Methods of Research
Methods of Research
Jennifer Whitehead
CJ490
8/12/14
Professor Price
Methods of Research Scientist conducts research on a daily basis. The purpose of this research is exploration, description, explanation, and application. In the area of criminal justice things are getting researched all of the time. Take murder for example, the police have to explore to find out what actually happened. They have to describe the events leading up the the murder. They have to explain the facts to try and come up with a suspect. Finally, they have to use the process of application to put it all together so they can make an arrest. When using the different purposes of research it is important to examine each purpose by itself because each purpose has its own different aspect when it comes to research design. The exploration stage is the first stage that researchers begin with when using research methods. “This stage is typically done for three purposes: to satisfy the researcher does curiosity and desires for better understand, to test the feasibility of undertaking a more extensive study, and to develop the methods to be employed in any subsequent studies.” (Crossman, 2014) A researcher will use the exploration stage of research when they want to find out about something that there is little known about. Take drugs for example; let’s say a researcher wants to find out how bad the drug problem is in the United States. There are a couple categories that a researcher may want to explore. Such as; “how many were arrested for drug sales or possession each year and how many hours per day do drug dealers work and how much do they make?” (Maxfield & Babbie, 2009) The next purpose of research is description. The researcher explores and then describes what they explored. For example; the U.S. Census, “the goal of the census is to describe accurately and precisely several characteristics of the U.S. population, including race/ethnicity, age, sex, household size, and income.”
Jennifer Whitehead
CJ490
8/12/14
Professor Price
Methods of Research Scientist conducts research on a daily basis. The purpose of this research is exploration, description, explanation, and application. In the area of criminal justice things are getting researched all of the time. Take murder for example, the police have to explore to find out what actually happened. They have to describe the events leading up the the murder. They have to explain the facts to try and come up with a suspect. Finally, they have to use the process of application to put it all together so they can make an arrest. When using the different purposes of research it is important to examine each purpose by itself because each purpose has its own different aspect when it comes to research design. The exploration stage is the first stage that researchers begin with when using research methods. “This stage is typically done for three purposes: to satisfy the researcher does curiosity and desires for better understand, to test the feasibility of undertaking a more extensive study, and to develop the methods to be employed in any subsequent studies.” (Crossman, 2014) A researcher will use the exploration stage of research when they want to find out about something that there is little known about. Take drugs for example; let’s say a researcher wants to find out how bad the drug problem is in the United States. There are a couple categories that a researcher may want to explore. Such as; “how many were arrested for drug sales or possession each year and how many hours per day do drug dealers work and how much do they make?” (Maxfield & Babbie, 2009) The next purpose of research is description. The researcher explores and then describes what they explored. For example; the U.S. Census, “the goal of the census is to describe accurately and precisely several characteristics of the U.S. population, including race/ethnicity, age, sex, household size, and income.”
References: Crossman, A. (2014). The Purposes of Research: Exploration, Description, and Explanation. Retrieved from http://sociology.about.com/od/Research/a/Purposes-of-Research.htm Maxfield, M. G., & Babbie, E. (2009). Basic of Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology. Retrieved from http://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/1111810729/pages/20258106