Chapter 2 – The Research Process (pp. 24-47)
Overall teaching objective: To introduce undergraduate criminal justice research methods
students to the process by which criminal justice research gets done.
Making Research Real 2.1 – The Closest Thing to Sherlock Holmes (p. 24)
 Pierce Brooks, a LAPD homicide detective, is credited with developing the
methods we now use routinely to connect serial offenses.
 Use this story to demonstrate how research conducted by a criminal justice
practitioner can have a profound effect on scholarly research and the practice of
criminal justice.
Objectives of the Research Process (p. 25)
 The research process is a set of specific steps that, when done correctly, produce
data.
 Researchers use data to produce information, what we call findings, to share with
other researchers and criminal justice practitioners and policy makers.
 The research process has four overall objectives. These are;
o to answer research questions,
o to resolve disagreements among researchers,
o to fill gaps within the body of knowledge, and
o to produce more research questions.
Steps of the Research Process (p. 26)
 The research process is a series of ten steps.
 The research process is characteristically linear in that the steps must be
completed in a certain order.
 The research process is also internally cyclical, because researchers often have to
revisit previous steps.
 The research process is also externally cyclical because good research leads to
additional research questions.
Step 1: Ask a Research Question (p. 27)
 Research questions should be actual questions that can be answered rather than
statements that make some claim.
Note to instructors: Chapter 7 includes a more detailed discussion on the elements of a good
research question.
Step 2: Conduct a Literature Review (p. 28)
 The literature review involves locating and understanding what previous
researchers have learned about a topic.
 Researchers rely on several sources in this regard, including books, scholarly
journals, newspapers and magazines, internet sources and experts.


If the existing literature is credible, timely, context appropriate and
methodologically sound, there is no need to move past the literature review stage;
the research question may be answered through the literature review alone.
Pyramiding is an effective technique for locating research and determining when
you have enough information.
Table 2.1 – Advantages and disadvantages of commonly used literature review sources. (p.
29)
Sources
Advantages
Disadvantages
Books
Books provide good
background information
on a topic for
researchers who are
unfamiliar with a topic.
Even newly published
books contain
information that is
several years old.
Scholarly journals
Scholarly journals
Topic coverage is
provide objective,
narrower and limited
reliable and more current due to space constraints.
information than books.
Newspapers and
magazines
Newspapers and
magazines provide
timely and accessible
information.
Information on
methodology is often
missing. Hence the
information may not be
objective or reliable.
Internet sources
Internet sources provide
timely and accessible
information.
Information may not be
objective or accurate.
Experts
Experts provide practical Experts may be biases.
and timely information.
Step 3: Refine the Research Question (p. 31)
 The literature review process
o helps researchers refine their research question,
o identify a theory related to their research question,
o and propose a hypothesis that predicts the answer to their research
question.
Making Research Real 2.2 – Becoming a Cop (p. 31)
 This story describes how a researcher developed a theory and set of hypotheses
relating to the policing subculture
Step 4: Define the Concepts (p. 32)
 Conceptualization is a process by which researchers define the concepts in their
hypotheses.
 These definitions are important because they determine how researchers actually
measure the concepts they use in their research.
Making Research Real 2.3 – Conceptualizing Juvenile Crime (P. 33)
 This story demonstrates how difficult it is to develop a conceptualization for
‘juvenile crime’
 In this case the conceptualization process involves defining both ‘juvenile’ and
‘crime’
Step 5: Create the Measures (p. 33)
 Operationalization is the process by which researchers decide on how they are
going to measure their concepts as they have defined them.
 Often it is necessary to measure concepts along multiple dimensions.
Making Research Real 2.4 – How Religious Are You? (p. 33)
 This is a story about how a researcher operationalizes the concept – ‘religiousity’
 The researcher learns that this concept has numerous dimensions.
Step 6: Design a Method (p. 34)



The specific method that researchers use to collect data depends on numerous
factors.
There is no ‘one best way’ or method of research.
In order to avoid disappointment, researchers should pre-test their method to be
sure that the research method(s) they use will produce the data necessary to
actually answer their research question(s).
Making Research Real 2.5 – When It All Fell Down For Professor Brown (p. 35)
 This is the story of Professor Brown who wanted to study the correlation between
learning disabilities and delinquency.
 Unfortunately, because Professor Brown did not consider the data he would need
to answer this question (i.e. data measured at the scale level) during this part of
the research process, the data he got was not responsive to his research question.
Step 7: Collect the Data (p. 35)
 The process by which researchers collect data depends on their research
methodology.
 Things can and do go wrong in the process of data collection. Researchers should
develop contingency plans in case problems arise.
Making Research Real 2.6 – Professor Come Get Me! (p. 36)


This story tells about a research project that placed research assistants (graduate
students) in potentially harmful situations.
The story ends well because the researcher developed contingency plans to insure
the research assistants were able to remove themselves safely from dangerous
situations.
Step 8: Analyze the Data (p. 37)
 A plan for data analysis is developed early in the research process.
 A-priori assumptions establish what the data must reveal for a researcher to
confirm their hypothesis.
 Researchers code, enter and clean the data before running statistical tests or
performing other types of data analysis.
Making Research Real 2.7 – School Fight Experiment (p. 37)
 This is a story about how two high school principals decided to test alternative
programs of reducing violence in their schools.
 Prior to initiating the experiment the principals agreed on how to determine
which program had the greatest effect.
Making Research Real 2.8 – Perceptions of School Safety (p. 37)
 This story recounts how a school superintendent developed a series of focus
groups to determine how parents perceive school safety.
 Prior to initiating the focus groups the superintendent developed an analysis plan.
Step 9: Interpret the Results (p. 39)
 Research findings should be interpreted in the context in which they arise and are
subject to the limitations of the available data.
 When findings are interpreted to mean more than they actually do, the researcher
has overreached their findings.
Step 10: Communicate the Findings (p. 39)
 The actual format of the research report depends on where it is published.
 Scholarly articles follow a standard organizational format that includes a literature
review, information on methodology, a section on findings and a discussion.
 Identifying the weaknesses and limitations of the research is critical when
presenting research findings in publications or at conferences.
Table 2.2 -- Common sections in scholarly journal articles. (p. 40)
Section
Description
Abstract
A summary of the research, usually about 150 words or less, that
describes what the researcher did and learned.
Introduction
An overview of the research that describes the purpose of the research,
the research question and hypothesis, and how the article is organized.
Literature Review
A review of what is known about a particular topic and a description of
areas of agreement and disagreement among researchers on the topic.
Methodology
A description of the methods used by the researcher, including the
sampling procedure, the measurement of variables, the data collection
method, and the analytic techniques.
Findings
A summary of what the analysis revealed, including descriptive statistics.
Discussion
An interpretation of the research findings and a consideration of
alternative explanations.
Conclusion
A summary of the research project, an evaluation of the strengths and
weakness of the research, and/or a set of recommendations for policy
changes or questions for future research.
References
A list, organized by author’s last name, of the sources that were used by
the researcher.

Researchers should use figures and other visual aids to improve communicative
ability of a research report.
Figure 2.2 – Which Message Would You Remember? (p. 41)
The following sentence appears in the written version of a research report. It uses
words to describe what the researchers learned from their research.
Overall, it appears that education has a positive effect on income. The more
education one has, the higher his or her income will likely be.
Annual Income
Now, here is the same information presented visually.
Years of Education
Both the words and the graph communicate the same information. Which of these
are you likely to remember?
Getting to the Point (Chapter Summary) (p. 42)
 The objectives of research are to answer research questions, to resolve disagreements
among researchers, to fill gaps within the body of knowledge, and to produce more
research questions.

The research process is characteristically linear in that the steps must be completed in
a certain order. However, the process is also internally cyclical, because researchers
often have to revisit previous steps, and externally cyclical, because good research
leads to additional research questions.

Research questions should be actual questions that can be answered rather than
statements that make some claim.

The literature review involves locating and understanding what previous researchers
have learned about a topic. Researchers rely on several sources in this regard,
including books, scholarly journals, newspapers and magazines, internet sources and
experts. If the existing literature is credible, timely, context appropriate and
methodologically sound, there is no need to move past the literature review stage; the
research question may be answered through the literature review alone.

The literature review process helps researchers refine their research question, identify
a theory related to their research question and propose a hypothesis that predicts the
answer to their research question.

Conceptualization is a process by which researchers define the concepts in their
hypotheses. These definitions are important because they determine how researchers
actually measure the concepts they use in their research.

Operationalization is the process by which researchers decide on how they are going
to measure their concepts as they have defined them. Often it is necessary to measure
concepts along multiple dimensions.

Researchers should pre-test their method to be sure that the research method(s) they
use will produce the data necessary to actually answer their research question(s).

The process by which researchers collect data depends on their research
methodology. Things can and do go wrong in the process of data collection.
Researchers should develop contingency plans in case problems arise.

A plan for data analysis is developed early in the research process. A-priori
assumptions establish what the data must reveal for a researcher to confirm their
hypothesis. Researchers code, enter and clean the data before running statistical tests
or performing other types of data analysis.

Research findings should be interpreted in the context in which they arise and are
subject to the limitations of the available data. When findings are interpreted to mean
more than they actually do, the researcher has overreached their findings.

The actual format of the research report depends on where it is published. Scholarly
articles follow a standard organizational format that includes a literature review,
information on methodology, a section on findings and a discussion. Identifying the
weaknesses and limitations of the research is critical when presenting research
findings in publications or at conferences.