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The SAGE Handbook of Criminological Research Methods
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The SAGE Handbook of Criminological Research Methods

Edited by:


October 2011 | 552 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
Conducting research into crime and criminal justice carries unique challenges. This Handbook focuses on the application of 'methods' to address the core substantive questions that currently motivate contemporary criminological research. It maps a canon of methods that are more elaborated than in most other fields of social science, and the intellectual terrain of research problems with which criminologists are routinely confronted.

Drawing on exemplary studies, chapters in each section illustrate the techniques (qualitative and quantitative) that are commonly applied in empirical studies, as well as the logic of criminological enquiry. Organized into five sections, each prefaced by an editorial introduction, the Handbook covers:

• Crime and Criminals

• Contextualizing Crimes in Space and Time: Networks, Communities and Culture

• Perceptual Dimensions of Crime

• Criminal Justice Systems: Organizations and Institutions

• Preventing Crime and Improving Justice

Edited by leaders in the field of criminological research, and with contributions from internationally renowned experts, The SAGE Handbook of Criminological Research Methods is set to become the definitive resource for postgraduates, researchers and academics in criminology, criminal justice, policing, law, and sociology.

David Gadd is Professor of Criminology at Manchester University School of Law where he is also Director of the Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice.

Susanne Karstedt has a Chair in Criminology and Criminological Justice at the University of Leeds.

Steven F. Messner is Distinguished Teaching Professor of Sociology, University at Albany, State University of New York.

David Gadd, Susanne Karstedt, Steven F. Messner
Editorial Introduction
 
PART ONE: CRIME AND CRIMINALS
Neal Shover
Life Histories and Autobiographies as Ethnographic Data
Marvin D Krohn, Terence P Thornberry, Kristin A Bell, Alan J Lizotte, Matthew D Phillips
Self-Report Surveys within Longitudinal Panel Designs
David Gadd
In-depth Interviewing and Psychosocial Case Study Analysis
Jody Miller
Grounding the Analysis of Gender and Crime: Accomplishing and Interpreting Qualitative Interview Research
Yu Gao, Andrea L Glenn, Melissa Peskin, Anna Rudo-Hutt, Robert A Schug, Yaling Yang, Adrian Raine
Neurocriminological Approaches
Tomislav Kovandzic, Mark E Schaffer, Gary Kleck
Gun Prevalence, Homicide Rates and Causality: A GMM Approach to Endogeneity Bias
 
PART TWO: CONTEXTUALIZING CRIME IN SPACE AND TIME: NETWORKS, COMMUNITIES AND CULTURE
Eric P Baumer amd Ashley N Arnio
Multi-level Modeling and Criminological Inquiry
Per-Olof H Wikström, Kyle Treiber, Beth Hardie
Examining the Role of the Environment in Crime Causation: Small Area Community Surveys and Space-Time Budgets
George E Tita and Adam Michael Boessen
Social Networks and the Ecology of Crime: Using Social Network Data to Understand the Spatial Distribution of Crime
Robert D Crutchfield and Suzanna R Ramirez
Using Census Data and Surveys to Study Labor Markets and Crime
Barry Godfrey
Historical and Archival Research Methods
 
PART THREE: PERCEPTUAL DIMENSIONS OF CRIME
Cécile Van de Voorde
Ethnographic Photography in Criminological Research
Jeff Ferrell
Autoethnography
Elizabeth Stanley
Interviewing Victims of State Violence
Moira Peelo and Keith Soothill
Questioning Homicide and the Media: Analysis of Content or Content Analysis?
Pat Mayhew and Jan Van Dijk
Assessing Crime through International Victimization Surveys
Emily Gray, Jonathan Jackson and Stephen Farrall
In Search of the Fear of Crime: Using Interdisciplinary Insights to Improve the Conceptualisation and Measurement of Everyday Insecurities
Julian Roberts, Matrina Feilzer, Mike Hough
Measuring Public Attitudes to Criminal Justice
 
PART FOUR: CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS: ORGANIZATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS
Janet Chan
Researching Police Culture: A Longitudinal Mixed Method Approach
Wesley G Skogan
Quasi-experimental Research on Community Policing
Aaron Kupchik, Joseph De Angelis and Nicole L Bracy
Order in the Court: Using Ethnomethodology to Explore Juvenile Justice Settings
Karin Tusinski Miofsky and James M Byrne
Evaluation Research and Probation: How to Distinguish High Performance from Low Performance Programmes
Alison Liebling, Susie Hulley and Ben Crewe
Conceptualising and Measuring the Quality of Prison Life
Susanne Karstedt
Comparing Justice and Crime across Cultures
 
PART FIVE: PREVENTING CRIME AND IMPROVING JUSTICE
Heather Strang and Lawrence W Sherman
Experimental Criminology and Restorative Justice: Principles of Developing and Testing Innovations in Crime Policy
Manuel Eisner, Tina Malti, Denis Ribeaud
Large-Scale Criminological Field Experiments
Martin Schmucker and Friedrich Lösel
Meta-Analysis as a Method of Systematic Reviews
Ken Pease
Crime Concentration and Police Work
Michael Levi
Assessing the costs of Fraud
Cyndi Banks
The Other Cultural Criminology: The Role of Action Research in Justice Work and Development
Gail Mason and Julie Stubbs
Feminist Approaches to Criminological Research
Mark Israel and Iain Hay
Research Ethics in Criminology

This remarkable collection of essays is criminological methodology like it ought to be. Reflecting the rich, methodological and substantive diversity of the field and the complexity of the criminological subject matter, these essays reveal the stories behind the stories criminologists tell. Essential reading for students and researchers alike
Professor Shadd Maruna
Queens University, Belfast


The Sage Handbook of Criminological Research Methods by David Gadd, Susanne Karstedt and Steven Messner brings together a large group of experienced researchers from across the world to write about a wide range of innovative and important approaches to criminological enquiry. But the handbook is much more than a standard "research methods" book in two significant ways: first, it situates each research methods within its theoretical home. Second, the authors have succeeded in striking the right balance between presenting a necessary textbook approach to using a research method and providing an experienced researcher's perspective on the ins and outs of actually conducting research. The practical insights provided throughout the book, across a very broad range of criminological inquiry, make for an engaging read
Professor Lorraine Mazerolle
University of Queensland, Australia


Criminology is characterized by a bewildering array of research methods ranging from randomized control experiments to ethnographies. The editors boldly charge into this intellectual thicket and provide some much needed organization and clarity. The 33 substantive chapters, written by some of the most respected criminologists in the field, provide an excellent resource for researchers and will make a welcome addition for both undergraduate and graduate research methods courses
Gary LaFree
Director, START Center and Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Maryland


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ISBN: 9781849201759
£150.00

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