Research Methods in Crime and Justice

Research Methods in Crime and Justice, 2nd Edition, is an innovative text/online hybrid designed for undergraduate Criminal Justice Research Methods courses. This material uniquely addresses the fundamental teaching issue of the course: demonstrating to students how success as criminal justice practitioners is linked to their acquisition of research skills.

Brian Withrow, a widely published academic researcher and former Texas State Trooper, developed this approach for his own undergraduate Research Methods class. He persuasively shows that research skills are not just essential for university academic researchers but also for successful criminal justice practitioners. The text includes more than 80 short, sharply focused examples that rely on research conducted by, on behalf of, or relevant to, criminal justice practitioners to engage students’ interest like no other text of its kind.

Extensive web materials, all written by the author, provide an array of instructor support material, including a Researcher’s Notebook. This tool offers students (and their instructors) a series of structured exercises leading to the development of a valid research project. Withrow systematically guides students through defining a question, conducting a literature review, and designing a research method that yields the data necessary to answer the research question—all online, with minimal instructor supervision.

The second edition features expanded coverage of measurement, qualitative research methods, and evaluation research methods. It also includes additional downloadable journal articles to ensure students begin to think critically about research and can read scholarly literature.