Solutions Manual For Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology 9th Edition By Michael Ma

Solution and Answer Guide: Michael G. Maxfield, Earl R. Babbie, Amie Schuck, Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology, 9th Edition, © 2025, 9780357763735; Chapter 1: An Introduction to Criminal Justice Inquiry

Solution and Answer Guide

TABLE OF CONTENTS Review Questions and Exercises ........................................................................................1

REVIEW QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1.

Review the common errors of personal inquiry discussed in this chapter. Search the news and find an article about a crime- or justice-related problem that illustrates one or more of those errors. Discuss how a criminal justice researcher would avoid making that error. Solution: Students’ answers will vary depending on the source selected. The article should accurately demonstrate one of the errors of personal inquiry noted in the text (inaccurate observation, overgeneralization, selective observation, illogical reasoning, ideology, and politics). In their response, students should discuss a safeguard that corresponds to the error found in the article. For instance, if a student found a news article that used a poll with a small sample size to indicate the existence of a trend, the student could argue that the author has made the error of overgeneralization. The safeguard for overgeneralization is using a sufficiently large sample size. The student could propose that the researcher increases the sample size for the study to reduce the chances of overgeneralization in analysis. Students may also include in their response the details in the article that led them to believe an error of personal inquiry was made.

2. Pick a crime- or justice-related problem that you are interested in studying and list the types of questions you would want answered in an exploratory or descriptive research project on that topic. Solution: Students’ answers will vary depending on the topic selected, in tandem with whether they choose an exploratory or descriptive research approach. For example, if a student chose the topic of juvenile delinquency and the descriptive approach, they could ask questions like • How many male children are in the juvenile justice system (JJS)? Female? • What is the racial composition of children in the JJS? • What is the average income of families whose children are in the JJS?

1

Solution and Answer Guide: Michael G. Maxfield, Earl R. Babbie, Amie Schuck, Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology, 9th Edition, © 2025, 9780357763735; Chapter 1: An Introduction to Criminal Justice Inquiry

3. Identify the robbery rate for a city close to your college or university. Briefly discuss examples of explanatory research as they relate to the robbery rate. Solution: For this exercise, students’ answers will depend on the location selected. In taking an explanatory research approach to the robbery rate, most students will provide examples where the research questions center around reasons why the rate is what it is; whether high, low, or in-between. This could include questions of geography, population, and socioeconomic status, among others. 4. Often, things we think are true and supported by considerable experience and evidence turn out not to be true, or at least not true with the certainty we expected. Criminal justice seems especially vulnerable to this phenomenon, perhaps because crime and criminal justice policy are so often the subjects of mass and popular media attention. If news stories, movies, and television shows all point to growing gang- or drug-related violence, it is easy to assume that these are real problems identified by systematic study. Choose a criminal justice topic or claim that’s currently prominent in news stories or entertainment. Using Google Scholar or some other bibliographic tool, search the Internet for two research studies that examine the topic in systematic ways described in this chapter. Briefly summarize the studies’ findings. Solution: Students’ responses will vary depending on the topic choice and their selection of corresponding research studies. Answers should include a brief summary of each study’s findings. Students may also discuss how these findings either support or refute common beliefs about criminal justice topics in mass and popular media.

2

Solution and Answer Guide: Michael G. Maxfield, Earl R. Babbie, Amie Schuck, Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology, 9th Edition, © 2025, 9780357763735; Chapter 2: Foundations of Criminal Justice research

Solution and Answer Guide

TABLE OF CONTENTS Review Questions and Exercises ........................................................................................1

REVIEW QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1.

In his book Crime and Everyday Life, Marcus Felson (2002) expands on “routine activity theory” as an explanation for why crime occurs. According to this theory, crimes happen when three elements come together: (a) a motivated offender, (b) an attractive victim, and (c) absence of capable guardians. Select one property crime and one violent crime. Apply routine activity theory to explain examples of each. Are you using theory in an inductive or deductive way? Solution: Students’ answers will vary depending upon the selected property crime and violent crime, as well as their understanding of routine activity theory. In each crime-type scenario, students should identify the motivated offender, the attractive victim, and the absence of capable guardian. They should then explain how they relate to each other in the context of Felson’s routine activity theory. Concerning inductive versus deductive reasoning, this exercise asks students to apply a theory (routine activity theory) to individual examples (one violent crime and one property crime). It involves applying a general theory to a specific case, serving as an example of deductive reasoning.

2. Go to the Crime Solutions website (https://crimesolutions.ojp.gov/) and find a program. Summarize the program theory. In your summary be sure to describe how the program is designed to reduce the problem. Solution: Students’ answers will vary greatly depending upon the selected program. In their summary, students should note the problem to be reduced or solved by the program, the theory used to guide the program, how the program was designed to affect the problem, and whether the program was effective.

1

Solution and Answer Guide: Michael G. Maxfield, Earl R. Babbie, Amie Schuck, Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology, 9th Edition, © 2025, 9780357763735; Chapter 2: Foundations of Criminal Justice research

3. The Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies (PATHS) program is designed to develop emotional and social competencies to reduce aggression and behavior problems in children between the ages of 5 and 12. Based on your understanding of theory and hypotheses as discussed in this chapter, (a) describe how emotional and social skills might be related to juvenile delinquency and (b) propose a hypothesis that you could test. Solution: In their answer, students should explain the connection between emotional and social skills and delinquency. From those ideas, they should then form a hypothesis for testing. Sample response: Emotional and social skills are demonstrated in the behavior of children. Children with lower levels of emotional and social skills may be aggressive and act out. These behaviors may evolve to juvenile delinquency. We could test the following hypothesis: Juveniles who undergo the PATHS program are less likely to be delinquent than those who do not. 4. In this chapter, we discuss the relationship between urban design and crime. Thinking about your college campus or city, articulate a hypothesis about the influence of a particular geographic characteristic on a specific type of crime. Identify the variables in your hypothesis and each of the variable’s attributes. Solution: Student responses will vary depending upon the selection of college campus or city, geographic characteristic, and crime. The hypothesis should indicate how the geographic characteristic increases or reduces the prevalence of the crime and why. The attributes should logically correspond with the variable given. Sample response: Campuses with bike lockers have fewer bikes stolen than those without. Variable: type of bike security; attributes: bike lockers, bike locks, no bike security measures.

2

Solution and Answer Guide: Michael G. Maxfield, Earl R. Babbie, Amie Schuck, Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology, 9th Edition, © 2025, 9780357763735; Chapter 3: Ethics and Criminal Justice Research

Solution and Answer Guide

TABLE OF CONTENTS Review Questions and Exercises ........................................................................................1

REVIEW QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1.

Obtain a copy of the American Society of Criminology (2016) code of ethics at this website: https://asc41.com/wp-content/uploads/ASC_Code_of_Ethics.pdf. Read the document carefully. How would the code apply to Laud Humphreys’ tearoom research? What about the prison simulation? Especially note the “General Principles” section beginning on page 1. Solution: Sample response: In Humphreys’ work, he accessed government records to find the participants’ homes and surveyed them there. This would surely breach the ASC’s first general principle, which prohibits harassment. His procedure of acting as a lookout for the subjects and then going to their homes put the subjects in jeopardy or danger, a breach of the second general principle, and is dishonest to the subjects, who did not know their lookout was a researcher – a breach of the third general principle. In the Stanford Prison Experiment, the subjects could not foresee the extent of possible harm in order to agree to it because the researchers permitted the “guards” to change the rules during the simulation. This would violate the second general principle where potential harms must be disclosed to the subjects.

2. Review the box “Ethics and Juvenile Gang Members,” noting that Decker and Van Winkle developed an informed consent form for their participants. Try your hand at preparing such a form, keeping in mind the various ethical principles discussed in this chapter. Solution: Responses from students will vary. Each student should construct their own informed consent form for a hypothetical research project. It may resemble the example in the textbook. Students should incorporate the ethical principles discussed in the chapter, like designating whether the data will be anonymous or confidential, the avoidance of harm, voluntary participation, etc.

1

Solution and Answer Guide: Michael G. Maxfield, Earl R. Babbie, Amie Schuck, Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology, 9th Edition, © 2025, 9780357763735; Chapter 4: General Issues in Research Design

Solution and Answer Guide

TABLE OF CONTENTS Review Questions and Exercises ........................................................................................1

REVIEW QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1.

Discuss one of the following statements in terms of what you have learned about the criteria of causation and threats to the validity of causal inference. What cause-and-effect relationships are implied? What are some alternative explanations? a. Guns don’t kill people; people kill people. b. Capital punishment prevents murder. c. Marijuana is a gateway drug that leads to the use of other drugs Solution: Students’ answers will vary depending upon the choice of statement and alternative explanations incorporated. In their answer, students should address the three criteria of causality: correlation, time-order, and non-spuriousness in relation to the causal inference stated in options a – c. Alternative explanations should involve logical relationships between the cause and effect.

2. Several times, we have discussed the relationship between drug use and crime. Describe the conditions that would lead us to conclude that drug use is a. A necessary cause b. A sufficient cause c. A necessary and sufficient cause Solution: Sample response a) If drug use was a necessary cause for crime, drug use would be required to occur before a crime could be perpetrated, but drug use could happen without crime resulting. For instance, prior to committing a crime a person would have had to have used drugs; however, just because a person used drugs does not mean a crime was destined or had to occur. b) If drug use was a sufficient cause of crime, drug use would more or less guarantee that crime would occur, but there may also be other reasons why crime occurs. In this case, the use of drugs would almost guarantee that a crime would then be committed, but it is also possible that a crime could occur because of necessity, passion, or another reason.

1

Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook