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2 American J. Crim. Just. 1 (1977)

handle is hein.journals/acnjrlocm2 and id is 1 raw text is: ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESEARCH DATA* by REED ADAMS Associate Professor Criminal Justice University of North Carolina at Charlotte Criminal justice research, as is true with research in economics, political science, education, and several other fields, may sometimes involve unique problems. One such problem involves the restriction of dependent variables to behavior defined as criminal or delinquent, or to the mechanics of dealing with such behavior. Unusual aspects of criminal and delinquent behavior, such as the efforts of most criminals to hide their behavior from public view, and peculiarities of the social control system, such as the police officer's fear of violent death, place constraints on research. Yet, little attention has been devoted to problems of criminal justice data analysis. Methodology books written specifically for criminal justice research are scarce. Only a few such sources (Adams, 1975; Albright, et. al., 1973; Glaser, 1973; Hirschi and Selvin, 1967; Maltz, 1972; Simon, 1971; Walker, 1971; and Wilkins, 1969) are currently in print. Although additional excellent work has been devoted to criminal justice research methodology (Adams, 1975; Blumstein, et. al., 1968; Wilkins, 1965), it might be helpful for researchers to have greater exposure to some of the data analysis problems in criminal justice research. RESEARCH TRENDS It has been suggested that criminal justice research findings are meager because there is nothing to measure. This suggestion is one interpretation of the research literature reviews of the effectiveness of criminal justice programs whose findings have been contradictory (Adams, 1974). Inconclusive research findings by criminal justice programs may mean poor research has failed to identify real treatment effects, or it may mean that criminal justice programs are impotent. The relative importance of the two may be suggested by the reviews * An earlier version of this paper was presented at a meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, Illinois, 1975. Robert Johnson and Ray Michalowski provided a valuable critique of an earlier draft of the paper.