ensure representativeness (larger samples are generally more representative) - maximise generalisability (overall conclusions about population based on collected data) |
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what are the 4 types of probability sampling? |
- simple random - systemic random - stratified random - multistage random |
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what is simple random sampling? |
- each element has a likely chance of being selected - sample element drawn from sampling frame - close eyes point any place within the table to select |
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what is systemic random sampling? |
- first element selected randomly then every nth element afterwards - useful when no sampling frame readily available |
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what is stratified random sampling? |
- divides population into relevant strata - more efficient than simple random - proportionate vs. disproportionate |
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what is multistage random sampling? |
- population elements first grouped into clusters - random sample of clusters is drawn - random sample of population elements in clusters is drawn |
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what are the three types of non probability sampling? |
- quota sampling - convenience sampling - snowball sample |
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what is quota sampling? |
- uses quotas - representative individuals are chosen out of a specific subgroup - select set number of most accessible elements who possess characteristics of interest |
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what is convenience sampling? |
- researcher selects individuals that are readily assessable to her - inexpensive and can yield interesting results |
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what is snowball sampling? |
- researcher identifies first sample element - sample element refers researcher to other eligible sample elements - used in qualitative fields - useful for difficult to reach populations (non incarcerated offenders) |
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what is meta analysis? |
- comprises statistical methods for contrasting and combining results from different studies in the hope of identifying patterns |
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why is theory important? |
- summarizes and organises knowledge - makes predictions about the future - visualises the complex world - explains why thing happen and how to affect change |
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what is available data? advantages |
- researcher using data that are already accessible ads - saves money time and effort - retiring and shy people who don't like the idea of persuading others can still do research - data collection is unobstructive and unlikely to affect the nature of data collection - avoids ethical issues |
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what are the disadvantages of available data? |
- can't be certain of reliability - not able to study research questions the way wanting to (no ability to obtain clarification) |
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what are the three forms of available data? |
secondary existing other forms |
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what is secondary data?
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- collected by others through surveys/interviews
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what are existing statistics?
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- stats provided by large organisations
- analysed through quantitative analysis |
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what are other forms of data in relation to available data? two main sources?
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- data that the researcher doesn't need outside help to obtain 1) physical traces (physical evidence left by humans) 2) personal records (autobiographies, letters, diaries etc.) |
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where can researchers find available data?
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- gov agencies
- internal records of an org - surveys - library& electronic sources - publishes research
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what is a questionnaire? |
- instrument containing a series of standardised questions |
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what are the three attractions of questionnaires? |
- versatility - efficiency - generalisability |
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what are the weaknesses of questionnaires? |
- - errors of observation (response) - errors of non-observation (non-response) |
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what is excluded and non-response in regards to questionnaires? |
- Sampling frame may beinadequate - Random sampling canresult in sampling error - Non-response candistort (refusals or unable to contact) - Response rate |
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what are the key factors in affecting response rate of questionnaires? |
- sponsorship (legitimacy) - inducements/incentives - format and methods used |
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what are the 4 types of administering questionnaires? |
- face-to-face - phone -online |
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what are the advantages/disadvantages of mailed questionnaires? |
Ads: - low cost - greater privacy/anonymity - reduced bias - accessibility - considered answers Dis: - requires simple questions without probing - no control over who fills out - low response rate |
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Ads/Dis of face-to-face questionnaires? |
Ads: - More control of theprocess - Can clarifyresponses - High response rate Dis: - Higher cost - Bias from researcher’s presence -Less anonymity |
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phone questionnaires ads/dis? |
Ads: - speed - higher response rate than face-to-face - moderate cost Dis: - reluctance to respond to sensitive questions - broken off interview - distrust due to increase in telemarketing |
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- online questionnaires ads/dis? |
Ads: - - Speed - Ease - Lowcost - Flexibility - Anonymity - Integrationof range of other media - Largersamples possible - Simultaneousdata entry Dis: - partial coverage - is sample representative - can't be sure who answered or participated |
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what are the major considerations involved in designing questionnaires? |
- content - structure - format - sequence in order |
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what are the three types of questions? |
- close ended - open ended - contingency |
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what is a close ended question...example? and ads/dis? |
- what is your current marital status (category of answers) Ads: - easy for coding - quick to answer - facilitative completion Dis: -may miss possible responses |
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what is an open ended question...example? and ads/dis? |
- what else kept the children from telling others about their assault? Ads: - exploratory or descriptive - allows participants to respond in own words Dis: - diversity of response - longer to complete - language barriers |
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what is a contingency question..example? |
do you live in a house, if yes, have you ever had anything stolen, if no, go to question xxx |
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what are some examples of poor questions and provide examples? |
- double negative (Do you disagree with the view that sexual offendersshould not be incarcerated?) - double barrelled questions (what is your opinion on this and this) - threatening questions: (have you ever smoked marijuana) |
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what is qualitative interviewing ? |
- Commonform of qualitative data collection -Familiarityof interviews - Flexibleand not as standardised -Morein depth and about collecting data -Openended questions - Notevery individual will get exact same question - Varyin length and duration -Abilityto respond to issues raised by interviewees -Gainperspective of participants in own words |
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what is an interview? |
- a specific type of interaction by which the conversation is directed more or less towards to researchers needs for data - two way interaction - face-to-face or by phone |
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what is a structured interview? |
- large sample - standardised set of questions - limited ability to ask for more detail |
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what is the relationship between the interviewee and the interviewer? |
- not neutral - an exchange - subjective perspectives, meanings and interpretations |
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what are the two types of interviews? in relation to the degree of structure?
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- semi structured - unstructured |
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what is a semi structured interview? ads and dis? |
- pre developed interview guide - type of questions, order and discussion vary ads: - flexibel - interviewee driven - more informal and conversational dis: - training and skill - sticking too closely to schedule - not same information for all participants |
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what is an unstructured interview? ads/dis? |
- vary in time to complete - not reliant on interview schedule or guide - controlled everyday conversation for research interest - driven by what the interviewee says Ads: - flexibility/ serendipity - natural conversation -questions based on responses Dis: - comparability of info - use of interviewers as therapists |
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what are the modes of administration in regards to interviews? |
- in person - by telephone - video or internet |
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what re the benefits of phone vs. face-to face interviews |
- better where tight time frames for data collection - useful where well defined research problem |
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what are the benefits of online vs. face to face interviews |
- better where access is difficult to reach or immobile populations - useful as might make more comfortable discussinghighly traumatic |
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what is it and what are the advantages and disadvantages of a focus group? |
- a group interview Ads: - conversational, sees how people respond, see how groups responds to specific issues Dis: - one member can dominate and steer interview to their personal preferences - others don't get exchange of views |
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what characteristics are important when conducting an interview for the interviewer? |
- personality - appropriately dressed - training - location (private homes better for more sensitive topics) - presence of others |
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what are the 4 types of observation? |
- complete observer (observation of others with or without their knowledge, no participation, or interaction) - observer as participant(§Observationsmade where the observer is a part of the social setting AND others know beingobserved) - participant as observer (§Activeparticipation can bring information that otherwise may not be aware of) - complete participant observer (research become full participant, plays an active role, others unaware of observations) |
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what are the two important dimensions of observations? |
- structured (planned in advance) - unstructured (no-pre planning) |
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what are some social skills for successful observations? |
- building relationships - performing small favours - appearing interested - avoiding conflict adopting an attitude of strangeness |
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what methods are usually used in observation studies? |
- snowball or quota |
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what is theoretical sampling? |
- when discover certain characteristics are important, implying similar instances should be checked, then researcher selects new setting or individuals to include in the study |
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biases in observations can include? |
- hawthorn effect - workers changing behaviours as aware of being watched - inaccurate results |
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what are the three types of evaluation research? |
- process - impact - efficiency |
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what is basic vs. applied research? |
basic: - Seeks to create knowledge - Lessimmediate application - Several kinds of basic research - Experimental (classic/quasi) - Non experimental (cross sectional, longitudinal,case study) applied: - Designedto help solve immediate social problems- - Has a practical focus and is designed to provideorganizations with information that can be used in the immediate future- - Problem/funder-derived question - Used some process as basic research |
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what is the gold standard? |
- increasing advocacy |
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what challenges must researchers face in evaluations? |
- gatekeepers - institutionalization - ethnical implications |
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independent and dependent variable of this sentence: Did police beat increase people’s perceptions of personalsafety ? |
independent: police beat dependent: safety |
