The Practice of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice

by Ronet D. Bachman, Russell K. Schutt

Based on Russell Schutt′s Investigating the Social World , the most successful social research text to have been published in a generation, The Practice of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice, Second Edition has been thoroughly revised and adapted specifically for criminal justice courses and programs. The authors originally wrote this book to teach research design and techniques within the context of substantive criminology and criminal justice issues of interest to students and the field.   The Practice of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice, Second Edition is an essential text for undergraduate and graduate students taking a research methods course in criminology or criminal justice.

Genres: School, Nonfiction, Textbooks

560 pages, Paperback

First published February 20, 2001

Reviews

[S]

Interesting read. There are several sections of interest for me. For example, the section titled Ethical Issues in Experimental Research.

Social science experiments often raise difficult ethical issues. You have already read in Chapter 3 that Philip Zimbardo (2004) ended his Stanford Prison Experiment after only six days, rather than after the planned two weeks, because of the psychological harm that seemed to result from the unexpectedly sadistic behavior of some of the “guards.” Although Zimbardo’s follow-up research convinced him that there had been no lasting harm to subjects, concern about the potential for harm would preclude many such experiments today...

I find sections like this informative that contain valuable information about important ethical issues that have been conducted during experiments throughout history. This information is something that we should be aware of to prevent future ethical violations.

There are several other sections that I would put into this review but I do not believe people want to read that type of review.

Overall, I do believe that others should read this. It is a "simple" read, a rather long - simple read but it is worth it.
I would rate it 5 stars but since it is an educational/textbook. I have to rate it at 3 stars because of the neutrality.

***This is a policy I have to keep implicit and explicit biases to a minimum***

[Judy]

This is a great textbook, with charts, tables and graphics to help with concepts. There are interesting examples of research projects used throughout the book. Each chapter has an example of someone working in the CJ field and specializing in whatever the chapter is presenting. I would recommend this book to professors.

[Whitney]

The number of times that this book states, "This should be intuitive" in lieu of actually explaining a concept should have stopped it before it ever went to print. That's not acceptable for a textbook.

This text is a mess of convoluted explanations and bad definitions. For example, here is the text's definition of measurement validity: "The type of validity that is achieved when a measure measures what it is presumed to measure" (85).

Circular definitions in a textbook? Really?

[Brandy]

It's my school-book, so I am learning a lot about research methods that I mis-learned in undergrad. If you're in the CJ field and need an additional methods reference book (if this isn't assigned) then I recommend it as an easy book to comprehend.

[Dan]

THIS SHOULD BE A GOOD BOOK FOR REFERENCING TO IN FALL 2012

[Karen]

BU MCJ 703 course textbook.