CRJU 670
Criminal Justice Research Methods
1. Catalog Entry
CRJU 670
Criminal Justice Research Methods
Prerequisite: Graduate Standing
Credit hours (3)
Designed to provide advanced social science research skills and to allow students to put those skills into practice with a required research project.
2. Detailed Description of Course
• Foundations of Research Methods
a) Library Research
b) Research Ethics
• Introduction to theory and application
a) Theory construction
b) Causality
• Measurement
a) Reliability, validity, accuracy, and precision
b) Hypotheses and operationalization of concepts
c) Sampling strategies
• Research Design
a) Experimental and quasi-experimental designs
b) Survey research and interviews
c) Ethnographic research
d) Unobtrusive research
e) Evaluation research
f) Using computer data bases
• Basic Data Analysis
a) Univariates and bivariate data
b) Descriptive statistics
c) Random sample selection
• The research project
a) Introduction and identification of problem
b) Literature review
c) Hypothesis formation and operationalization
d) Data collection methods
e) Data analysis and summarization
f) Conclusions
3. Detailed Description of Conduct of Course
This course is a practical application of basic research methods developed in the field of criminal justice. The student must conduct a research project and present their research in the classroom forum. A review of research methodology will be presented. Computer applications will be emphasized where appropriate.
4. Goals and Objectives of the Course
At the end of this course, students should be able to:
• Articulate the basic operations and methodology of a criminal justice research project
• Demonstrate an understanding of the elements of research design and established
research methods
• Demonstrate the ability to critique existing pieces of social research
• Apply the concepts learned in class in a research project of their choice
• Demonstrate an understanding of the ethical issues relevant to criminal justice
research
5. Assessment Measures
• Skill Assessment
a) Oral skills demonstrated in classroom participation and research presentations
b) Written skills demonstrated with analytical assignments and research project
c) Oral skills demonstrated in class participation and written presentations
• Knowledge Assessment may be measured by:
a) In class examination
b) Class participation
c) In-class activities
d) Analytical written assignments
e) Student research projects
6. Other Course Information
None
Review and Approval
April 1, 2008