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Sources of Data

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Measurement Issues in Criminology

Abstract

The search for answers to questions about crime and attempts to control it eventually leads most researchers to data about its nature and distribution. Investigators who study crime or social problems have long sought out data necessary to frame or revise research questions, test hypotheses, or interpret findings.1 Today, data sources are used to unravel the reasons for crime or deviance, determine the impact of crime prevention or rehabilitation programs, assess changes in crime or crime rates, model the careers of offenders, estimate the risk of victimization, determine defendant dispositions after arrest, and address numerous other questions.

… no people, ever, have been more diligent in counting themselves, their opinions, conditions, and behaviors. The largest behavioral science studies in terms of numbers of subjects, numbers of tests, and money expended have been American, and no other land tries to tally such a grand range of activities—from tax filings to bedroom pleasures. (G. Nettler, 1989, p. 36)

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Authors
  1. Patrick G. Jackson
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Administration of Justice, College of Arts & Sciences, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 63121-4499, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Kimberly L. Kempf

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© 1990 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

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Jackson, P.G. (1990). Sources of Data. In: Kempf, K.L. (eds) Measurement Issues in Criminology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9009-1_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9009-1_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-97260-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-9009-1

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