Multiwave Establishment Surveys of Police Organizations

• NCJ Number: 199111
• Journal: Justice Research and Policy Volume: 4 Dated: Fall 2002 Pages: 39-59
• Author(s): Edward R. Maguire
• Date Published: 2002
• Length: 21 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: This article is based on a paper prepared for the National Research Council, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Committee on Law and Justice, Meeting of the Committee to Review Research on Police Policy and Practices, Washington, DC, April 11, 2002.

Annotation

This article discusses the use of multiwave establishment surveys of American police organizations.

Abstract

The majority of organizational surveys in policing are cross-sectional, administered only once, and used to draw inferences at a "snapshot" in time. A few are repeated at periodic intervals to allow for the possibility of analyzing organizational change. This article refers to those surveys that are repeated over time as "multiwave" surveys. There are at least three types of multiwave surveys: panel surveys, in which the same sample is surveyed repeatedly by using the same or similar instruments; repeated cross-sectional surveys, in which the same instrument is used repeatedly on different samples; and hybrid surveys, in which portions of the same instrument are used repeatedly, and/or portions of the same sample are surveyed repeatedly. Part One of this article presents a brief history of multiwave establishment surveys of police organizations. Part Two explores some general issues and trends related to multiwave establishment surveys of police organizations, including how they are conducted, the kinds of data collected, how the data are used, and other directions that might be worth pursuing. Part Three offers recommendations regarding the construction and use of multiwave surveys of police organizations. It concludes that such surveys are useful in a number of ways and should be continued. A meta-analysis of such surveys is recommended to provide information on the factors associated with high response rates; results could be used to produce a set of useful guidelines for doing quality establishment survey research in policing. Further, more attention should be given to using these surveys to identify and analyze the factors that influence organizational change in policing. Finally, all establishment survey research should make an effort to validate the findings reported. Suggestions are offered for methods to achieve validation. 2 tables and 30 references