Statistics for Criminology and Criminal Justice
- Jacinta M. Gau - University of Central Florida, USA
Criminal Justice | Criminology (General) | Research Methods for Criminology & Criminal Justice
“…It is a great textbook for undergrads who are being exposed to statistics in the field for the first time and for Master’s students who need a better grasp of the fundamentals of statistics before taking more advanced courses…”
—Calli M. Cain, University of Nebraska at Omaha
“A must-have textbook for Instructors and students alike in the fields of Criminology and Criminal Justice. The book is user-friendly.”
—Bonny Mhlanga, Western Illinois University
An Introduction to Statistics in Criminology and Criminal Justice
Statistics for Criminology and Criminal Justice, Third Edition demonstrates how statistics is relevant to a student’s life and future career by illustrating the logical connections between basic statistical concepts and their real-world implications in criminology and criminal justice. Written for students with a limited mathematical background, author Jacinta Gau eases student anxiety around statistics by simplifying the overarching goal of each statistical technique and providing step-by-step instructions for working through the formulas and numbers. Students use real data from the field to build a foundational knowledge of statistics, rather than merely memorizing key terms or formulas.
New to the Third Edition
- NEW Thinking Critically feature encourages students to apply the concepts from the chapter to real-life scenarios, with open-ended questions that are designed to inspire students to think about the nuances of science, statistics, and their application to criminal justice.
- Additional illustrations and examples in every chapter keep students engaged with the content and offer ample opportunities for them to practice the techniques.
- New and updated data sets from a wide range of relevant sources, such as the NCVS and UCR, BJS, LEMAS, the Census of Jails, and much more have been incorporated to give students insights into the state of criminal justice research today.
- New research on critical topics encourages students to discuss changes happening in the field such as the Census of Jails, inmate-on-staff assaults in prisons, and homicide rates.
- Practicing Statistics Whiteboard Videos, available in SAGE edge, walk students through statistical calculations to reinforce key concepts.
- Previous edition errors have been corrected by a statistician.
Give your students the SAGE edge!
SAGE edge offers a robust online environment featuring an impressive array of free tools and resources for review, study, and further exploration, keeping both instructors and students on the cutting edge of teaching and learning. Learn more at edge.sagepub.com/gau3e.
Bundle and Save!
We’ve made it easy for students to get SPSS, all in one convenient package at a student-friendly price. When bundled with the new edition of Gau’s text, students receive SPSS for only $29. Use Bundle ISBN 978-1-5443-3274-1
| Science: Basic Terms and Concepts |
| Types of Scientific Research in Criminal Justice and Criminology |
| Software Packages for Statistical Analysis |
| Organization of the Book |
| Review Problems |
| Units of Analysis |
| Independent Variables and Dependent Variables |
| Relationships Between Variables: A Cautionary Note |
| Levels of Measurement |
| Chapter Summary |
| Review Problems |
| Data Distributions |
| Graphs and Charts |
| Grouped Data |
| SPSS |
| Chapter Summary |
| Review Problems |
| The Mode |
| The Median |
| The Mean |
| Using the Mean and Median to Determine Distribution Shape |
| Deviation Scores and the Mean as the Midpoint of the Magnitudes |
| SPSS |
| Chapter Summary |
| Review Problems |
| The Variation Ratio |
| The Range |
| The Variance |
| The Standard Deviation |
| The Standard Deviation and the Normal Curve |
| SPSS |
| Chapter Summary |
| Review Problems |
| Discrete Probability: The Binomial Probability Distribution |
| Continuous Probability: The Standard Normal Curve |
| Chapter Summary |
| Review Problems |
| Empirical Distributions: Population and Sample Distributions |
| Theoretical Distributions: Sampling Distributions |
| Sample Size and the Sampling Distribution: The z and t Distributions |
| Chapter Summary |
| Review Problems |
| The Level of Confidence: The Probability of Being Correct |
| Confidence Intervals for Means With Large Samples |
| Confidence Intervals for Means With Small Samples |
| Confidence Intervals With Proportions and Percentages |
| Chapter Summary |
| Review Problems |
| Sample Statistics and Population Parameters: Sampling Error or True Difference? |
| Null and Alternative Hypotheses |
| Chapter Summary |
| Review Problems |
| Conceptual Basis of the Chi-Square Test: Statistical Dependence and Independence |
| The Chi-Square Test of Independence |
| Measures of Association |
| SPSS |
| Chapter Summary |
| Review Problems |
| Two-Population Tests for Differences Between Means: t Tests |
| Two-Population Tests for Differences Between Proportions |
| SPSS |
| Chapter Summary |
| Review Problems |
| ANOVA: Different Types of Variances |
| When the Null Is Rejected: A Measure of Association and Post Hoc Tests |
| SPSS |
| Chapter Summary |
| Review Problems |
| Beyond Statistical Significance: Sign, Magnitude, and Coefficient of Determination |
| SPSS |
| Chapter Summary |
| Review Problems |
| One Independent Variable and One Dependent Variable: Bivariate Regression |
| Adding More Independent Variables: Multiple Regression |
| Ordinary Least Squares Regression in SPSS |
| Alternatives to Ordinary Least Squares Regression |
| Chapter Summary |
| Review Problems |
Supplements
The password-protected Instructor Resource Site includes the following:
- A Microsoft® Word® test bank is available containing multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and essay questions for each chapter. The test bank provides you with a diverse range of pre-written options as well as the opportunity for editing any question and/or inserting your own personalized questions to effectively assess students’ progress and understanding.
- Editable, chapter-specific Microsoft® PowerPoint® slides offer you complete flexibility in easily creating a multimedia presentation for your course. Highlight essential content, features, and artwork from the book.
- Sample course syllabi for semester and quarter courses provide suggested models for use when creating the syllabi for your courses.
- EXCLUSIVE! Access to certain full-text SAGE journal articles that have been carefully selected for each chapter. Each article supports and expands on the concepts presented in the chapter.
- Web resources are included for further research and insights.
- Chapter activities for individual or group projects provide lively and stimulating ideas for use in and out of class reinforce active learning
- Practicing Statistics Whiteboard Videos, available in SAGE edge, walk students through statistical calculations to reinforce key concepts.
The open-access Student Study Site includes the following:
- Mobile-friendly eFlashcards reinforce understanding of key terms and concepts that have been outlined in the chapters.
- Mobile-friendly web quizzes allow for independent assessment of progress made in learning course material.
- EXCLUSIVE! Access to certain full-text SAGE journal articles that have been carefully selected for each chapter.
- Web resources are included for further research and insights.
- Data-sets reinforce concepts from the book and provide real-world application
- Practicing Statistics Whiteboard Videos, available in SAGE edge, walk students through statistical calculations to reinforce key concepts.
“[Statistics for Criminology and Criminal Justice] is well-written and logically organized so that it is easy for instructors to adopt (without having to jump around in the book). It is a great textbook for undergrads who are being exposed to statistics in the field for the first time and for Master’s students who need a better grasp of the fundamentals of statistics before taking more advanced courses (the SPSS exercises are especially useful for a graduate level students who are novice SPSS users).”
“This is a thorough introductory text with a lot of good, interesting examples and descriptions of data sources.”
“A must-have textbook for Instructors and students alike in the fields of Criminology and Criminal Justice. The book is user-friendly.”
“Great textbook that provides easy to read examples and comprehensive topics.”
“[Statistics for Criminology and Criminal Justice] does an excellent job with providing students a conceptual foundation to the application of statistical techniques. It provides just enough detail, does not shy away from the presentation of formulas, and emphasizes the application and interpretation of statistical analysis. It also uses illustrations in a judicious manner to present relevant concepts. The chapter review problems are an invaluable resource for students.”
“…well-constructed and comprehensive of hypothesis testing and offers a good approach using a clear method of calculation.”
“A great introduction to statistics text that is well organized, easy to understand, and provides students with access to real-life data.”
Sample Materials & Chapters
Chapter 4 - Measures of Central Tendency
Chapter 12 - Hypothesis Testing with Three or More Population Means
