Criminal Justice 2000, Volume 4: Measurement and Analysis of Crime and Justice

• NCJ Number: 182411
• Author(s): Robert Kaminski; Nancy La Vigne
• Date Published: July 2000
• Length: 608 pages
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Best Practice/State-of-the-Art Review

Annotation

These 12 papers examine methodological debates that have shaped the evolution of research on crime and justice and explore current knowledge, trends, and future directions in the measurement and analysis of crime and the criminal justice system and the consequences of such measurement and analysis for justice processes and research.

Abstract

The papers cover four main themes: (1) theoretical frameworks, (2) data and measurement, (3) analytic problems, and (4) the use of research in decision making. Topics include sampling, mathematical modeling, statistical analysis, data visualization, research design, and others. The papers highlight measurement dilemmas and solutions as well as analytic difficulties and applications that have contributed to what is now known and what is still not known about crime and justice. The first five chapters examine general issues in the measurement and analysis of crime and crime control. These chapters focus on dilemmas and difficulties with self-report surveys, problems and progress in cross-national comparisons, problems in analyzing crime data that are spatially and temporally clustered, and cost-benefit analysis in criminal justice. The next three chapters cover the measurement of sexual victimization, the measurement and control of fear of crime, and the measurement and control of drug abuse. The final two chapters examine measurement of characteristics of police agencies and court performance and raise issues relevant to other aspects of the justice system. Tables, figures, appended list of the contents in the other three volumes in the Criminal Justice 2000 series, and chapter notes and reference lists