Criminal Justice Research

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the sampling techniques presented in three articles from "Voices from the Field: Readings in Criminal Justice Research " by Pope, Lovell and Brandl (Ed.). In each article, the author compares the sampling process to the optimal technique for the purpose of the study and analyzes the representativeness of the population from which it was drawn. The articles are 'Heavy Metal Music Preference, Delinquent Friends, Social Control, and Delinquency' by Singer and Levine, 'Collective and Normative Features of Gang Violence' by S. Decker and 'A Badge and a Baccalaureate' by R. Warden. The paper concludes that sampling is critical to the reliability of the study.

From the Paper:

"The first article is 'Heavy Metal Music Preference, Delinquent Friends, Social Control, and Delinquency'. The population used was public and private senior high school students in a large, New York suburban community. Using school board lists, 1,475 students were sampled. Of this number, interviews were completed with 705 youths. This study used proportionate sampling as its sampling technique. Crucial to this type of sampling is that the study specified the probability that any given element is included."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Cox, S., Fitzgerald, J. (2002). Research methods and statistics in criminal justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson.
• Decker, S., (1996). Collective and normative features of gang violence. Justice Quarterly 13:243-264. In Pope, C., Lovell, R., & Brandl, S. (Ed.). Voices from the field: readings in criminal justice research.
• Singer, S., Levine, M., (1993). Heavy metal music preference, delinquent friends, social control, and delinquency. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 30:317-329. In Pope, C., Lovell, R., & Brandl, S. (Ed.). Voices from the field: readings in criminal justice research.
• Warden, R., (1990). A badge and a baccalaureate: policies, hypotheses, and further evidence. Justice Quarterly 7:565-592. In Pope, C., Lovell, R., & Brandl, S. (Ed.). Voices from the field: readings in criminal justice research.

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