Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology

Lee Ellis is professor of sociology at University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and is also affiliated with Minot State University in the United States. Richard D. Hartley is assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Texas at San Antonio. Anthony Walsh is professor of criminal justice at Boise State.

• Chapter 1 PART I: GETTING STARTEDChapter 2 Chapter 1 - The Scientific Method and Criminal Justice as a Social SciencesChapter 3 Chapter 2 - Formulating Scientific Questions and Locating Background ResearchChapter 4 PART II: THE IMPORTANCE OF STATISTICSChapter 5 Chapter 3 - Univariate Statistics and the Concept of Statistical SignificanceChapter 6 Chapter 4 - Bi/Multivariate Statistics: The Concept of CorrelationChapter 7 PART III: DOCUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENTChapter 9 Chapter 5 - Research Report Structure and Styles for Citing and ReferencingChapter 10 Chapter 6 - The Concepts of Reliability, Validity, and Precision in MeasurementChapter 11 PART IV: TYPES OF SOCIAL SCIENCE DATAChapter 12 Chapter 7 - Data Based on Self-Reports: Guidelines for Constructing QuestionnairesChapter 13 Chapter 8 - Direct Observations: Qualitative and Quantitative DataChapter 14 Chapter 9 - Archival Data Analysis and Meta-AnalysisChapter 15 Chapter 10 - Measuring Crime and CriminalityChapter 16 PART V: SELECTING THOSE TO BE STUDIEDChapter 17 Chapter 11 - Surveying and SamplingChapter 18 Chapter 12 - The Human Side of Sampling and the Reliability of Self-ReportsChapter 19 PART VI: PROBING FOR CAUSAL EXPLANATIONSChapter 20 Chapter 13 - Theories, Models, Hypotheses, and Empirical RealityChapter 21 Chapter 14 - Controlled ExperimentationChapter 23 Chapter 15 - Quasi-ExperimentationChapter 24 PART VII: AVOIDING HARM AND DOING GOOD25 Chapter 16 - Ethical Issues in the Social Sciences25 Chapter 17 - Evaluation and Other Applied ResearchChapter 26 Chapter 18 - Epilogue

Using an excellent blend of methods, statistics, and theory, the Ellis, Hartley, and Walsh research methods book is a remarkable text that will definitely be valuable to beginning and advanced researchers. I applaud them for their ability to successfully apply research methods to real-world problems, while at the same time use research examples from a vast array of academic disciplines and topics worldwide. Their book should certainly be one that research methods instructors should consider adopting so that students have an all-encompassing methods experience!