NCJ Number
53993
Date Published
1977
Length
18 pages
Annotation
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS ARE TERMED APPROPRIATE AND INDISPENSABLE EVALUATIVE STRATEGIES IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SINCE THEY EXAMINE CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS AND CAN AID IN MAKING COMPARISONS BETWEEN PROGRAMS.
Abstract
IN SOCIAL RESEARCH QUALITATIVE EXAMINATION IS BEING NEGLECTED IN FAVOR OF QUANTITATIVE, WITH ITS HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED, MATHEMATICALLY-BASED METHODOLOGY. BUT SCIENTIFIC PROOF HAS A DUAL NATURE WITH THE QUALITATIVE COMPONENT EMPHASIZING INTERPRETIVE UNDERSTANDING, AND THE QUANTITATIVE COMPONENT EMPHASIZING CAUSAL EXPLANATION. CAUSAL ADEQUACY REQUIRES THAT BOTH INTERPRETIVE UNDERSTANDING AND CAUSAL EXPLANATION BE OBTAINED. THE MAIN QUALITATIVE APPROACH IS ETHNOGRAPHY, WHICH IS AN EMIC, HOLISTIC, HISTORICAL, AND COMPARATIVE APPROACH; IT PROVIDES CATEGORIES AND MEANINGS OF EVENTS IN THE EYES OF THE PARTICIPANTS AT DIFFERENT POINTS IN TIME, AND SHOWS THE TRANSITION BETWEEN THEM. QUALITATIVE HAS THESE BENEFITS: (1) USING QUALITATIVE METHODS, RESEARCHERS CAN MAKE CROSS PROGRAM COMPARISONS WHICH ARE DIRELY NEEDED IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE; (2) QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ALLOWS AT LEAST SOME DEGREE OF VOLUNTARISM ON THE PART OF PARTICIPANTS TO BE OBSERVED; AND (3) ETHNOGRAPHIES ARE BETTER ABLE THAN SURVEYS TO ESTABLISH TEMPORAL ORDER, AND, THUS MAY BE ABLE TO BETTER TEST SOME DEDUCTIVELY DERIVED HYPOTHESES. IN SUMMARY, THE STRENGTHS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH LIE IN THE BREADTH OF DATA, THE LEVELS OF DATA, THE FORMATION OF INDICES AND TYPOLOGIES, AND THE INTERACTION IN A TIME DIMENSION THAT THEY ALLOW. QUALITATIVE DESIGNS ARE BEST IN REGARD TO SOCIAL CHANGE STUDYING IT IN ITS OBJECTIVE FORM (E.G., A NEW POLICY) AND IN THE RESPONSE OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL PARTICIPANTS. HOWEVER, IT ALONE CANNOT ESTABLISH CAUSALITY, AND HAS ITS CAVEATS AND LIMITATIONS ESPECIALLY FOR INEXPERIENCED RESEARCHERS. REFERENCES CITED. (FCW)