Criminological Research Methods
Exam Practice Tests
Course Introduction
Criminological Research Methods provides an in-depth exploration of the techniques and methodologies used to study crime, criminal behavior, and the criminal justice system. This course covers both quantitative and qualitative research approaches, emphasizing the formulation of research questions, ethical considerations, data collection strategies, and the interpretation and presentation of findings. Students will learn how to critically assess existing research, design their own studies, and apply statistical and analytical tools relevant to criminology. By engaging in practical exercises and examining real-world case studies, students gain valuable skills for conducting rigorous and impactful research in the field of criminology.
Recommended Textbook
Basics of Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology 3rd Edition by Michael G. Maxfield
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11 Chapters
602 Verified Questions
602 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Criminal Justice and Scientific Inquiry
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53 Verified Questions
53 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Traditional beliefs about patrol effectiveness, response time and detective work are examples of _________________.
Answer: agreement reality
Q2) Selective observation is a danger of overgeneralization.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Four purposes of research are exploration, description, explanation, and application.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q4) An assertion must have both _________ and _________ support.
A)logical and data driven
B)question and answers
C)logical and empirical
D)research and development
Answer: C
Q5) __________ leads to misrepresentation and simplification of the problems
Answer: Overgeneralization
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Chapter 2: Ethics and Criminal Justice Research
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55 Verified Questions
55 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A promise of anonymity is unlikely to be extended in which of the following techniques?
A)use of department of corrections summary data
B)personal interviews
C)questionnaires that do not request identifying information
D)anonymity is really impossible in all forms of research
Answer: B
Q2) When using students in your class as research subjects and having them complete a questionnaire, there is a potential for ethical problems in that their participation may not be __________________.
Answer: voluntary
Q3) Criminal justice research has the potential for all but which of the following?
A)psychological harm
B)physical harm
C)embarrassment
D)harm to the reader of the research
Answer: D
Q4) The two main ways of promoting compliance with ethical principles are __________________ and ___________________.
Answer: codes of ethics, institutional review boards
Page 4
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Chapter 3: General Issues in Research Design
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54 Verified Questions
54 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Three broad distinctions underlie many of the variations of scientific research.Which is of the following is one not of these distinctions?
A)idiographic and nomothetic explanations
B)inductive and deductive reasoning
C)quantitative and qualitative data
D)social and cultural artifacts
Answer: D
Q2) Scientists assess the truth of statements about cause by considering threats to ________________.
Answer: validity
Q3) In the following research conclusion, what units of analysis are being used? "An enormous variation of deviant activities was represented in a sample of 1,485 news items.We categorized these deviant activities into five general types of analysis: violence, economic, political, ideological/cultural and diversionary."
A)individuals
B)social artifacts
C)organizations
D)groups
Answer: B
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Concepts, Operationalization, and Measurement
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Sample Questions
Q1) There are no nationwide efforts to ________________ collect self-report measures to all types of crimes.
Q2) Ordinal measures are variables whose attributes may be logically rank-ordered.
A)True
B)False
Q3) If a researcher is concerned with whether a particular measurement technique will, after repeated measures, yield the same results, they are concerned with _____.
A)accuracy
B)reliability
C)d. precise measurement
D)validity
Q4) _________________ is the process by which we specify precisely what we mean when we use a particular term.
Q5) Using the progression of measurement steps how would you proceed in measuring "serious crime."
Q6) Compare and contrast UCR and NCVS with respect to the type of crime data they collect and how they collect it.Identify the strengths and weaknesses of each.
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Q7) A definition that says exactly how a concept will be measured is ___________.
Chapter 5: Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs
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58 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is an inaccurate statement?
A)The independent and dependent variables must be operationally defined for the purposes of experimentation.
B)The independent and dependent variables are most often operationally defined before the experiment begins.
C)It is possible for the independent and dependent variables to be operationally defined after a wide variety of observations are made.
D)The independent and dependent variables can never be operationally defined after a wide variety of observations occur.
Q2) The independent variable in a classical experiment must be a ratio level variable. A)True B)False
Q3) In case-oriented research, a great number of cases are examined in order to understand a small number of variables.
A)True
B)False
Q4) An example of variable-oriented research is the _________________ design.
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Chapter 6: Sampling
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Sample Questions
Q1) The unit about which information is collected and that provides the basis of analysis is called the ______________________.
Q2) A sample element is that unit about which information is collected and that provides the basis of analysis.
A)True B)False
Q3) The size of the sample and the standard error are related in which of the following ways?
A)the standard error is not related to the size of the sample B)when the sample size increases so does the standard error C)when the sample size increases the standard error decreases D)the standard error moves in the same direction as the sample size
Q4) The __________________________ is the range of sample statistics we would obtain if we selected many samples.
Q5) Sampling is often used when it is not possible to collect information from all persons you want to study and when it is not necessary to collect information from all persons.
A)True B)False
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Chapter 7: Survey Research and Other Ways of Asking Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following would be considered an appropriate method for increasing the response rate in mailed surveys?
A)go to the respondent's home and pick up the questionnaire
B)targeting a narrowly defined population
C)send one dollar along with the questionnaire
D)send out only one original mailing with no follow ups
Q2) If a researcher tries to assess criminal victimization of the poor and disadvantaged, which of the following is less biased than using the term "welfare" in her questionnaire,?
A)assistance to the poor
B)on the dole
C)the underclass
D)poverty
Q3) Write sample questions dealing with the relationship between gender and criminal activity.Have the questions be in the following forms:
a.open-ended
b.closed-ended
c.matrix
d.contingency
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Chapter 8: Field Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) Field notes should include all but which of the following?
A)specific names of those being studied and where events happen even if those being studied are criminals
B)what you specifically witnessed
C)what you think that you witnessed
D)your interpretations of what you witnessed
Q2) Strengths and weaknesses of field research can be measured in terms of validity, which refers to whether you are actually measuring what you are supposed to measure instead of something else;reliability refers to dependability, while ____________ refers to whether specific findings apply to the unobserved.
Q3) What time of the year would be best to do an observational study of thefts from cars parked at shopping malls?
A)early in the year, January - February
B)early summer, June - July
C)late summer, August
D)late in the year, December
Q4) Many different options are available for gathering data in field research.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Agency Records, Content Analysis, and Secondary Data
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Sample Questions
Q1) Data and records produced by formal organizations may be the most common source of data in criminal justice research.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Nonpublic agency records are often made available to which of the following?
A)any citizen who expresses written interest
B)criminal justice researchers
C)nonpublic agency records are not generally made available to anyone
D)law enforcement personnel
Q3) Dr.Jones is having his Introductory to Criminal Justice students analyze cartoons.He instructs them to identify the number of violent acts per show, the type of violent act and the characteristics of the victim.Dr.Jones is having his students use _____.
A)content analysis
B)secondary data
C)new data collected by agency staff
D)nonpublic agency records
Q4) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of secondary data and give an example of each.
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Chapter 10: Evaluation Research and Problem Analysis
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Sample Questions
Q1) Identify the differences between randomized evaluation designs and quasi-experimental designs.Give an example of the appropriate use of each.
Q2) In the home detention studies used in your text as examples of randomized studies, the authors concluded that _____.
A)randomization allows generalization
B)randomization allows for reliability
C)randomization does not control for variation in treatment integrity and program delivery
D)randomization does control for variation in treatment integrity and program delivery
Q3) Evaluation apprehension occurs when officials fear that their own job performance is not being rated.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Outcome measures in evaluation research serve as the independent variables in the research question.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Learning policy goals is a key first step in doing ________________.
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Chapter 11: Interpreting Data
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is a non-sampling error? How is that different from a sampling error? Use an example from criminal justice to illustrate these differences.
Q2) Which statement is true regarding rates?
A)Rates are fundamental inferential statistics in criminal justice research.
B)Rates are used to standardize some measure for comparative purposes.
C)In criminal justice crime rates per 100,0000 population is a common convention in reporting.
D)These are the only governmental statistics that are calculated to discuss crime
Q3) Dr.Jones wanted to display the findings of the sentences given in his local courthouse on one summer day.If the sentences, displayed in months, were 10, 18, 24, 36, 18, 70, 30, then which of the following measures of central tendency is accurate?
A)the mean is 24
B)the median is 24
C)the mode is 24
D)the median is 26
Q4) Statistics that summarize data in manageable forms are known as _________________ statistics.
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Page 13