Criminal Justice and Criminology Research Methods

Criminal Justice and Criminology Research Methods, Third Edition, is an accessible and engaging text that offers balanced coverage of a full range of contemporary research methods.

Filled with gritty criminal justice and criminology examples including policing, corrections, evaluation research, forensics, feminist studies, juvenile justice, crime theory, and criminal justice theory, this new edition demonstrates how research is relevant to the field and what tools are needed to actually conduct that research. Kraska, Brent, and Neuman write in a pedagogically friendly style yet without sacrificing rigor, offering balanced coverage of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods. With its exploration of the thinking behind science and its cutting-edge content, the text goes beyond the nuts and bolts to teach students how to competently critique as well as create research-based knowledge.

This book is suitable for undergraduate and early graduate students in US and global Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Justice Studies programs, as well as for senior scholars concerned with incorporating the latest mixed-methods approaches into their research.

"The text emphasizes not only why research methods are important, but also how methods can structure the way we approach and think about the world and our role in it."--Kevin Steinmetz, Associate Professor of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Kansas State University, USA

"Kraska’s textbook is a wonderful methods book. Through the metaphor of lenses (theoretical perspectives), this textbook marries theory and research methods and promotes triangulation and mixed methods, which I find especially important when teaching methods from a critical approach to researching crime and justice."--Edward Green, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Roosevelt University, USA

"This text gives equal weight to qualitative methods, unusual for criminology and criminal justice methods books. My main concern when teaching methods is guiding students from an abstract idea or question to specific data collection. This book does a nice job of presenting the ideas of research in an abstract way but also providing examples of how it is done in practice."—Heith Copes, Professor of Criminal Justice, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA

"The text emphasizes not only why research methods are important, but also how methods can structure the way we approach and think about the world and our role in it."--Kevin Steinmetz, Associate Professor of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Kansas State University, USA

"Kraska’s textbook is a wonderful methods book. Through the metaphor of lenses (theoretical perspectives), this textbook marries theory and research methods and promotes triangulation and mixed methods, which I find especially important when teaching methods from a critical approach to researching crime and justice."--Edward Green, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Roosevelt University, USA

Peter B. Kraska, Ph.D. is a professor in the School of Justice Studies at Eastern Kentucky University. He has distinguished himself as a leading scholar in the areas of police and criminal justice militarization, criminal justice theory, and mixed-methods research. He has published seven books including Criminal Justice and Criminology Research Methods, Theorizing Criminal Justice: Eight Essential Orientations, and Militarizing The American Criminal Justice System: The Changing Roles of the Armed Forces and Police. Dr. Kraska’s research has also been published in a number of leading journals, including the British Journal of Criminology, Social Problems, Justice Quarterly, and Policing and Society. Dr. Kraska’s work has received national and international recognition. He is frequently asked to present his research and findings to academic and policy audiences, including most recently testifying for the US Senate on police militarization. His work has also been featured in media outlets such as 60 Minutes, The Economist, Washington Post, BBC, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, National Public Radio, and PBS News Hour.

John J. Brent, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the School of Justice Studies at Eastern Kentucky University. He holds a Ph.D in Criminology from the University Delaware. His interests focus on: the cultural and structural dynamics of crime and crime-control; how institutions create and perpetuate inequalities; building a theoretical foundation for criminal justice theory; and how individuals are disciplined and punished.

W. Lawrence Neuman, Ph.D. is a Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater. He has authored a number of methodological textbooks and published articles in leading academic journals covering a host of social, political, international, and cultural issues. His work has attracted funding from various grants, leading him to being awarded the Outstanding Researcher Award at his institution, and earning him the University of Wisconsin-System Teaching Fellow Award.

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