NCJ Number
14018
Date Published
1973
Length
298 pages
Annotation
A TEXTBOOK ON METHODS OF ANALYSIS, A CRITIQUE OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON DELINQUENCY, AND A SET OF ESSAYS ON IMPORTANT TOPICS IN METHODOLOGY.
Abstract
THE NATURE OF METHODOLOGICAL CRITICISM, CAUSAL ANALYSIS, MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS, AND CONCEPTUALIZATION AND INFERENCE ARE DISCUSSED, PARTICULARLY AS APPLIED IN JUVENILE DELINQUENCY RESEARCH. RIGID RULES OF METHODOLOGY ARE CONSIDERED TOO INFLEXIBLE FOR THE COMPLEXITIES AND AMBIGUITIES OF SOCIOLOGICAL DYNAMICS. A SET OF ATTITUDES FOR THE ANALYST IS URGED, CONSISTING OF OBJECTIVITY, WHICH IMPLIES FREEDOM FROM BIAS IN METHOD AS WELL AS VIEWPOINTS, VIGILANCE, WHICH IS SENSITIVE TO ERROR, AND SYMPATHY, WHICH ACCEPTS MISTAKES AS BEING A PART OF ANY ENTERPRISE.