Criminology and Criminal Justice

1. Compare and contrast the mean, the median, and the mode

Mean, median and mode are all measures of central tendencies. One of the statistics may preferable depending on the application although each has a role that it plays in data analysis. When choosing a measure of central tendency that is appropriate it is necessary for the analyst to consider the level of measurement for the variable, skewness of the distribution of a variable in a quantitative study and the purpose of using the statistic. The median refers to the score that is in the middle of a rank ordered distribution. Therefore, it acts as the score that divides the distribution in half which can be referred as the 50^th percentile. Nevertheless, the median is not suitable for variables which are measured at nominal level since it is not possible to put the values in ranked order. When determining the median, one first needs to put the values in a rank order by arranging theme from the lowest to the highest (Bachman & Schutt, 2013). Then the position of the median is determined from the rank order scores. On the other hand, mean refers to the arithmetic average of all the distribution scores. The computation of the mean entails adding up values of the cases being studied which means it is crucial to have values of the cases that can be treated as actual quantities. Mode is another measure of central tendency and is the value in a distribution which is the most frequent.

 It is necessary to assess the suitability of the mean and median in regards to a particular application as they are used to summarize the central tendency of quantitative variables. The variable’s level of measurement, the purpose of the statistical summary and the shape of the distribution are the key issues to be considered during the assessment (Bachman & Schutt, 2013). When these issues are considered, it can in some cases result in using both mean and median and in some cases it can result in neither of the measures being used. Nevertheless, in many instances when the researcher considers these issues, the choice between the mean and the median is easily determined.

2. Choose two research designs that can be used in evaluation research. Describe how these research designs can be useful in evaluation research.

The two research designs that can be used are experimental design and survey design.  Experimental design has been common in scientific research and has been used rapidly growing fields. Experiments which are successful ensure that the measurements are measured precisely and the conditions in which hypothesis is tested are controlled (Bachman & Schutt, 2013). When using experiments, researchers are able to remove variability sources that are not significant to the specific hypothesis being tested. Experiments which have been used by social scientists including matters relating to criminal justice and criminology have aided in making vital contributions in understanding the social world since mid 20^th century.   Despite many people thinking that experiments are only used in psychology or physics, there is an increased usage of experimental methods in social science research. The use experimental designs can aid in manipulation of variables in determining the relationship between a cause and an effect. Additionally, better results can be achieved when using experiments since there are specific control set ups and strict conditions that need to be adhered to. This aids in achieving better results.

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In regards to survey design, there are different types of design such as the phone survey, group-administered survey, mailed survey, in-person survey and web-based or electronic survey (Bachman & Schutt, 2013). Questionnaires are administered differently in the five survey designs. The respondents complete the group, mailed and electronic surveys by themselves. However, for in person and phone interviews a staff person or the researcher asks the questions and has to record the answers of the respondents. Survey design is useful in terms of productivity and efficiency when carrying out an investigation that entails a wide range of social research questions. Moreover, there are advantages for using survey designs in social science in regards to expense and time which makes most researchers prefer using survey when collecting data. The various types of survey design can be used in any research question in most cases which has made surveys popular methods of research in sociology. Surveys also influence the discussion and planning on political and social questions. Additionally, surveys can accommodate a large sample when carrying out a study which aids in enhancing the reliability and validity of the research. There is standardization of survey questions meaning that the questions are the same and have been phrased the same way thus enhancing the reliability of the design. This also aids in making the process of data entry and analysis easy.

3. Compare and contrast quantitative and qualitative methods. Be sure to mention how they can be used in evaluation research.

Quantitative methods record social life variations in terms of categories that vary in amount and include methods such as experiments and surveys. Quantitative data can either be attributes or numbers that can be ordered in terms of magnitude (Blackstone, 2018). On the other hand, qualitative research methods entail exploratory research questions, inductive reasoning as well as being introduced to human subjectivity and social context together with the meanings attached by participants to their lives and to events. Qualitative data do not usually have a direct numerical interpretation and mostly involve spoken or written worlds or observations.

When distinguishing between qualitative and quantitative methods, it entails more than the type of data collected. Qualitative methods are used in most cases when the research motives are exploration or description. In some cases the goals of qualitative and quantitative methods are different. Quantitative researchers may accept the goal that focuses on having an understanding that is a correct reflection of the happenings in the real world while some qualitative researchers focus on the goal of developing an understanding of social setting or social process that is “authentic”. Having an authentic understanding is based on one that is a fair reflection of different perspectives of participants in a setting.

In some cases, social scientists tend to combine the usage of both qualitative and quantitative methods in order to enrich their research. For instance, qualitative methods aids in understanding social settings hence can be useful in understanding patterns in quantitative data. In some cases, qualitative data can be converted to quantitative data for instance when counting frequency of particular phrases or words in a text or measuring the time that has elapsed between behaviors that have been observed.  Some of the surveys that use quantitative data can have some sections that request for written responses and in this case such responses can be used in qualitative, textual analysis (Bachman & Shutt, 2013). As aforementioned, researchers can combine both qualitative and quantitative methods in studying one research question thus relying on mixed methods research. This can be referred to as triangulation in some cases and it aids the researcher in viewing the social reality being studied from different perspectives thus getting a clearer picture. A researcher is able to benefit from the benefits of combining both methods which in return enhances the validity and reliability of the study. Mixed methods entail the combination of both methods to investigate the same or related research(s). On the other hand triangulation involves using multiple methods to study research question.

4. Briefly describe ethical challenges in evaluation research.

When conducting primary research, confidentiality is one of the main ethical considerations that should be adhered to by a researcher. This way, the personal details of the respondents are not exposed and this can is mostly achieved by making them anonymous (Bachman &Schutt, 2013).  However, researchers encounter problems when trying to maintain confidentiality since they are not generally protected legally.  Nevertheless, it is worth noting that various federal statutes have been passed to specifically to offer protection to research data regarding vulnerable populations from legal disclosure requirements. It can be challenging for researchers to preserve confidentiality when the data is owned by the government agency or can be subject to discovery in legal proceedings. Random assignments can be used to allocate potential programs when testing a new program involving only some members of the recipient population that is being targeted. Nevertheless, during the evaluation of an ongoing entitlement program and experimental subjects can be eligible to participate in the program it may be unethical to not let some participants be part of the program (Branne,2017).

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There are some challenges in regards to ethics that are points of concern when researchers combine methods in that some challenges might be encountered when mixed methods have been used in a research. When researchers use quantitative methods they define themselves as experts from the outside using objective procedures to design a project and collect data carried out without involvement of participants. On the contrary, qualitative researchers describe themselves as engaging in research by collaborating with the group or community they are studying getting much input from participants. In this case, when a researcher uses mixed methods he or she needs some degree of autonomy when designing quantitative research plans. However, the researcher may not be able to collect thorough qualitative data if he or she is not accorded some degree of trust as an insider. He challenge is encountered when potential participants have different reactions to the different roles. Authorities controlling access to programs employees, clients or community members may agree to have a structured survey but not having a long term engagement with the researchers as participant observers. Therefore, a project that uses mixed methods to span communities, programs or other settings may have a sampling that is biased for the qualitative component (Bachman & Schutt, 2018).

5. Describe the basic steps that you need to employ when preparing data for analysis.

When the researcher has conducted a survey or an experiment it is crucial to prepare the quantitative data in a format that is suitable to entry into the computer. Interviews and questionnaires depending on what the researcher is using can be pre-coded to ease the process of data entry through the representation of each number with a number that is unique (Bachman & Schutt, 2018).Therefore, the method allows the pre-coded responses to be entered directly into a computer file after checking the responses ensuring only valid answer code has been circled. A database management program is used in most survey research organizations to control the process of data entry. The data entry clerk is prompted for each response from the program, ensuring that the response is a valid response for the variable and eventually saves the response in a data file. Some of the studies may not use data entry that is pre-coded and in this case the researchers are supposed to enter data by themselves. However, this is a time consuming task although not for those using secondary data since secondary data is gotten after it has been computerized and coded.

However, after storing numbers in the computer it does not mean they can be analyzed with statistics directly. Therefore, data cleaning is essential after data has been entered in the computer to check for errors. The cleaning process is easier if the program for data entry has been used and programmed such that it can show invalid values. If the data is being read from a text file it is crucial to write the computer program thus defining which variables should be coded in which columns, attachment of meaningful labels to codes as well as distinguishing values that represent missing data (Bachman & Schutt, 2018). It is worth noting that each procedure is dependent on the statistical package being used.

It is necessary to come up with the variables that will answer the research questions directly. This can be achieved by making sure that the variables created are working correctly. Formatting the variables both the original and newly created is crucial. This aids the software to work correctly since when one fails to correctly format a value code that is missing or a dummy variable it results to major consequences for the data analysis process. Additionally, it enhances the process of running the analyses and interpreting the results.

References

Bachman, R., & Schutt, R. K. (2013). The practice of research in criminology and criminal justice. Sage.

Blackstone, A. (2018). Principles of sociological inquiry: Qualitative and quantitative methods.

Brannen, J. (Ed.). (2017). Mixing methods: Qualitative and quantitative research. Routledge.

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