Criminal Justice Research Methods: Theory and Practice, Second Edition

Book Preface

Before writing the first edition of this text, we identified several key issues that greatly influenced what materials would be covered on the subject of research. First, we noted that most college students who are studying research for the first time do so during a single semester and usually while taking several other academic courses. In the second edition, we have updated the examples, reworked the exercises, added additional discussion points, and updated the research-in-action sections.

Trying to learn a vast amount of information about the subject of research in a 14- to 16-week time frame can be problematic, if not impossible. This is especially true if a very complex and technical textbook is adopted for the course. Second, experience in the classroom tells us that some students are intimidated by research textbooks. Complicated research terminology, mathematical formulas, and the lack of practical examples can cause the best of students to become perplexed and dread the study of research. Third, there are all types of research documents available to students in the 21st century. Thousands of research books, periodicals, and electronic print documents covering specific types of research, research designs, methodologies, analyses, and other subjects are currently available to enable students to become more educated in certain aspects or areas of research. Finally, and probably most important, we firmly believe that the art of learning research occurs in only one place— the field. It is not until the student actually conducts research under the watchful eyes and direction of a veteran researcher that real research knowledge is set in place.

Having considered each of these matters, we ambitiously have written an introduction to this criminal justice research textbook that is, foremost, easy to understand. In this book, you will not find undue complicated research language, and the complexities often associated with research have been kept to a minimum. Also, we adopted a straightforward approach and cover a sufficient amount of material to allow first-time research students to get “comfortable” with the study of research. Moreover, parameters were established with regard to the length of the textbook, so that the subject matter can easily be covered within a single academic semester.

This text provides a clear approach to the study of research, enabling students who are experiencing their initial exposure to this subject to be fundamentally prepared to go out into the real world and become proficient researchers in criminal justice and criminology.

Gerald J. Bayens
Cliff Roberson