Criminological Research Methods
Exam Practice Tests
Course Introduction
Criminological Research Methods introduces students to the foundational principles and practices essential for conducting empirical research in the field of criminology. The course explores both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, emphasizing research design, data collection techniques, ethical considerations, and analytical strategies tailored to studying crime, criminal behavior, and the criminal justice system. Students learn how to critically evaluate existing research, develop research questions, design studies, and interpret findings, preparing them to contribute valuable insights to criminological knowledge and practice.
Recommended Textbook
Essentials of Research Methods for Criminal Justice 3rd Edition by Frank E. Hagan
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11 Chapters
835 Verified Questions
835 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Introduction to Criminal Justice
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99 Verified Questions
99 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A paradigm shift refers to a major change in a basic model or theoretical framework.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) The independent variable in a study is:
A) the variable which causes the other variables
B) the variable which is caused by the other variables
C) sometimes called the outcome variable
D) denoted by the letter X
Answer: A
Q3) _________________ involves deriving a specific hypothesis from a more general theory.
Answer: Deduction
Q4) Hypotheses are derived from:
A) theory
B) method
C) data analysis
D) variables
Answer: A
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Chapter 2: Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) The text takes the point of view that some privacy invasion is inevitable in criminal justice research.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) The notion of reciprocity involves a mutual trust and obligation between researcher and subject.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Hagan's description of his inept handling of a participant observation study in Columbia, Maryland, "illustrated":
A) violation of reciprocity
B) violation of informed consent
C) violation of confidentiality
D) violation of objectivity
Answer: B
Q4) How might ethical problems in criminal justice research be avoided?
Answer: Answers will vary
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Chapter 3: Research Design: the Experimental Model and Its
Variations
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103 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) _________________ refers to other specific events that may have taken place during the course of the study and may have produced the results.
Answer: History
Q2) "Natural experiments" are those which occur as part of a natural process, where neither the setting nor the randomi zation process are controlled.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) _________________ is a fake treatment with no known effect which is administered to the control group.
Answer: Placebo
Q4) Statistical regression refers to the fact that extreme scores tend to move toward the average upon second testing.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q5) _________________ designs involve studies of one group at one time.
Answer: Cross-sectional
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Chapter 4: The Uniform Crime Reports and Sampling
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Sample Questions
Q1) The National Incident-Based Reporting System designates each crime as either attempted or completed.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Simple random samples by no means guarantee representative samples.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Cluster sampling is particularly useful in surveys which are to use field interviews.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The _________________ rule under the original Uniform Crime Reports held that, if multiple crimes took place within the same event, only the single most serious crime was reported.
Q5) Focus groups are employed in participant-observation studies.
A)True
B)False
Q6) In addition to "Crimes Against Person" and "Crimes Against Property" the redesigned Uniform Crime Reports features a new category, "Crimes Against _________________ ."
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Chapter 5: Survey Research: Questionnaires
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Sample Questions
Q1) groups are purposively selected groups brought to gether in order to measure their reaction to some stimuli.
Q2) What are some ways of increasing responses in mail surveys?
Q3) The results of Mark Hamm's survey of Indiana legislators was viewed as threatening by the General Assembly.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The major problem with mail surveys is cost.
A)True
B)False
Q5) It is best to begin surveys with interesting questions which might entice respondents to participate.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What was not recommended as an example of good timing in a mail survey?
A) have survey arrive near end of week at households
B) begin surveys during the summer
C) have surveys arrive at beginning of week at businesses
D) avoid vacation periods or historical events
Q7) Discuss some general guidelines for questionnaire construc tion.
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Chapter 6: Survey Research: Interviews and Telephone
Surveys
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Sample Questions
Q1) It is generally impossible to ask questions which require a scaled response over the telephone.
A)True
B)False
Q2) _________________ study is a type of longitudinal study involving examination of the same select group over time.
Q3) Which is not a feature of the NCVS crime panel?
A) bounding
B) mail questionnaires
C) reinterviews every six months
D) rotation
Q4) _________________ is a sampling procedure that enables the researcher to overcome a major shortcoming of telephone surveys: new or unlisted numbers.
Q5) Both official statistics and victim surveys underestimate certain crimes such as "victimless" ones.
A)True
B)False
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Q6) _________________ is the name (or acronym) for the use of computers in conducting telephone interviews.
Chapter 7: Participant Observation and Case Studies
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following was not given as an example of a case study in criminal justice?
A) Sutherland's The Professional Thief
B) Klockars' The Professional Fence
C) Chambliss' Box Man
D) Kansas City Preventive Patrol Study
Q2) "Verstehen" involves:
A) quantitative analysis using "ubersetzen"
B) a qualitative or sensitizing strategy
C) a commitment to operationalization
D) subjective bias
Q3) LaPiere's restaurant study found that, even though a major- ity of restaurant owners served an oriental couple, most indicated in a later survey that they would not.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Participant observation remains the most effective means of data gathering.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Identify and discuss the following three designs: ABA, ABAB, ABACA.
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Chapter 8: Unobtrusive Measures, Secondary Analysis, and
the Uses of Official Statistics
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is not true of simulations?
A) are an example of unobtrusive measures
B) attempt to mimic or imitate key features of reality
C) may pose ethical problems
D) are generally immoral and thus unacceptable in criminal justice research
Q2) "Post hoc error" refers to the false assumption that, since one variable or outcome follows another in time, it is the cause of that outcome.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The reanalysis of data previously gathered by someone else is a description of:
A) factor analysis
B) probit analysis
C) content analysis
D) secondary analysis
Q4) Mechanical aids can enhance unobtrusive measurement.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Discuss the usefulness of simulations as data gathering strategies in criminal justice research.
Q6) Discuss and give some examples of the major types of unobtrusive methods. Page 10
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Chapter 9: Validity, Reliability, and Triangulated Strategies
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Sample Questions
Q1) _________________ is concerned with the stability and consistency of measurement.
Q2) In requiring arrestees to answer questions regarding drug usage the ADAM program is a potential violation of due process.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The split half technique eliminates testing effects as well as some other factors of internal invalidity.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In the ADAM program the data is used only for research pur poses and anonymity is assured.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Race, religion, or type of crime are examples of variables that lend themselves to ordinal level measurement.
A)True B)False
Q6) _________________ is the use of multiple methods to measure the same phenomenon.
Page 12
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Chapter 10: Scaling and Index Construction
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Sample Questions
Q1) A Likert scale eliminates items that do not _________________ between the highest and lowest scores.
Q2) The Thurstone method of devising attitude scales relies upon judges to select items.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Likert scaling procedures attempt to produce a(n):
A) nominal scale
B) ordinal scale
C) interval scale
D) ratio scale
Q4) What method of data gathering was employed in developing Greenwood's "Rand Seven Factor Index"?
A) existing data
B) self-reports
C) victim surveys
D) observation
Q5) _________________ procedures attempt to develop more complex, composite indicators of phenomena.
Q6) Briefly discuss the prediction scale tradition in criminal justice.
Page 13
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Chapter 11: Policy Analysis and Evaluation Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) Policy experiments are field experiments which concern themselves with the development of pure science.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Feedback in evaluation research refers to informing public policy planners and recommending changes or continuance of programs that have been reviewed.
A)True
B)False
Q3) _________________ is the "study of whatever governments choose do or not to do"; "the description and explanation of the causes and consequences of government behavior."
Q4) Feedback in evaluation research refers to interference which disrupts the research plan.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Evaluation research has been overreliant upon questionnaires as the primary means of data gathering.
A)True
B)False
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