Chapter 4 – Classifying Research (pp. 79-97)

Overall teaching objective: To introduce undergraduate criminal justice research methods students to a system for classifying and evaluating research.

  • Research is often classified into categories.
  • For the most part, these categories provide us a way to organize research so we can access it more efficiently.
  • Research classifications also enable researchers to evaluate research and in some cases identify logical errors.

Table 4.1 – Common classification schemes for research. (p. 80)

Classification scheme / Description / Categories of research
Paradigms of research / Describes the general organizing framework for social theory and empirical research / Positivist
Interpretive
Critical
Purpose of research / Describes what the research hopes to achieve / Exploratory
Descriptive
Explanatory
Time dimension of research / Describes the time frame in which data collection takes place / Cross-sectional
Longitudinal
Nature of data / Describes the type of data collected and, in some cases, the type of research method used / Quantitative
Qualitative
Method of reasoning / Describes the method of reasoning used by the researcher / Deductive
Inductive
Unit of analysis / Describes from whom or what the researcher collects information / Individual
Group
Community
Nation

Paradigms of Research (p. 80)

  • Researchers often approach research questions from a particular paradigm or perception of social reality.
  • These perceptions affect how the researcher conducts the research and, in many cases, the outcome of the research findings.
  • The positivist, interpretive and critical paradigms all contribute to our understanding of social phenomena.
  • Positivist social science inquiry is most like research in the natural sciences. A positivist relies on empirical observations and may attempt to establish a causal relationship between variables.
  • Interpretive social science inquiry is based on the notion that social science research is fundamentally different than research in the natural sciences. Rather than simply measure human behavior from the “outside”, interpretive social scientists attempt to get “inside” to understand the meaning behind human behavior. This involves interpretation rather than simple observation.
  • Critical social science inquiry is based on the assumption that research is not value free and that every researcher brings his or her own particular biases into the research process. Critical researchers do not attempt to be unbiased and instead believe that they should use their research skills to affect social change. Critical criminologists tend to focus on the structure of race, class, and gender inequalities and the relationships between these inequalities and crime and punishment. A critical criminologist may find in their research that poor people get harsher sentences because they cannot afford competent legal representation. They may use this research to argue for an increase in funding for public defenders. In fact, a critical criminologist might have even decided to conduct this research for the sole purpose of improving poor people’s access to legal representation.

The Purpose of Research (p. 81)

  • Research is often conducted for a specific purpose.
  • Exploratory research provides initial insight into new or emerging social phenomena or behavior.
  • Descriptive research describes existing social phenomena or behavior.
  • Explanatory research explains why individuals or groups behave the way they do.
  • It is not uncommon for a single research project to serve more than one purpose. It is also not uncommon for a research agenda to move from exploratory to descriptive to explanatory research.

The Time Dimension of Research (p. 82)

  • Cross-sectional research involves data collection at one point in time. The findings from this research cannot be used to draw conclusions about change over time. But they can provide a snapshot of a social condition or population at that point in time.
  • Longitudinal research utilizes data that are collected over a period of time. The findings from this research indicate how a social condition or particular population changes over time. There are two types of longitudinal research designs.
  • Trend studies collect the same data over time from different samples of the same population.
  • Panel studies collect the same data over time from the same sample.

Table 4.2 - The time dimension of research. (p. 85)

Time dimension / Description / Advantages / Disadvantages
Cross-sectional / Research based on data collected at one point in time. / Provides quicker insight into the status of a social situation or phenomenon. / Does not measure how social situations and phenomena change over time.
Longitudinal / Research based on data collected at multiple points over an extended period. / Provides insight into how social situations and phenomena change over time. / Cannot provide quick insight into the status of a social situation or phenomenon.

Making Research Real 4.1 – What Makes Police Officers Happy? (p. 83)

  • This research (Zhao, Thurman and He, 1999) provides insight into what factors affect job satisfaction among police officers.
  • The results are based on a survey.
  • Because the time dimension of this research is cross-sectional it is not possible to know whether these factors might change from one generation of officers to the next.

The Nature of Data (p. 86)

  • Quantitative research measures variables numerically and assumes that the social world can be understood objectively.
  • Qualitative research probes the meaning of variables and assumes that the social world is best understood subjectively, often from the perspective of the research subject.

Method of Reasoning (p. 87)

  • Deductive reasoning begins with a theory that explains social behavior and uses observations to test the theory.
  • Inductive reasoning begins with observations of social behavior and uses those observations to develop a theory that explains the behavior.

Making Research Real 4.2 – Deductive Reasoning (p. 88)

  • A researcher uses deductive reasoning to test rational choice theory.
  • Consistent with the deductive method of reasoning the researcher begins with a theory and then collects observations (data) to test the ability of this theory as an explanation of behavior.

Making Research Real 4.3 – Inductive Reasoning (p. 88)

  • A researcher used inductive reasoning to develop a theory of how police officers ‘select’ individuals for a traffic stop.
  • Consistent with the inductive method of reasoning the researcher begins with a set of observations and then develops a theory to explain these observations.

Figure 4.1 – Deductive and Inductive Reasoning. (p. 89)

Adapted from “Wallace’s Wheel of Science” Wallace (1971)

Unit of Analysis (p. 89)

  • The unit of analysis is the ‘what’ or ‘whom’ about which researchers gather information during a research project. A unit of analysis can be an individual, a group, a community, a state or even an entire nation.
  • An ecological fallacy occurs when a researcher makes a prediction about how an individual might behave based on data collected at the group level of analysis.
  • Reductionism occurs when a researcher makes a prediction about how a group might behave based on data collected at the individual level of analysis.

Table 4.3 - Logical thinking errors. (p. 91)

Logical Error / Description / Example
Ecological fallacy / When a researcher makes a prediction about how an individual might behave based on data collected at the group level of analysis. / A high school guidance counselor reads a study about adolescent skateboarders and learns that, as a group, they tend to be risk-takers. One day while counseling a student who identifies himself as a ‘skate rat’, he asks the student to participate in a cognitive intervention program designed to reduce risk-taking behaviors among adolescents. This counselor has falsely assumed that this individual student is a risk-taker based solely on a research finding that skateboarders, as a group, are risk-takers.
Reductionism / When a researcher makes a prediction about how a group might behave based on data collected at the individual level of analysis. / During an individual counseling session with a high school student who happens to be a member of the Skate Boarding Club, a guidance counselor classifies the student as a risk-taker. Because risk-takers are more likely to engage in illegal drug use and unprotected sex, he asks all members of the Skate Boarding Club to participate in a group therapy session designed to reduce their tendencies to take risk. This guidance counselor has made a prediction about the group as a whole based on his evaluation of this one individual.

Getting to the Point (Chapter Summary)

  • Research is often organized by different classification methods in order to help researchers access it more efficiently and evaluate its strengths and limitations.
  • Researchers often approach research questions from a particular paradigm or perception of social reality. These perceptions affect how the researcher conducts the research and, in many cases, the outcome of the research findings. The positivist, interpretive and critical paradigms all contribute to our understanding of social phenomena.
  • Research is often conducted for a specific purpose. Exploratory research provides initial insight into new or emerging social phenomena or behavior. Descriptive research describes existing social phenomena or behavior. Explanatory research explains why individuals or groups behave the way they do. It is not uncommon for a single research project to serve more than one purpose. It is also not uncommon for a research agenda to move from exploratory to descriptive to explanatory research.
  • Cross-sectional research involves data collection at one point in time. The findings from this research cannot be used to draw conclusions about change over time. But they can provide a snapshot of a social condition or population at that point in time.
  • Longitudinal research utilizes data that are collected over a period of time. The findings from this research indicate how a social condition or particular population changes over time. There are two types of longitudinal research designs. Trend studies collect the same data over time from different samples of the same population. Panel studies collect the same data over time from the same sample.
  • Quantitative research measures variables numerically and assumes that the social world can be understood objectively. Qualitative research probes the meaning of variables and assumes that the social world is best understood subjectively, often from the perspective of the research subject.
  • Deductive reasoning begins with a theory that explains social behavior and uses observations to test the theory. Inductive reasoning begins with observations of social behavior and uses those observations to develop a theory that explains the behavior.
  • The unit of analysis is the ‘what’ or ‘whom’ about which researchers gather information during a research project. A unit of analysis can be an individual, a group, a community, a state or even an entire nation.
  • An ecological fallacy occurs when a researcher makes a prediction about how an individual might behave based on data collected at the group level of analysis. Reductionism occurs when a researcher makes a prediction about how a group might behave based on data collected at the individual level of analysis.