Researching crime and justice/ tales from the field
Westmarland,Louise
- 1st.ed.
- Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2011.
- x, 198 p
Problematising criminological research Introduction What are 'criminological methods'? 'Real' research Is researching crime and justice criminology? What are criminological research methods? If this is criminology, what is research? How and why to research? Who or what to research? What is criminological about certain types of research? What happens in 'real life' research? Organisation of the book Quantitative versus qualitative methods Introduction Choosing and using research methods Is this criminology? Types of research methods How to choose methods that fit Researching the 'truth' about rape Reliability Validity The science of research methods Conclusion 3 Quantitative methods Introduction What are quantitative criminological methods? Primary and secondary data Interrogating official statistics Interview with John Muncie Critiquing government statistics Summary of secondary quantitative data methods Primary data research Summary of primary data research Conclusion 4 Qualitative methods Introduction Versions of qualitative research Interviews Interview with Ben Bowling Interview with Laura Piacentini Focus groups Mixed methods Interview with Sandra Walklate Interview with Lynn Hancock Conclusion ) Soft and semi-structured research Introduction Ethnography Insider/outsider research Interview with Rob Hornsby Interview with Simon Winlow Conclusion I Ethics, emotions, politics and danger Introduction Research ethics Ethical restrictions on criminological research Crime and justice specific ethics? The politics of researching crime and justice Emotions 162 Danger in the research process 166 Conclusion 168 Analysing evidence of crime and justice 169 Introduction 169 What the interviewees said 169 Analysing evidence 173 Theoretical concerns 174 A short guide to criminological theories 176 The themes that have arisen from the interviews 178 The writing up process 182 Conclusion 184