The Practice of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice
Web Exercises
Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.
1. Go to SocioSite at www.sociosite.net/. Choose “Subject Areas.” Choose “Crime” or “Criminology.” Find an example of research that has been done using experimental methods. Explain the experiment. Choose at least five of the key terms listed at the end of this chapter that are relevant to and incorporated in the research experiment you have located on the Web. Explain how each of the five key terms you have chosen plays a role in the research example you have found.
2. Go to the Stanford Prison Experiment website at www.prisonexp.org. Read the information provided about the Stanford Prison Experiment, then complete the following:
- Write a brief essay on the study, including the purpose of the study, the type of experiment, the participant selection process, the problems encountered during the study, and the results.
- Go to the discussion questions provided on the website. Answer the questions listed.
- What conclusions do you make about the Stanford Prison Experiment?
3. Navigate to the Wikipedia website at www.wikipedia.org/. Enter the search term “experiment.” After reviewing the entry, provide a critique of it. Is any information incorrect? Unclear? Missing?
4. Create an alphabetical list of at least 20 names (e.g., people in your family, friends, classmates, members of a professional organization). Visit the randomizer at https://www.random.org/lists/. Enter your list into the list randomizer box. Select randomize. Who appears first and last? Select the randomize button again. What are the results now? What are the benefits of using a randomizer for distributing names in this manner?
5. Policing has arguably been the most successful component of the criminal justice system in terms of conducting random field experiments. Review two websites dedicated to summarizing random experiments in policing: http://www.policefoundation.org/projects/randomized-experiments/
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/146242NCJRS.pdf
Review three studies. What experimental methods are typically employed? What hypotheses are being tested in these studies? Are any findings provided? What are they?