You are here

Book > Textbooks > Research Methods for Criminology & Criminal Justice
Adventures in Criminal Justice Research
Share

Adventures in Criminal Justice Research
Data Analysis Using SPSS 15.0 and 16.0 for Windows

Fourth Edition
June 2008 | 216 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Download flyer
This text is an ideal supplement to any research methods in criminal justice textbook. Used primarily in lab settings, this text teaches students how to analyze issues and use SPSS for criminal justice research. The text explains to students, with the aid of step-by-step instructions in over 150 Windows screen shots, how to conduct and analyze their own surveys, comparing data collected with national data. Recent GSS data sets, including 2000 Census data, and the Public Health College Alcohol Survey, are utilized and available on a bundled CD.
 
About the Authors
 
Preface for Instructors
 
Part I: Preparing for Criminal Justice Research
 
Chapter 1: Theory, Measurement, and Research Development
1.1 Research in Criminal Justice

 
1.2 Theory in Criminal Justice: Routine Activity Theory

 
1.3 Hypotheses in Criminal Justice Research

 
1.4 Should Abortion Be Legal?

 
1.5 Crime, Punishment, and Violence

 
1.6 The Logic of Measurement

 
1.7 Validity Problems

 
1.8 Reliability Problems

 
1.9 Multiple Indicators

 
1.10 Level of Measurement

 
1.11 Units of Analysis

 
1.12 Summary

 
 
Chapter 2: Criminal Justice Data Sets
2.1 Primary and Secondary Data Analysis

 
2.2 Description of a Data Set: The General Social Survey

 
2.3 Sampling: How Representative Are Your Data?

 
2.4 Data Collection

 
2.5 General Social Survey Variables

 
2.6 Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study

 
2.7 Other Criminal Justice Data Sets Available on the Web

 
2.8 Downloading Data from the Internet

 
2.9 Your Own Criminal Justice Survey

 
2.10 Summary

 
 
Chapter 3: Using SPSS
3.1 Using SPSS to Open Existing Data Sets

 
3.2 Learning More: The Windows Tutorial

 
3.3 Creating Your Own Data Set

 
3.4 Coding Your Data

 
3.5 Entering Your Data

 
3.6 Using Published Criminal Justice Data

 
3.7 Summary

 
 
Part II: Univariate Analysis
 
Chapter 4: Describing a Variable
4.1 A Graphic View

 
4.2 Measuring Central Tendency and Dispersion

 
4.3 Modifying Variables With Recode

 
4.4 Practicing Recodes

 
4.5 Saving Your Work

 
4.6 Summary

 
 
Chapter 5: Working With Variables
5.1 Political Views: Liberalism Versus Conservatism

 
5.2 Political Policy Affiliation

 
5.3 Gun Laws and Capital Punishment

 
5.4 Understanding Binge Drinking

 
5.5 Other Survey Items About Crime and Justice

 
5.6 Crime and Justice Data for the American States

 
5.7 Summary

 
 
Chapter 6: Creating Composite Measures
6.1 Using Crosstabs

 
6.2 Combining Two Items in an Index

 
6.3 Checking to See How the Index Works

 
6.4 Creating a More Complex Index With Count

 
6.5 Creating the FBI Crime Index

 
6.6 "Secondhand Binge Effects": Creating an Index

 
6.7 Summary

 
 
Part III: Bivariate Analysis
 
Chapter 7: Investigating the Correlates of Binge Drinking and Attitudes Toward Gun Control and Capital Punishment: Independent Versus Dependent Variables
7.1 Moving Beyond Description: Comparing Two Variables

 
7.2 Comparing Binge Drinking and Gender

 
7.3 Examining Binge Drinking and Race

 
7.4 Continuing the Analysis: Binge Drinking and Religiosity

 
7.5 The Impact of the Minimum Purchase Law: Bingeing and Age

 
7.6 Political Orientation, Guns, and Capital Punishment: Independent Versus Dependent Variables

 
7.7 The Relationship Between POLVIEWS and PARTYID

 
7.8 Age and Politics

 
7.9 Religion and Politics

 
7.10 Gender and Politics

 
7.11 Race, Class, and Politics

 
7.12 Education and Politics

 
7.13 Martial Status and Politics

 
7.14 Gun Laws and Capital Punishment

 
7.15 Summary

 
 
Chapter 8: Measures of Association
8.1 Lambda

 
8.2 Gamma

 
8.3 Pearson's r, the Correlation Coefficient

 
8.4 Regression

 
8.5 Summary

 
 
Chapter 9: The Existence, Strength, and Direction of an Association
9.1 Chi-Square

 
9.2 t-Tests

 
9.3 Analysis of Variance

 
9.4 Summary

 
 
Part IV: Multivariate Analysis
 
Chapter 10: Examining Several Independent Variables
10.1 Age, Sex, and Religiosity

 
10.2 Family Status and Religiosity

 
10.3 Social Class and Religiosity

 
10.4 Other Variables to Explore

 
10.5 Multiple Linear Regression

 
10.6 Summary

 
 
Chapter 11: Exploring What Shapes Attitudes About Guns and Capital Punishment
11.1 Political Philosophy and Party Identification

 
11.2 The Mystery of Politics and Marital Status

 
11.3 Guns and Capital Punishment

 
11.4 Summary

 
 
Chapter 12: Logistic Regression: Understanding College Student Drug and Alcohol Abuse
12.1 Binge Drinking: A Dichotomous Dependent Variable

 
12.2 The Odds Ratio: Gender and Binge Drinking

 
12.3 Using SPSS for Windows Student Version for the Odds Ratio

 
12.4 Logistic Regression in SPSS for Windows

 
12.5 Multiple Logistic Regression

 
12.6 Summary

 
 
Appendix A: How to Read a Research Article
 
Appendix B: College Alcohol Study Questionnaire (on the Student Study Site)
 
Appendix C: Chapter Review Quizzes and Independent Projects (on the Student Study Site)
 
Appendix D: Answers to Chapter Review Quizzes (on the Student Study Site)
 
References and Suggested Readings
Glossary/Index

 

I am happy with the current text. I will continue to use it as long as it is viable.

Dr Mike Miller
Criminal Justice, South College
November 6, 2012
Report this review

Excellent guide to using SPSS for criminal justice.

Dr Richard Wiebe
Behavioral Sciences Dept, Fitchburg State College
February 7, 2011
Report this review

Useful for helping students get into actual data analysis.

Dr Richard Wiebe
Behavioral Sciences Dept, Fitchburg State College
December 2, 2009
Report this review

For instructors

Select a Purchasing Option

SAGE Knowledge Promotion

SAGE Knowledge is the premier social sciences platform for SAGE and CQ Press book, reference and video content.

The platform allows researchers to cross-search and seamlessly access a wide breadth of must-have SAGE book and reference content from one source.

Find out more
SAGE Research Methods Promotion

SAGE Research Methods is a research methods tool created to help researchers, faculty and students with their research projects. SAGE Research Methods links over 175,000 pages of SAGE’s renowned book, journal and reference content with truly advanced search and discovery tools. Researchers can explore methods concepts to help them design research projects, understand particular methods or identify a new method, conduct their research, and write up their findings. Since SAGE Research Methods focuses on methodology rather than disciplines, it can be used across the social sciences, health sciences, and more.

With SAGE Research Methods, researchers can explore their chosen method across the depth and breadth of content, expanding or refining their search as needed; read online, print, or email full-text content; utilize suggested related methods and links to related authors from SAGE Research Methods' robust library and unique features; and even share their own collections of content through Methods Lists. SAGE Research Methods contains content from over 720 books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks, the entire “Little Green Book,” and "Little Blue Book” series, two Major Works collating a selection of journal articles, and specially commissioned videos.

Find out more