SOLUTION AND ANSWER GUIDE
RESEARCH METHODS FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE &
CRIMINOLOGY
9TH EDITION
CHAPTER NO. 01: AN INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINAL
JUSTICE INQUIRY
REVIEW QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES
1. Review the common errors of personal inquiry discussed in this chapter. Search the news and find
an article about a crime- or justice-related problem that illustrates one or more of those errors.
Discuss how a criminal justice researcher would avoid making that error.
Solution:
Students’ answers will vary depending on the source selected. The article should accurately
demonstrate one of the errors of personal inquiry noted in the text (inaccurate observation,
overgeneralization, selective observation, illogical reasoning, ideology, and politics). In their
response, students should discuss a safeguard that corresponds to the error found in the article.
For instance, if a student found a news article that used a poll with a small sample size to indicate
the existence of a trend, the student could argue that the author has made the error of
overgeneralization. The safeguard for overgeneralization is using a sufficiently large sample size.
The student could propose that the researcher increases the sample size for the study to reduce the
chances of overgeneralization in analysis. Students may also include in their response the details
in the article that led them to believe an error of personal inquiry was made.
2. Pick a crime- or justice-related problem that you are interested in studying and list the types of
questions you would want answered in an exploratory or descriptive research project on that
topic.
Solution:
Students’ answers will vary depending on the topic selected, in tandem with whether they choose
an exploratory or descriptive research approach. For example, if a student chose the topic of
juvenile delinquency and the descriptive approach, they could ask questions like
• How many male children are in the juvenile justice system (JJS)? Female?
• What is the racial composition of children in the JJS?
• What is the average income of families whose children are in the JJS?
,3. Identify the robbery rate for a city close to your college or university. Briefly discuss examples of
explanatory research as they relate to the robbery rate.
Solution:
For this exercise, students’ answers will depend on the location selected. In taking an explanatory
research approach to the robbery rate, most students will provide examples where the research
questions center around reasons why the rate is what it is; whether high, low, or in-between. This
could include questions of geography, population, and socioeconomic status, among others.
4. Often, things we think are true and supported by considerable experience and evidence turn out
not to be true, or at least not true with the certainty we expected. Criminal justice seems
especially vulnerable to this phenomenon, perhaps because crime and criminal justice policy are
so often the subjects of mass and popular media attention. If news stories, movies, and television
shows all point to growing gang- or drug-related violence, it is easy to assume that these are real
problems identified by systematic study. Choose a criminal justice topic or claim that’s currently
prominent in news stories or entertainment. Using Google Scholar or some other bibliographic
tool, search the Internet for two research studies that examine the topic in systematic ways
described in this chapter. Briefly summarize the studies’ findings.
Solution:
Students’ responses will vary depending on the topic choice and their selection of corresponding
research studies. Answers should include a brief summary of each study’s findings. Students may
also discuss how these findings either support or refute common beliefs about criminal justice
topics in mass and popular media.
,CHAPTER 2: FOUNDATIONS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
RESEARCH
REVIEW QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES
1. In his book Crime and Everyday Life, Marcus Felson (2002) expands on “routine activity theory”
as an explanation for why crime occurs. According to this theory, crimes happen when three
elements come together: (a) a motivated offender, (b) an attractive victim, and (c) absence of
capable guardians. Select one property crime and one violent crime. Apply routine activity theory
to explain examples of each. Are you using theory in an inductive or deductive way?
Solution:
Students’ answers will vary depending upon the selected property crime and violent crime, as
well as their understanding of routine activity theory.
In each crime-type scenario, students should identify the motivated offender, the attractive victim,
and the absence of capable guardian. They should then explain how they relate to each other in
the context of Felson’s routine activity theory.
Concerning inductive versus deductive reasoning, this exercise asks students to apply a theory
(routine activity theory) to individual examples (one violent crime and one property crime). It
involves applying a general theory to a specific case, serving as an example of deductive
reasoning.
2. Go to the Crime Solutions website (https://crimesolutions.ojp.gov/) and find a program.
Summarize the program theory. In your summary be sure to describe how the program is
designed to reduce the problem.
Solution:
Students’ answers will vary greatly depending upon the selected program. In their summary,
students should note the problem to be reduced or solved by the program, the theory used to guide
the program, how the program was designed to affect the problem, and whether the program was
effective.
, 3. Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies (PATHS) program is designed to develop emotional and
social competencies to reduce aggression and behavior problems in children between the ages of 5 and
12. Based on your understanding of theory and hypotheses as discussed in this chapter, (a) describe
how emotional and social skills might be related to juvenile delinquency and (b) propose a hypothesis
that you could test.
Solution:
In their answer, students should explain the connection between emotional and social skills and
delinquency. From those ideas, they should then form a hypothesis for testing.
Sample response: Emotional and social skills are demonstrated in the behavior of children.
Children with lower levels of emotional and social skills may be aggressive and act out. These
behaviors may evolve to juvenile delinquency. We could test the following hypothesis: Juveniles
who undergo the PATHS program are less likely to be delinquent than those who do not.
4. In this chapter, we discuss the relationship between urban design and crime. Thinking about your
college campus or city, articulate a hypothesis about the influence of a particular geographic
characteristic on a specific type of crime. Identify the variables in your hypothesis and each of the
variable’s attributes.
Solution:
Student responses will vary depending upon the selection of college campus or city, geographic
characteristic, and crime. The hypothesis should indicate how the geographic characteristic
increases or reduces the prevalence of the crime and why. The attributes should logically
correspond with the variable given.
Sample response: Campuses with bike lockers have fewer bikes stolen than those without.
Variable: type of bike security; attributes: bike lockers, bike locks, no bike security measures.
RESEARCH METHODS FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE &
CRIMINOLOGY
9TH EDITION
CHAPTER NO. 01: AN INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINAL
JUSTICE INQUIRY
REVIEW QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES
1. Review the common errors of personal inquiry discussed in this chapter. Search the news and find
an article about a crime- or justice-related problem that illustrates one or more of those errors.
Discuss how a criminal justice researcher would avoid making that error.
Solution:
Students’ answers will vary depending on the source selected. The article should accurately
demonstrate one of the errors of personal inquiry noted in the text (inaccurate observation,
overgeneralization, selective observation, illogical reasoning, ideology, and politics). In their
response, students should discuss a safeguard that corresponds to the error found in the article.
For instance, if a student found a news article that used a poll with a small sample size to indicate
the existence of a trend, the student could argue that the author has made the error of
overgeneralization. The safeguard for overgeneralization is using a sufficiently large sample size.
The student could propose that the researcher increases the sample size for the study to reduce the
chances of overgeneralization in analysis. Students may also include in their response the details
in the article that led them to believe an error of personal inquiry was made.
2. Pick a crime- or justice-related problem that you are interested in studying and list the types of
questions you would want answered in an exploratory or descriptive research project on that
topic.
Solution:
Students’ answers will vary depending on the topic selected, in tandem with whether they choose
an exploratory or descriptive research approach. For example, if a student chose the topic of
juvenile delinquency and the descriptive approach, they could ask questions like
• How many male children are in the juvenile justice system (JJS)? Female?
• What is the racial composition of children in the JJS?
• What is the average income of families whose children are in the JJS?
,3. Identify the robbery rate for a city close to your college or university. Briefly discuss examples of
explanatory research as they relate to the robbery rate.
Solution:
For this exercise, students’ answers will depend on the location selected. In taking an explanatory
research approach to the robbery rate, most students will provide examples where the research
questions center around reasons why the rate is what it is; whether high, low, or in-between. This
could include questions of geography, population, and socioeconomic status, among others.
4. Often, things we think are true and supported by considerable experience and evidence turn out
not to be true, or at least not true with the certainty we expected. Criminal justice seems
especially vulnerable to this phenomenon, perhaps because crime and criminal justice policy are
so often the subjects of mass and popular media attention. If news stories, movies, and television
shows all point to growing gang- or drug-related violence, it is easy to assume that these are real
problems identified by systematic study. Choose a criminal justice topic or claim that’s currently
prominent in news stories or entertainment. Using Google Scholar or some other bibliographic
tool, search the Internet for two research studies that examine the topic in systematic ways
described in this chapter. Briefly summarize the studies’ findings.
Solution:
Students’ responses will vary depending on the topic choice and their selection of corresponding
research studies. Answers should include a brief summary of each study’s findings. Students may
also discuss how these findings either support or refute common beliefs about criminal justice
topics in mass and popular media.
,CHAPTER 2: FOUNDATIONS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
RESEARCH
REVIEW QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES
1. In his book Crime and Everyday Life, Marcus Felson (2002) expands on “routine activity theory”
as an explanation for why crime occurs. According to this theory, crimes happen when three
elements come together: (a) a motivated offender, (b) an attractive victim, and (c) absence of
capable guardians. Select one property crime and one violent crime. Apply routine activity theory
to explain examples of each. Are you using theory in an inductive or deductive way?
Solution:
Students’ answers will vary depending upon the selected property crime and violent crime, as
well as their understanding of routine activity theory.
In each crime-type scenario, students should identify the motivated offender, the attractive victim,
and the absence of capable guardian. They should then explain how they relate to each other in
the context of Felson’s routine activity theory.
Concerning inductive versus deductive reasoning, this exercise asks students to apply a theory
(routine activity theory) to individual examples (one violent crime and one property crime). It
involves applying a general theory to a specific case, serving as an example of deductive
reasoning.
2. Go to the Crime Solutions website (https://crimesolutions.ojp.gov/) and find a program.
Summarize the program theory. In your summary be sure to describe how the program is
designed to reduce the problem.
Solution:
Students’ answers will vary greatly depending upon the selected program. In their summary,
students should note the problem to be reduced or solved by the program, the theory used to guide
the program, how the program was designed to affect the problem, and whether the program was
effective.
, 3. Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies (PATHS) program is designed to develop emotional and
social competencies to reduce aggression and behavior problems in children between the ages of 5 and
12. Based on your understanding of theory and hypotheses as discussed in this chapter, (a) describe
how emotional and social skills might be related to juvenile delinquency and (b) propose a hypothesis
that you could test.
Solution:
In their answer, students should explain the connection between emotional and social skills and
delinquency. From those ideas, they should then form a hypothesis for testing.
Sample response: Emotional and social skills are demonstrated in the behavior of children.
Children with lower levels of emotional and social skills may be aggressive and act out. These
behaviors may evolve to juvenile delinquency. We could test the following hypothesis: Juveniles
who undergo the PATHS program are less likely to be delinquent than those who do not.
4. In this chapter, we discuss the relationship between urban design and crime. Thinking about your
college campus or city, articulate a hypothesis about the influence of a particular geographic
characteristic on a specific type of crime. Identify the variables in your hypothesis and each of the
variable’s attributes.
Solution:
Student responses will vary depending upon the selection of college campus or city, geographic
characteristic, and crime. The hypothesis should indicate how the geographic characteristic
increases or reduces the prevalence of the crime and why. The attributes should logically
correspond with the variable given.
Sample response: Campuses with bike lockers have fewer bikes stolen than those without.
Variable: type of bike security; attributes: bike lockers, bike locks, no bike security measures.
