The Practice of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice
Web Exercises
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1. Go to the American Evaluation Association website at www.eval.org. Choose “Reading” and then “Guiding Principles for Evaluators.” What are the five guiding principles discussed in this document? Provide a summary of each principle. Why are each important in evaluation?
2. Describe the resources available for evaluation researchers at the following website: http://ieg.worldbankgroup.org/content/ieg/en/home.html. What challenges would a researcher from the United States face when conducting an evaluation in another country?
3. Check out the latest information regarding the D.A.R.E. program at www.dare.com. Describe the current approach? Can you find scholarly information on the Web or your library’s journal collection about current research on D.A.R.E.? Summarize the research.
4. Go to the Campbell Collaboration website (www.campbellcollaboration.org) and access the library. Find a study that evaluates a topic of interest to you. What was the selection criteria used for the review? How did the researchers operationalize the constructs they were measuring (e.g., mentoring, delinquency, recidivism)? What do they conclude?
5. Access the Urban Institute’s website (www.urban.org) and select one of the areas of research. Read one of the publications in this section. What evaluation method is used? What is purpose of the evaluation? Are any efficiency analyses conducted? Who are the program’s stakeholders?
6. Visit the Campbell Collaboration website (www.campbellcollaboration.org). Choose one of the systematic reviews. Explain what a systematic review is, and how the methods in the review you chose are employed. What is the overall goal of the review? What results or conclusions do the authors provide?
7. Go to website for Crime Solutions (www.crimesolutions.gov). Choose a topic and review the program or practice profile. Describe the program and its goals. Review the methods and explain how the program or practice was evaluated for this profile. Access one of the additional references and review the article/report. Describe the results and methods used in this study. Finally, discuss the findings of the review – is the program or practice effective, promising, or categorized as no effects? What does this rating mean for evaluation?