Davies e Francis. Doing Criminological Research

Pamela Davies Peter Francis
Doing
Criminological
Research
Third
Edition
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CONTENTS
Notes on Contributors xxii

Acknowledgements xxiv
1 Decision Making and Reflexivity in Doing Criminological Research 1

Pamela Davies and Peter Francis
2 Planning and Proposing Criminological Research 35

Peter Francis
3 Undertaking a Criminological Literature Review 67

Alison Wakefield
4 Methodological Approaches to Criminological Research 93

Hannah Bows
5 Using Mixed Methods in Criminological Research 113

Vicky Heap and Jaime Waters
6 The Politics and Ethics of Criminological Research 137

David Scott
7 Writing Up and Presenting Criminological Research 161

Alexandra Hall
8 Using Historical Artefacts, Records and Resources in Criminological Research 179

Pam Cox, Heather Shore and Barry Godfrey
9 Using Social Surveys in Criminological Research 199

Jo Deakin and Jon Spencer
10 Doing Quantitative Data Analysis in Criminological Research 229

Nick Tilley, Graham Farrell and Andromachi Tseloni
11 Using Big Data and Data Analytics in Criminological Research 251

Lyria Bennett Moses and Janet Chan

12 Doing Qualitative Data Analysis in Criminological Research 271
Pamela Davies
13 Doing Longitudinal and Life-Course Criminological Research 297

Jerzy Sarnecki and Christoffer Carlsson
14 Using Interviews as Storytelling in Criminological Research 321

Elizabeth Stanley
15 Using In-Depth Interviewing and Documentary

Analysis in Criminological Research 341
Marie Segrave and Sanja Milivojevic
16 Using Biography and Autobiography in

Criminological (and Victimological) Research 363
Ross McGarry and Zoe Alker
17 Doing Ethnographic Research in Criminology 385

Steve Hall
18 Doing Criminological Research Online 413

Majid Yar
19 Using Visual Methods in Criminological Research 433

Ronnie Lippens
20 Doing Comparative Criminological Research 455

Matthew Hall
21 Using Case Study Methods in Criminological Research 475

Kathleen Daly
22 Doing Criminological Evaluation Research 497

Rob White
Glossary519
Index535
vi Doing Criminological Research

EXTENDED CONTENTS
Notes on Contributors xxii

Acknowledgements xxiv
1 Decision Making and Reflexivity in

Doing Criminological Research 1
Introduction2
Golden threads and cross-cutting themes 3
Reading and using Doing Criminological Research 5
Thinking Critically about Doing Criminological Research 7
Defining the topic, cases, context and time 7
End purpose of research 7
International, cross-cultural and comparative research 8
Anticipating conclusions 9
Audiences of research 10
The research literature 11
Methodological Approaches to Doing Criminological Research 12
Validity 13
Existing resources as data 14
Primary data collection 18
Visual methodologies 22
Methodological choices 23
Research proposals 23
Reflecting on Doing Criminological Research 25
The importance of reflexivity 25
Research as a social activity 26
Research and emotion 26
Research and politics 27
Research and ethics 28
The case for reflexivity 29
Summary and Review 29
Study Questions and Activities for Students 30
Suggestions for Further Reading 31
References31

CHAPTER CONTENTS
• Introduction 2
{ Golden threads and cross-cutting themes 3
{ Reading and using Doing Criminological Research5
• Thinking Critically about Doing Criminological Research 7
{ Defining the topic, cases, context and time 7
{ End purpose of research 7
{ International, cross-cultural and comparative research 8
{ Anticipating conclusions 9
{ Audiences of research 10
{ The research literature 11
• Methodological Approaches to Doing Criminological Research 12
{Validity 13
{Existing resources as data 14
{ Primary data collection 18
• Visual Methodologies 22
{ Methodological choices 23
{ Research proposals 23
• Reflecting on Doing Criminological Research 25
� The importance of reflexivity 25
� Research as a social activity 26
� Research and emotion 26
� Research and politics 27
� Research and ethics 28
� The case for reflexivity 29
• Summary and Review 29
• Study Questions and Activities for Students 30
• Suggestions for Further Reading 31
• References 31
GLOSSARY TERMS
decision making primary data
research questions secondary data
reflexivity interview
generalizability participant observation
research design ethnography
validity case study
research proposal
01_DAVIES_FRANCIS_DCR_CH-01.indd 27 20/09/2018 3:48:27 PM

1
DECISION MAKING AND
REFLEXIVITY IN DOING
CRIMINOLOGICAL
RESEARCH

INTRODUCTION
Criminology as a subject of study is diverse, wide-ranging, international and frag-
mented. It is carried out by a variety of researchers (for example, students,
academics, policy analysts and practitioners) who study and work within a variety
of institutions (for example, universities, central and local government, criminal
justice agencies, voluntary and third-sector bodies), working with a variety of dif-
ferent discipline bases (for example, sociology, politics, psychology, geography,
economics, history, law and business). Criminologists are likely to ask questions
about the following: the nature of crime and its extent; the perpetrators of crime;
victims of crime; institutions of the criminal justice system and their workings;
and how each of these interacts with wider social structural dimensions such as
power, inequality, age, social class, gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity. Typical
research questions might include ‘How much crime is there and how is it geo-
graphically and socially distributed?’; ‘What kinds of people commit crimes?’;
‘Are there any patterns to victimization in society?’; ‘In what ways does the crim-
inal justice system discriminate against categories of people?’. Such research
questions are broad but are an essential element in decisions about what to study
and what to research.
Your criminological imagination can be stimulated in all manner of ways and
yet, for some of us, turning ideas into research projects can be quite daunting,
and difficult. Starting to do criminological research may be individualized, but,
more likely than not, it often starts as a collaborative effort, whether working
alongside a supervisor, with co-investigators as part of a wider research team, or
with research partners, sometimes stretching across geographical boundaries and
sometimes across strategic corporate organizations and businesses. Doing crimi-
nological research is something we can all do, but it does require particular
disciplinary knowledge, abilities and skills, and we all need to engage in critical
reflection and continue to grow and develop our own thinking and approach to
doing it. Often, that can be done by learning from the mistakes and errors that we
make in doing research – it does not always go as planned. We can also learn from
what our peers – supervisors, colleagues, reviewers, markers, etc. – say about it.
You may find yourself taking risks that pay off or that lead to disappointing
results. Your criminological imagination may sometimes need to be reined in and
tempered as you realize the practical considerations, and ethical and professional
standards that are demanded and expected by your supervisors, peers and pro-
fessional bodies.
In putting together this book, we have been keen to address the needs of those of
you who are fairly new to doing criminological research, but whose criminological
imagination is flourishing. You may well be an undergraduate criminology student or
a postgraduate researcher. However, you may also be an academic lecturer who is
teaching doing criminological research or supervising masters or postgraduate
2 Doing Criminological Research

researchers. And we have also been keen to acknowledge that much criminological
research is now conducted within organizations, third-sector bodies and public and
private institutions. We have therefore attempted to acknowledge that there are a
variety of researchers who would find a book on doing criminological research help-
ful and useful. With that in mind, we have not only tried to bring together the
end-to-end cycle of doing criminological research within a single volume, we have
also been keen to build on the real strengths of earlier editions of this book – that is,
bringing together some of the best researchers doing criminology and letting them
tell it like it is – warts and all. For us, this is the best way to learn – from the best
there are, and from honest and reflective accounts of doing criminological research
in the field. There is no better way – apart from doing it yourself. In delivering our
vision for the book, we kept in mind a number of golden threads – or cross-cutting
themes – that we wanted the book and its contributors to address. These are dis-
cussed below.
Golden threads and cross-cutting themes
The first golden thread that runs throughout the book and its chapters is that
doing research involves engaging in a process of decision making. Doing
Criminological Research commences by stressing the importance of: preparing and
planning your research; designing your research project such that it will shed a
light on your research questions; reflective thinking about decisions you have
made and are making; and forward thinking about how you will undertake the
research and analyse, write up and present it. Focusing on decision making at the
preparation and planning stage encourages you to take decisions to rule out, as far
as possible, potential risks and threats to the validity of your conclusions (see
more below). One key initial decision concerns the choice of subject matter of
research, or what is sometimes referred to as the research problem. This decision
is pivotal because the research subject or problem provides the main focus for
your research project and is a major influence on subsequent decisions about the
ways in which your project is to be accomplished.
Another key decision that the book is concerned with is the kinds of methods to
use and the sorts of data to collect. Crucially, each decision must be properly rea-
soned and justified to ensure that the research is as valid, reliable and robust as it can
be. All of the chapters explore the many ways in which criminological research is
entered into and carried out. They consider the exciting and innovative ways in
which criminological researchers execute their research. This book assembles a col-
lection of chapters that illustrate the importance of planning, preparing, doing and
presenting criminological research, with each of the contributors giving some
thought to these various stages. Importantly, they do this by drawing on their own
experiences of doing criminology in the field, and by describing and reflecting on the
decisions they made throughout that process.
Imagination, Preparation, Decision Making and Reflexivity 3

The second golden thread that runs throughout the book and its chapters is
that of the excitement, fun and reward of doing high-quality criminological
research. Despite the need for good decision making, in what is often an uncer-
tain and messy environment of working, doing criminological research is really
exciting. Whether you are a third-year undergraduate student embarking on
your dissertation; a postdoctoral researcher undertaking a funding council fel-
lowship; an associate professor or a professor of criminology leading a
collaborative research project, outlining the topic and the reasons for the
research, developing your thinking and ideas as the evidence unfolds against a
research question that you have formulated in light of an identified problem,
can be hugely rewarding. Why wouldn’t it be – after all, it involves doing what
you want to do, in an area that you are interested in, with the intention of gen-
erating new and original research outputs and outcomes. Done well, it can stoke
the criminological imagination; certainly it can ensure curiosity, challenge and
criticality remain central to your thinking and practice – essential for being a
good researcher. With this in mind, central to this book is the importance of the
criminological imagination to doing criminological research. Indeed, each con-
tributor focuses on how criminological research is accomplished. Each chapter
does so through illustrations and exemplifications from those who have experi-
enced doing criminological research in the field – even when their field is an
office, library, archive and desk!
A third golden thread that runs throughout the book and its chapters is that
despite the best-laid plans, the practice and experience of doing criminological
research can be, and often is, different to that envisaged. That is, whilst decision
making is key, sometimes those decisions may turn out to be wrong, or sometimes
you may well need to make additional decisions that run counter to those you
first made, to address errors in previous thinking or issues that have arisen in
practice. Research is a social activity often influenced by factors external to and
outside the control of the investigator. It is not possible to escape the reality that
even the best-laid plans and designs have to be actualized in social, institutional,
economic, cultural and political contexts. Many of these factors, often in differ-
ent combinations, can be constraints and can have a profound effect on the
outcome of research. Feminist scholars have long argued that ‘methodology mat-
ters’ (Stanley, 1993), yet it remains usual for the messiness of research to be
sanitized, de-emotionalized and glossed over in published reports. Following
Stanley and Wise (1993), Letherby (2003: 79) reminds us of the ‘“dirtiness” of
so-called “hygienic” research’. The untold hours of personal, ethical and reflex-
ive pondering that goes on in preparing for and planning criminological research,
around research design and operationalization, entry to the field, during field-
work, on exiting the field and in the analysis, writing up, dissemination,
conclusion and impact of research, are rarely acknowledged. This is often hard
and challenging emotional toil and labour which researchers do and experience,

yet often they are encouraged to pretend they do not. Contributors to this
volume dwell on some of these details and reflect, where possible, on how they
might have overcome them.
The fourth and final golden thread that runs throughout the book and its chap-
ters is the importance of reflexivity. In the main, social and criminological
researchers are concerned with individuals – although not always at first hand –
and these are people with feelings, opinions, motives, likes and dislikes. What is
more, typically, criminological research is a form of interaction and what comes to
pass as ‘knowledge’ can be the result of interactions in the research process. We
have already noted that decision making is a theme that we see as key to conduct-
ing criminological research from start to finish. Reflecting on the decisions which
have been taken in research and on the problems which have been encountered is
an essential element of doing research. In fact, it is often the case that a reflexive
account is published as part of a research report or a book; indeed, whole articles,
chapters and even books have been written on this very topic. Typically, such an
account covers all phases and aspects of the research process. For example, it will
outline and discuss how a research problem came to take the shape that it did, how
and why certain cases were selected for study and not others, the difficulties faced
in data collection, and the various influences on the formulation of conclusions and
their publication. Reflexive accounts should not be solely descriptive but should
also be analytical and evaluative. Reflexivity is not a self-indulgent exercise akin to
showing photographs to others to illustrate the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ of a recent holi-
day. Rather, it is a vital part of demonstrating the factors which have contributed
to the social production of knowledge. The contributors to this book reflect on,
and offer transparent accounts of, the various constraints and impediments to
research, the decisions they made, the operational rules they followed and the
methodological choices they often had to continuously ‘make up’ during the
research process, in order to ensure their research stands up to ethical scrutiny and
is valid.
Reading and using Doing Criminological Research
Doing Criminological Research is a hugely successful book. This third edition is com-
pletely new and refocused. Of course, the previous two editions had strengths,
namely:
• the focus on decision making and reflexivity throughout the research process
• the range of examples and case studies used to demonstrate different methods in
practice
• the accessibility of the book and the learning features used throughout.

However, this new edition offers much more than those previous volumes, builds
further on their strengths, by expanding the scope and depth of methodological
interrogation and breadth of contributors doing criminological research in new,
innovative, dynamic and novel ways. It is our belief that this third edition represents
a single point of reference and a comprehensive resource. We have been keen to
identify a common format for each chapter that helps your reading and understand-
ing in order to:
• ensure consistency in approach and to secure a thorough review of all aspects of

the academic and scholarly research literature
• strengthen the student-centred nature of the book, allowing for a focused, acces-
sible and user-friendly approach
• provide a more useful and ‘ready-made’ teaching and learning tool
• signpost theoretical, research, practical and reflective aspects of the book.
Where relevant, each chapter offers:
• a concise critical overview and review of the academic and scholarly research on
particular related topics
• a robust discussion of the literature on the methodology and methods used
• an examination of the use of the methods in practice
• judicious use of presenting visual material (lists, bullet points, tables,
boxes, etc.)
• summary/review sections, questions/activities, suggested further readings, creating
a more interactive internal structure generally.
Chapters variously also incorporate the following features:
• enhanced and consistent use of definitions and explanations, key themes, con-
cepts, terminologies, etc.
• greater and more specific cross-referencing for ease and speed of use within and
between chapters – signposts (jigsaws) throughout the text direct you to the
glossary
• textual illustration and exemplification/case studies
• good use of diagrammatic illustration and visual imagery, such as tables, boxes,
extracts
• questions within each chapter as well as tasks to complete.
Doing Criminological Research (third edition) is a book that can be read from start
to finish, yet it is also a book that can be dipped into, with individual chapters serv-
ing as resources in their own right and relating to specific and particular aspects of
doing criminological research. We hope that you enjoy it.

THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT DOING
CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Here, we pull out the salient structural elements of the book and its chapters, and
offer new and additional material that we think will help you develop not only your
approach to doing criminological research, but also your criminological imagination.
Defining the topic, cases, context and time
Deciding ‘what to study’ and what your research problem is together form the first
important decision you have to make. There must be some initial statement of the
territory to be examined. This acts as a benchmark against which progress is meas-
ured. One of the hallmarks of effective research is the clear formulation of research
problems and questions. These will guide you as the researcher to constantly return
to key issues, whilst not acting as strait-jackets to inhibit creative inquiry (and pos-
sibly reformulation of the research problem) as the project progresses. One of the
hallmarks of ineffective research is a research problem which allows an investigator
to lose his or her way, with the outcome that conclusions do not address what was
intended. A key decision, then, concerns topic – what to study? For most criminolo-
gists, the starting point for a research topic is an idea or a topic that is of interest to
them, the source of which may be many and varied and can include personal interest,
the research literature, social problems or a new development in society.
Typically, research questions begin by being broad and unfocused. What is more,
they form a platform for making decisions about who to study, where and when. That
is, there are decisions not just about topic but also about cases, context, and time.
Broad research questions can be refined and reformulated to be more incisive and
penetrative to take the form of, for example, ‘How do urban and rural areas (context)
differ in terms of victimization of racially motivated crimes (cases) in the period
between 1980 and 2010 (time)?’ In this way, decisions are taken to open up some
dimensions of a broad topic to inquiry and not others. Peter Francis in Chapter 2
describes the process of formulating research questions.
End purpose of research
Many factors influence decisions about the topic, cases, context and time, one of the
most important of which is the end purpose of research. For example, where an
investigator is commissioned to evaluate the introduction of some aspect of crime
prevention policy, or a particular initiative, the selection of topic, cases, context and
time will typically be specified in advance by the sponsor. Rob White, in Chapter 22,
explores in detail the process and opportunities that come with doing crimino
logical evaluation, and, importantly, he offers some reflection on the similarities and

differences between criminological research and evaluation research. Box 1.1 details
an example of an evaluation project that was designed by the police. This new
approach to tackling domestic abuse by serial perpetrators had five key objectives,
and the evaluation needed to be designed such that it could report on the outcomes
with respect to these after one year and then again at the end of a two-year period.
Even where there is a commitment to a broad academic aim of making some contri-
bution to knowledge and to theory, it will be necessary to ground empirical inquiry in
specific cases, contexts and time periods. The significance of decisions about such
‘grounding’ lies in the limits of generalizability. That is, all research takes place in par-
ticular contexts, studying particular cases at specific times, and yet aims to make broad
claims beyond the particularistic scope of inquiry. The extent to which it can do so
depends on the representativeness and typicality of the contexts, cases and times which
have been chosen. The project referred to in Box 1.1 was confined to a northern police
region. The evaluation was case (domestic abuse), context (the MATAC), area (northern
area) and time specific (over two years). Though there are general principles that might
be replicated in other areas and thus there may be some aspects of the approach that are
generalizable, it is not possible to claim that the results can be generalized. The end
purpose of this research was for the local commissioners and project team.
BOX 1.1 DESIGNING AN EVALUATION OF A MULTI-

AGENCY PROJECT AND STUDY QUESTION
Evaluation of an approach to tackling domestic abuse developed in a northern
police area. Multi-Agency Tasking and Co-ordination (MATAC) was launched as a
new approach to tackling perpetrators of domestic abuse. MATAC had five key
objectives:
• to prevent further domestic abuse related to offending

• to improve victim safety
• to improve criminal justice system outcomes
• to improve offender behaviour
• to improve partnership engagement.
Study question: What sorts of data would you need to collect to measure whether
or not these objectives were met by the project?
International, cross-cultural and comparative research
Sometimes, the research is much broader in outlook, reach and scope. With the
forces of globalization impacting more readily in late modern society on crime, vic-
timization and criminal justice (see, for example, Loader and Sparks, 2007),

criminologists have become much more open to exploring doing criminological
research in a comparative, cross-cultural and global context. That has required differ-
ent approaches to doing criminological research, in order to address the many
challenges that arise once the focus of the research becomes wider, broader and bigger.
In some instances, you might be wondering what these problems are – much of the
world is similar and offers similar approaches to the control and regulation of crime.
Crime in one country is similar to that in another. And, yes, some are. But, as the
International Crime Victims Survey (ICVS) identifies, there remains significant varia-
tion within and between countries relating to crime, victimization and experiences of
criminal justice (see van Dijk, 2015; van Kesteren et al., 2014). Indeed, language chal-
lenges aside, criminal justice approaches differ significantly, as do definitional and
conceptual understandings, not least with regards what we may see as simple terms
such as crime and victims. Thus, alongside social, political and economic factors, glo-
balization can and does impact considerably on how criminological research is carried
out, with what tools and methodological approaches, and with what success. Matthew
Hall, in Chapter 20, provides a good overview of the various approaches, challenges
and opportunities of doing criminological research in a globalized, late modern world.
Anticipating conclusions
When formulating research problems, you must not just consider what to study, where
and when, but also anticipate the answer to the question, ‘What do I want to say?’
This is not to suggest that you can write a final paper or report before carrying out
the research. Rather, it is to indicate that there needs to be some anticipation of the
kind of conclusion that may be reached and the kind of evidence required to support
it. For example, where the aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of the introduction of
some form of criminal justice policy (for example, MATAC or the new law of ‘coer-
cive control’), it is necessary to formulate research problems and questions in such a
way that some conclusion can be reached about the effectiveness of the policy (see
Rob White in Chapter 22). There are other ways in which researchers anticipate out-
comes when formulating research questions. In a more radical and critical vein, what
is sometimes termed standpoint research seeks to pose problems and address them
from a particular standpoint (for example, a feminist, or gender-sensitive, perspective)
and anticipates reaching conclusions which reflect that standpoint. Such research may
be less likely to be concerned with questions about the effectiveness of specific policies
and more concerned with addressing fundamental issues such as discrimination,
inequality, oppression and justice (see, for example, Walklate et al., 2018).
It is not just about anticipating the conclusions that need some thought from the
outset. It is also useful to think through the writing up and presenting of the research
findings. Often, the findings will be written up for publication in a journal article
and, sometimes, as a manuscript for publication by one of the leading academic book
publishers, such as SAGE. During the research process itself, conference papers and

presentations may well be delivered as well, providing a useful opportunity to share
initial findings and thoughts and reflections on what the research is starting to
uncover. Where the research is for a funding council or an organization that has, for
example, funded a piece of evaluation, often a research report will need to be pro-
duced. Students will be expected to produce a dissertation or a PhD thesis, and again
these may form the basis for further publications, such as journal articles and book
chapters. Anticipating these from the outset of the research can help in the process
of doing the research itself, a point well made by Alexandra Hall in Chapter 7, who
explores the writing up and presentation of criminological research.
Audiences of research
When thinking of your research, you need to pose not just the question ‘What do I want
to say?’ but also ‘To whom do I want to say it?’ The audiences of research findings
include academic supervisors and peers, policy-makers who have commissioned
research, practitioners who are interested in applying the findings in their day to day
work, pressure groups who want to put forward a particular viewpoint and politicians
who want to formulate or justify policies. Increasingly, researchers are building ‘impact’
into their research from the outset. Delivering impacts from research is increasingly
important in research bidding and grant applications and in assessments of research
excellence. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) define research impact
as ‘the demonstrable contribution that excellent research makes to society and the
economy’ (ESRC 2018). Impact then, is about beneficial changes that will happen in the
real world, as a result of research. This can involve academic impact, economic and
societal impact or both. Impacts occur through processes of knowledge exchange and
the co-production of knowledge. Most researchers and funders tend to focus on instru-
mental impacts such as actual changes in policy or practice, though there can also be
‘negative impacts’, such as evidence that prevents the introduction of a new and poten-
tially harmful piece of legislation. Conceptual impact is impact that contributes to the
understanding of policy issues or refames debates or alters attitudes, whereas capacity
building impacts can be achieved through technical and personal skill or training devel-
opment. Other types of impact include attitudinal or cultural impacts and enduring
connectivity impacts. The former might involve people’s increased willingness to engage
in new collaborations. The latter might include follow-on interactions such as collabora-
tive workshops, reciprocal visits and joint proposals (Reed, 2016). The nature of the
intended audience – and where impact is intended – should be anticipated when formu-
lating research problems. The effect on, change or benefit tends to be viewed as
impactful if it goes beyond the world of researchers. The likelihood of achieving impact
is therefore in part dependent on the way in which we formulate our research questions.
There is, therefore, a strong connection between the way in which a research prob-
lem is expressed and the types of findings and conclusions which are eventually
presented. Different audiences give credibility to evidence and arguments presented

in certain ways. For example, most articles in academic journals are expected to be
presented in a very formal way. Further, there is a wealth of experience which indi-
cates that policy-makers give greater credence to statistical as opposed to
non-quantitative evidence, whereas pressure groups often favour detailed studies of
‘deviant’ cases or causes célèbres so as to make maximum impact. There is also some
evidence to suggest that research undertaken with overseas collaborators has a bigger
potential impact. In Box 1.2, different types of impact are outlined. The ways in
which arguments and conclusions emerge and are presented are very much influenced
by early decisions about the nature of the research problem and how it is expressed.
BOX 1.2 TYPES OF RESEARCH IMPACT

• Academic impact is the demonstrable contribution that excellent social and eco-
nomic research makes in shifting understanding and advancing scientific
method, theory and application across and within disciplines.
• Economic and societal impact is the demonstrable contribution that excellent
social and economic research makes to society and the economy, and its bene-
fits to individuals, organizations and/or nations.
The impact of research, be it academic, economic or social, can include:
• instrumental: influencing the development of policy, practice or service provision,

shaping legislation, altering behaviour
• conceptual: contributing to the understanding of policy issues, reframing debates
• capacity building: through technical and personal skill development.
Source: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) at www.esrc.ac.uk/research/

impact-toolkit/what-is-impact (accessed 09/12/17)
The research literature
As a researcher, you also need to be aware of what has been said before, by whom
and in what ways. Preparing an area for research involves making sense of that
which has been undertaken before, how, why and with what results. In making deci-
sions about what to study, you will draw on an initial review of the academic and
scholarly literature. After all, the objective here is to discover relevant material
published on the topic area in order to help support the framing of the research
questions. Alison Wakefield, in Chapter 3, provides a thorough discussion of the
various types of research literature. Yet reviewing the research literature continues

throughout the process of doing criminological research. The purpose of reviewing
the literature is to identify the key issues and problems and controversies surround-
ing the proposed research area. This may be by identifying a gap in existing
knowledge, articulating the weakness of argument of a particular approach, or
assessing the evidence against competing perspectives. Thus, a literature review
allows you to locate your research within the work of others. In doing so, you will
explore the conceptual literature on the topic area, written by the leading research-
ers and which gives insight into theories, concepts and ideas, as well as the research
literature, offering specific accounts and findings of other research projects carried
out in the field.
METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO DOING

CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Decision making does not just occur at the outset of doing criminological research. It
continues throughout the process. Thus, in preparing criminological research, you will
also make decisions about the kinds of methods to use and the sorts of data to collect.
1. You will need to develop a research strategy and research design.

2. You will need to identify what data to collect and how to collect it.
3. You will have to make a number of decisions regarding the operationalization of
the approach and methods chosen, and include sampling, access and ethical
issues.
Hannah Bows gives an overview of the broad approaches and distinctions between
qualitative and quantitative approaches in Chapter 4, though she, Vicky Heap and
Jaime Waters, in Chapter 5, and Jerzy Sarnecki and Christoffer Carlsson, in Chapter 13,
make it clear that triangulation and mixed methods approaches mean that separating
qualitative from quantitative research is often an artificial exercise.
Decisions will therefore be taken in the context of the purpose of the research and
the time and resources available. Crucially, each decision must be properly reasoned
and justified to ensure that the research is as valid, reliable and robust as it can be.
Green (2008) asks the following in relation to the connections between research
questions and research design:
• Are your approaches and research strategies commensurate with the question you
are asking?
• Is your proposed sample consistent with the groups, organizations, relationships
or processes specified in the question?
• What methodological strategies are implied by the purposes and objectives of
your research question?

• What methods of data collection are most consistent with the objectives of the
research, as they are embedded in the question?
• Does the question need adjusting in light of your proposed research design, or
could you rework your research design on the basis of your reconsidered
question?
Validity
A primary factor in determining the content of a research project is the research

problem: you will seek to design a strategy of research that will reach conclusions
which are as valid as possible to the research problem. There are two aspects of
validity which need to be emphasized. The first concerns whether the conclusions
you reach are credible for the particular cases, context and time period under inves-
tigation. Conclusions are neither ‘right’ nor ‘wrong’; they are more or less credible.
The extent to which they are credible is the extent to which they are said to be
internally valid. For example, if you are investigating the effects of security improve-
ments on levels of crime in a particular area, the strength of validity will depend on
whether there is evidence that a drop in crime levels followed the introduction of
security measures and also evidence that no other factor could have produced or
affected the change (such as the introduction of police beat patrols). Nick Tilley,
Graham Farrell and Andromachi Tseloni touch on this in Chapter 10. A second
aspect of validity concerns whether it is possible to generalize the conclusions to
other cases, contexts and time periods. The extent to which this is possible is the
extent to which conclusions are said to be externally valid. External validity is very
much dependent on the cases, contexts and time periods which form part of the
research design having representativeness and typicality.
The hallmark of a sound research proposal is the extent to which the research deci-
sions which comprise it anticipate the potential threats to validity. This aspect of validity
is concerned with the degree of ‘fit’ between a research problem and the strategy pro-
posed to investigate it – is the proposed design likely to produce valid conclusions in
relation to the research problem? Several factors are likely to influence the degree of fit
between research problem and research design and are therefore likely to affect validity.
For example, decisions about research design have to be taken in the context of con-
straints imposed by cost and time, and there are many forms of research which cannot
be justified on the grounds of ethics. Also, it is not possible to anticipate threats to valid-
ity which may occur unexpectedly and when research is under way. So, all research,
whether in the planning stage or in the operational stage, is a compromise between what
is desirable in pursuit of validity and what is practicable in terms of cost, time, politics
and ethics. This can be termed the validity ‘trade-off ’.
All of this underlies the value of viewing research as a form of decision making.
Focusing on decisions taken when research is under way helps us evaluate the ways
in which the validity of conclusions has been affected in ways which were not – and

perhaps could not be – anticipated. This is vital to the evaluation of research which
has already been completed.
As criminological researchers, we can collect data from existing resources,
including using other people’s data. This is generally known as secondary research
or secondary analysis. Or, we can collect data from the subjects of research first
hand. This is generally known as primary research or primary analysis. These cat-
egories can overlap and research designs will often triangulate methods to ensure
that validity of measurement and valid conclusions are arrived at. Broad distinc-
tions between primary and secondary research, alongside a range of common
operational themes, allow us to consider some of the ways that criminological
research takes shape. Here, we follow these broad distinctions and the initial dis-
cussion is divided into two:
• existing resources
• data from subjects/primary data collection – in particular, a number of key opera-
tional themes are addressed including sources and types of data, surveys, sam-
pling, interviews, observations and ethnography.
Existing resources as data
There are several ways in which existing resources can be used as valid research data
by criminologists and victimologists. Typically, advice and guidance in criminological
research texts would refer here to the use of secondary analysis of official statistics
and we too discuss the use of crime data in criminological research.
Secondary analysis of official statistics

Secondary analysis is a form of investigation which is based on existing sources of
data and can be distinguished from primary research and analysis where you would
collect the data for yourself at first hand. Secondary data refers to any existing source
of information which has been collected by someone other than you and with some
purpose other than the current research question. There is a wide range of secondary
sources potentially available, such as police or Crown Prosecution Service or youth
justice data, institutional records, diaries and letters and other documentary and
mediated resources. Pam Cox, Heather Shore and Barry Godfrey, in Chapter 8, dis-
cuss doing historical analysis of crime, victims and justice. In Chapter 10, Nick Tilley,
Graham Farrell and Andromachi Tseloni explore the use of secondary data to explain
the crime drop in England and Wales since 1995.
The forms of data that are routinely used for criminological research are official
statistics on crime. Crime in England and Wales has, since the early 2000s, been
annually reported on in a complementary series that combines the reporting of
police-recorded crime and the British Crime Survey (BCS)/Crime Survey for England
and Wales (CSEW). There remain three key stages in the crime-recording process:

1. Reporting a crime – someone reports a crime to the police or the police them-
selves discover a crime. The police register these reports as a crime-related inci-
dent and then decide whether or not it is a ‘notifiable’ (recorded crime) offence
and whether to record it as a crime.
2. Recording a crime – the police decide to record the report or their discovery of a
crime and need to determine how many crimes to record and what the offence
type(s) is/are.
3. Detecting a crime – once a crime is recorded and investigated, and evidence is
collected to link the crime to a suspect, it can be detected.
Thus, these ‘counting rules’ need to be thoroughly understood, together with how
they have changed over time, as this affects comparisons and trends. Also, despite
there being more consistency and better quality of crime recording over time, there
is still the problem of ‘attrition’ and the mismatch between what people report and
what is recorded by the police. The discrepancy in some areas and for some crimes
remains worryingly disparate. Nevertheless, such statistics provide a good measure
of trends in well-reported crimes. They are an important indicator of police work-
load and can be used for local crime pattern analysis.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) is an important monitor of the
extent of crime in England and Wales. It is used by the government to evaluate and
develop crime-reduction policies as well as providing vital information about the
changing levels of crime over the last 30 years. The survey measures crime by asking
members of the public, such as you, about their experiences of crime over the last 12
months. In this way, the survey records all types of crime experienced by people,
including those crimes that may not have been reported to the police. The value of
the survey is its ability to find out about crimes which do not get reported to, or
recorded by, the police. It has previously shown that only 4 in 10 crimes are actually
reported to the police, so conducting the survey is very valuable in understanding all
of the other crimes which go unreported. Typically, the Crime Survey records a higher
number of crimes than police figures because it includes these unreported crimes. As
well as measuring crime, the Crime Survey for England and Wales looks at:
• identifying those most at risk of crime, which is used in designing crime-

prevention programmes
• people’s attitudes to crime and the Criminal Justice System, including the police
and the courts
• people’s experiences of anti-social behaviour and how this has affected their qual-
ity of life.
In 2015/16, around 50,000 households across England and Wales were invited to
participate in the survey. In previous years, three quarters of the households invited
to take part agreed to participate. Data from the CSEW and other large data sets can
be used by researchers and teachers. In 2017, the Office for National Statistics (ONS)

announced a consultation on a proposal that, in the context of public sector financial
constraints, the future level of funding for the CSEW would be reduced with effect
from October 2017. Further to this, the ONS put forward a range of proposals to
reduce the cost of the CSEW in 2017/18 and future years. See Box 1.3 for a summary
of the proposed changes.
BOX 1.3 CHANGES TO THE CRIME SURVEY FOR

ENGLAND AND WALES
ONS Consultation 2017
The consultation asked for responses to the following questions:
• What are your views on the proposed cost savings?

• Of the proposed cost-saving options, which would you prefer ONS to adopt?
Option A: Reduce target response rate (to 69%)

Option B: Reduce sample size (by 1,800 interviews)
Option C: Remove additional questions from CSEW to reduce survey to core
questions required to produce quarterly crime estimates
The consultation proposes that all the following will be removed from the CSEW
questionnaire from October 2017:
• all questions in the ‘Performance of the Criminal Justice System’ module, except-
ing those related to the performance of the police
• all questions in the ‘Experiences of the Criminal Justice System’ module
• all questions in the ‘Attitudes to the Criminal Justice System’ module
• Questions relating to victims’ experiences of the court system and use of victim
services from the ‘Victimization’ module.
Option D: Mixed approach – reduce target response rate (to 71%) and reduce
sample size
Questions:
• What are your views on the proposed cost savings?

• Of the proposed cost-saving options, which would you prefer ONS to adopt?
• Is there a particular reason for your stated preference?
• What impact would these potential options have on your use of CSEW data?
• Do you have any other comments?

Outcome:
The main feedback was:
• A majority of respondents (40%) identified Option D – reducing the response rate

to 71% and the sample size by 600 – as the best option of those available for
achieving the required cost savings.
• Many respondents raised concerns regarding the removal of questions related to
victims’ experiences of the court system and use of victim services.
• In particular, 34 respondents (28%) specifically identified the removal of the
questions on restorative justice from the ‘Victimisation’ module as a major
concern.
The ONS:
• Reduced CSEW sample size for the 2017/18 survey year by 600 households and
reduced the survey response rate to 71% from October 2017 (Option D).
• Removed the three modules of questions asked of respondents about the perfor-
mance of, their experiences of and their attitudes to the criminal justice system
from October 2017.
• Retained questions related to victims’ experiences of the court system and use
of victim services included in the ‘Victimisation’ module of the CSEW that were
previously proposed for removal.
Such large-scale data sets are invaluable sources and resources that enable
researchers to confront real-life research. The consultation by the ONS described in
Box 1.3 received a total of 123 responses from academics, police forces and police
and crime commissioners, local or regional government organisations, other govern-
ment departments, charities and voluntary organisations. These responses were
impactful in terms of influencing the outcome. Data collections such as the CSEW,
the Young People and Crime Survey, and the Youth Lifestyles Survey constitute well-
documented examples of real-life data collection and allow students as researchers
to engage critically with methods and methodologies. They are rich sources of raw
material for data analysis and can be used to engage in secondary analysis. They are
sources of evidence that can be interrogated.
In Chapter 11, Lyria Bennett Moses and Janet Chan explore the emerging use of Big
Data in criminology and criminal justice, and highlight some of the challenges and
issues that Big Data bring to those wishing to undertake criminological research with
and/or on it. They note that there are two main areas where Big Data has been used
for researching crime and justice: first, the use of Big Data such as social media streams
as data in criminological research; and, second, the use of Big Data for real-time

monitoring or to make predictions that can be used for law enforcement or criminal
justice purposes, such as increasing situational awareness, preventing crime and
enhancing efficiency. These categories obviously overlap, and research in the first
category may be applied in the second.
Primary data collection
Above, we considered data arising from secondary sources and secondary analysis.
Often, such data will be used in conjunction with other data collected first hand in
order to achieve triangulation and increased validity. Primary research and analysis
can be conducted in several ways by criminologists and victimologists. Here, we note
a number of common methodological issues that relate to obtaining data from sub-
jects first hand. We focus on surveys and samples, interviews, observations and
ethnography.
Surveys and samples

One important method of collecting data from subjects is the social survey. Social
surveys have been used extensively in criminological research, and crime/victim sur-
veys typically use structured questions as a means of collecting data from individual
respondents first hand. This can be done by interviewing them or by requesting that
respondents fill in a self-completion questionnaire. The CSEW mentioned above is
one such survey. Survey research lends itself to the collection of both quantitative and
qualitative data. The cases surveyed in criminological research can include a wide
range of units of analysis, including interactions or documents. Individuals and cat-
egories of individuals are popular as primary and supplementary sources of data for
criminological researchers. Whilst questions posed are typically structured, allowing
the researcher to present the same stimuli and thereby collect the same kinds of data
from a large number of people quickly, cheaply and with comparability of response,
such questions in surveys run the risk of being too structured. Clearly, as you can
already see, survey research involves complex issues (see Jo Deakin and Jon Spencer,
Chapter 9).
It is very rare to collect data from the whole of the population in which a researcher
is interested: this is a very costly and time-consuming exercise. For this reason, social
surveys are usually sample surveys. A sample survey is a form of research design which
involves collecting data from, or about, a subset of the population with a view to mak-
ing inferences from, and drawing conclusions about, that population (the term ‘census’
is generally used when all members of a population are included in a study). There are
skills in selecting a sample which is representative of the wider population and several
chapters in this volume refer to sampling issues, some in the context of gathering data
from respondents first hand (see for example Chapter 2 by Peter Francis).
Several contributions in the chapters that follow discuss doing criminological
research that involves gathering data first hand from respondents. Whether their

work has involved surveying sample populations, interviewing individual respond-
ents and/or conducting focus groups, all have sought to avoid being overly structured,
impersonal, and inflexible in their approach to gathering data first hand in order to
demonstrate how these techniques can be used to produce valid, ethical, effective,
rigorous and comprehensive data. Victim-oriented surveys inevitably deal with sensi-
tive and emotive issues. Respondents are asked to reflect on personal and intimately
harmful topics and experiences that they may not have disclosed previously, with
strangers or via keying in data, albeit in a confidential manner. Hannah Bows in
Chapter 4 and Vicky Heap and Jaime Waters in Chapter 5 illustrate how surveys can
be employed when mixing methods. A persistent criticism of traditional crime sur-
veys is that they tend to be confined to restricted ages of the population. Those under
the age of 16 and those living in institutions as well as the homeless – all of whom
might be deemed ‘vulnerable populations’ – are often excluded from national and
supra-national/international surveys. From 2009 the CSEW has included a separate
survey to record the experiences of young people aged 10–15. This interview is
shorter than the adult one. Young people are selected to take part from the same
households selected to take part in the adult survey. Permission from a parent or
guardian is always obtained before an interview is conducted with anyone aged
10–15 (Francis, 2007). Both the sensitive topic and age-restriction critique are
addressed head on in Chapter 9 by Jo Deakin and Jon Spencer, who discuss tackling
difficult subjects and gathering sensitive data with vulnerable populations through
large-scale national surveys.
Interviews
Interviews can be defined as a method of data collection, information or opinion
gathering that specifically involves asking a series of questions. Typically, interviews
represent a formal meeting or dialogue between people where personal and social
interaction occurs (Davies, 2006). They are typically associated with qualitative
social research and are often used alongside other methods. They can vary enor-
mously in terms of the context or setting in which they are carried out, the purpose
they serve as well as how they are structured and conducted. This means they are a
flexible and adaptable tool and there are many different types of interview. Most
commonly, interviews are conducted on a face-to-face basis and they can include one
or more interviewers who are normally in control of the questions that are put to
one or more interviewees or respondents. However, interviews can be informal,
unstructured, naturalistic, or in-depth discussions in which the shape of the interview
is largely determined by the individual respondent, through to very structured discus-
sions according to a format with answers offered from a prescribed list in a
questionnaire or ideal standardized interview schedule. An example of an interview
with little interaction between the researcher and the researched is Computer
Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) where interviewers enter responses into a
laptop computer, self-keying, to answer questions themselves. Since 1994 this mode

of interviewing has been used in the BCS/CSEW for more sensitive topics. The type,
nature and range of interviews used within criminology are explored by various
contributors to this book, including Pamela Davies in Chapter 12, Elizabeth Stanley
in Chapter 14, Marie Segrave and Sanja Milivojevic in Chapter 15, Ross McGarry
and Zoe Alker in Chapter 16 and Majid Yar in Chapter 18.
Sometimes interviews may be conducted by telephone, Skype or by way of elec-
tronic communication such as e-mail. Interviews of this nature are popular for
reasons of cost-effectiveness and the speed of data collection. Telephone interviews
are routinely used for the conducting of opinion polls by market researchers. Political
opinion polls are some of the most well-known types of interview conducted by this
method.
As a means of collecting data first hand, interviews can be an invaluable source of
information that generate valid, representative and reliable data. They enable you to
follow up and probe responses, motives and feelings and in many of their forms,
non-verbal communications, facial expressions and gestures, for example, can enrich
the qualitative aspects of the data. However, assuming the use of the interview as the
obvious method of choice for qualitative research can generate inappropriate or
unmanageable data unfit for specific contexts and for specific purposes. In addition
to this, there are skills to the practice of interviewing itself. Every aspect of the inter-
view process can invite critique, for example over whether they are generating valid,
sound and reliable data, and whether there is bias (including unconscious bias)
surrounding the interviewer–respondent relationship.
Alternative types of interviews are associated with distinct advantages and disad-
vantages. Unstructured interviews, where the respondent talks freely around a topic,
can produce rich grounded data but can be very time-consuming to analyse and the
potential for bias on behalf of the interviewer might be increased. The more guided
or focused the interview, generally speaking, the less time-consuming and less prob-
lematic is the analysis due to the more standardized nature of the responses. In
opting for the latter form of interview, there is generally an increased likelihood that
the researcher might not be asking the most significant questions.
Observations and ethnography

Participant observations and ethnography are among the most common methodo-
logical traditions in criminological research (see Dolman and Francis, 2010).
Observational research can probably best be described as the ‘hanging out’ school of
research. Observations can be used in various criminal justice settings, including the
prison, and might well be used in conjunction with other methods such as interviews.
In the pilot stages of research it is desirable and often necessary to spend some time
among the research populations and/or in the institutional setting, particularly if this
happens to be a prison, before embarking on interviews or survey work (Martin, 2000).
The ethnographic researcher will enter the field as soon as possible and is likely to
undertake other tasks such as a literature review and conceptualization during and

on completion of fieldwork (Silverman, 2007). Participant observation and ethnographic
methods, conversational and discourse analysis, documentary analysis, film and photog-
raphy and life histories, can attract criticism. Often, they are seen as producing ‘soft’ data
rather than ‘hard’ factual data (Hollands, 2000) and certainly ‘thick’, ‘rich’ and ‘intense’
are three strong words to describe the data produced from ethnographic research. Steve
Hall and Simon Winlow (Winlow and Hall, 2009), the former a contributor to this cur-
rent book, have long been involved in ethnographic research and readers are encouraged
to see for themselves the intense meanings and understandings that are derived from such
inquiry. See Chapter 17 by Steve Hall and Chapter 18 by Majid Yar.
BOX 1.4 ETHNOGRAPHIC AND QUALITATIVE

RESEARCH THAT ADDRESSES THE CHANGING NATURE
OF YOUTH IDENTITIES IN CONTEMPORARY BRITAIN
Winlow, S. and Hall, S. (2009) ‘Living for the weekend: youth identities in northeast
England’, Ethnography, 10(1): 91–113. The author’s empirical data comes from eth-
nographic and qualitative research that addresses the changing nature of youth
identities in contemporary Britain. To whet the reader’s appetite, a brief description
of the methodology is given here:
• 43 young people between the ages of 18 and 25 were interviewed.

• Interviews were conducted in order to gain some insight into their attitudes
towards:
{{ marriage
{{ relationships and kids

{{ work
{{ leisure
{{ body image
{{ fashion
{{ consumerism
{{ friendship and life course.
• Interviews were unstructured and included friendship cohorts.

• Key research contacts and snowball sampling were used,
Case study research

Case study research is also an important approach to doing criminological research.
Kathleen Daly, in Chapter 21, begins by stating that despite its long and varied his-
tory in social science related research, case study research is not well understood

amongst social scientists. Case study research is a complex and far-reaching approach
to doing criminological research and there is no one way to deliver it. It has a back-
ground in the Chicago School of Criminology, utilizing a range of data, methods of
investigation and approaches to analysis and interpretation. Case study research usu-
ally focuses on a case or cases, and utilizes a range of methods and types of data
collection and analysis to bring depth and breadth to the topic area under review. It
can be both quantitative and qualitative in nature.
Visual Methodologies
Ronnie Lippens in Chapter 19 provides a robust overview of the development and use
of visual methodologies in criminological research. As such, he begins his assessment
honestly by noting that the ‘emerging field of visual criminology is quite varied and
many criminologists have their own ideas about what it should comprise’. Certainly,
there is no one definition of what visual criminology comprises. For us, given its emer-
gent status (despite being around longer than you would initially think, dating back to
the late nineteenth century in one form or another), such methodologies can involve
both secondary and primary research approaches, and are used for a variety of reasons.
For some, it can involve social media, participatory diagramming and the use of visual
research tools, and visual media. You may use images already available in archives or
galleries, or in individual collections (such as the photographs that you or I take with
our families and friends, or on holiday). Here, your key aim is to make sense of the
image, use the image and understand what the image is about and why. The image can
also be used as method – to allow for a discussion or to tease out specific reflections
or thoughts from a research subject. And the image can also be an outcome of the
research itself. For example, you could use this as part of a research project looking at
the way in which the image, rather than the voice, can be a means through which
individual actions, behaviours, thoughts and ideas can be captured and presented. For
example, one of us, Peter Francis, along with Rachel Pain (Pain and Francis, 2003),
used the visual image alongside participatory research methods to capture the ideas and
lifestyles of a range of young people in a northern city (see also Francis, 2007).
BOX 1.5 EXAMPLE OF AN ABSTRACT

Pain, R. and Francis, P. (2003) ‘Reflections on participatory research’, Area, 35(1): 46–54.
Abstract
Participatory research approaches are increasingly popular with geographers in

developed as well as developing countries, as critical qualitative methodologies

which, at their best, work with participants to effect change. This article adds to
recent debates over the methodologies, practices, philosophical and political issues
involved. Drawing on a project on young people, exclusion and crime victimization
in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, we discuss the limitations of participatory dia-
gramming and illustrate some of the social and political barriers to meaningful
participation in, and action from, this type of research.
Methodological choices
There are a number of concerns and issues often encountered during the research
process which a scrupulous, ethical and effective researcher should grapple with.
In terms of data collection, many key issues will arise from the way in which you
operationalize your research. Operationalization refers to the laying down of
rules which stipulate when instances of a concept have occurred. Operational
rules link abstract concepts to observations. Such observations are sometimes also
known as indicators. The extent to which you, the research designer and investi-
gator, can devise a means of observing and measuring the concepts that lie at the
heart of a research problem is the extent to which there is measurement validity.
General and abstract non-directly measurable concepts are the building blocks of
theories. The researcher needs to operationalize these concepts after careful
clarification of them. Whilst there are various checks that can be used to assess
validity, including criterion validity, content validity and construct validity, we
would draw attention to your ability as a researcher to engage in creative deci-
sion making. Many of you will be doing criminological research yourself, whilst
others will be managing a research project. In both instances, you will face sig-
nificant moments when you must make important methodological choices.
When such decision-making moments are upon you, we suggest you foreground
power and give due consideration to unequal relationships between the
researcher and the researched.
So, you should be continuously checking and ensuring that you are studying what
you want to study, that you are measuring what you should be measuring and what
you intended to measure.
Research proposals
Ultimately, the aim of research is to bring forward evidence to make an argument

in relation to the research problem(s). The means by which this is to be accom-
plished is stipulated in a research proposal, which is a statement of preliminary
decisions about the ways in which such evidence will be collected, analysed and

presented. A research proposal can have varying degrees of formality, as Peter
Francis describes in Chapter 2. In the Appendix to his classic book, The Sociological
Imagination, C. Wright Mills (Wright Mills, 1959) describes the early stages of
research as involving the collecting of notes, cuttings, extracts and personal
thoughts. These are organized and categorized to formulate research ideas and
plans, but in a manner which is constantly under review and reformation. For
Mills, the writing of research proposals is a continuous process of reflection and of
stimulating the ‘sociological imagination’. However, at the more formal end of the
spectrum, grant-awarding bodies and other sponsors of research require precise
written statements which address specific headings and must be submitted by a
stipulated deadline. There are variations in the context of a proposal but typically
it will address the following:
1. There will be a statement about the mechanisms by which cases will be selected.
Such cases may be individuals selected to be interviewed as part of a survey but
they may also be documents be analysed or interactions to be observed.
2. The means by which data will be collected should be outlined. This may be, for
example, by interviewing, using observational methods or by the use of secondary
sources such as documents to be analysed or official government statistics.
3. It is necessary to detail the ways in which data will be analysed, for example by
using one or more of the computer packages which are available for this purpose.
When research is stimulated through a tendering process or is commissioned, there

are likely to be research criteria already set out. The research aims, objectives and
questions may already be determined by the funder. An example of how the National
Rural Crime Network (NCRN) invited tenders and instructed potential bidders to
develop their proposal is reproduced in Box 1.6. Other issues also need to be
addressed, for instance timescale and budget; anticipated problems, such as gaining
access to data; ethical dilemmas; confidentiality issues; and policy implications. A
research proposal is a statement of intent about the ways in which it is anticipated
the research will progress, although, as most researchers will attest to, the reality of
how the project is actually accomplished is often somewhat different.
BOX 1.6 EXAMPLE OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL
NCRN seeks research partner to understand domestic abuse in rural areas
Title: Understanding domestic abuse in rural areas
The call: The National Rural Crime Network is looking for a research partner to
help it understand the barriers to reporting domestic abuse in rural areas,

improve reporting and improve services to victims to help them to cope and
recover.
Evidence suggests there is under-reporting of domestic abuse in rural areas.
Analysis of police data shows that the number of reported domestic abuse inci-
dents from rural areas is about half that of urban areas, despite there being no
evidence that the occurrence of domestic abuse is any different in rural areas than
urban.
Instruction for proposals – Your proposal should include the following information:
• your understanding of the NRCN and how this would shape your approach to the
brief
• three case studies of similar work for public sector clients
• your proposed process, stages of work, methodologies and a project schedule/
timings, working to the deadlines set out above
• any potential barriers and issues you anticipate and how they might be overcome
• a breakdown of your financial quote – how you will allocate the fees and any
expenses within the total you are quoting as your standard day rates for the peo-
ple who will deliver this project and the number of days each person will spend
on the job
• your proposed project team and their biographies demonstrating why they have
the skills and experience to fulfil the brief
• details of your approach to quality assurance and how you will guarantee quality
research tools, analysis and deliverables
• any discounts/added value you are prepared to offer, bearing in mind that value
for money will be important during the evaluation process.
REFLECTING ON DOING CRIMINOLOGICAL

RESEARCH
The importance of reflexivity
Research findings and conclusions are not ‘things’ that are lying around waiting
to be picked up by the criminologist; as we have articulated throughout this
chapter, they are the outcome of research decisions which are taken at different
stages (and of the factors that influence these, including factors external to and
out of the control of the investigator). As Peter Francis articulates in Chapter 2,
research design is an exercise in compromise whereby the investigator seeks to
trade off the strengths and weaknesses of different methods when making con-
nections with research questions. But it is not possible to escape the reality that

even the best laid plans and designs have to be actualized in social, institutional
and political contexts, which can have a profound effect on the outcome of
research. Giving recognition to this is important on three counts: first, it allows
some assessment to be made of the likely validity of conclusions; second it
ensures we are reminded of the messiness of research; and third it encourages us
to reflect critically on what comes to pass as ‘knowledge’, how and why. This
latter aspect is one hallmark of critical social research. The contribution of
reflexivity to the assessment of validity and also to critical social research will be
discussed later.
Research as a social activity
A number of assumptions underpin this particular concern about doing criminological

research. The first is that research is a social activity. Criminology is not like those
physical sciences in which researchers study and engage inanimate objects. In the
main, you will be concerned with individuals, and social research is a form of interac-
tion. You should easily recognize this because one influential theoretical approach
within the discipline – interactionism – emphasizes that what comes to be recognized
as ‘criminal’ can be the outcome of interactions in the processes of the criminal justice
system. What therefore, comes to pass as ‘knowledge’ is also the outcome of interac-
tions in the research process.
Research and emotion
Social scientists have tended often to emulate the pure sciences in striving for objec-
tivity in their research. This has meant that emotive writing tends to be the exception
rather than the rule. Writing in the first person is often actively discouraged though
when you are engaged in research for a dissertation or PhD this seems an odd way to
proceed. Pretending we are not the author through a thinly disguised use of the term
‘the researcher’ can make your writing feel stilted and laboured. One of us – Davies
(2012) – has written about the use of the first person in academic writing. See
Box 1.7 for an abstract of this article.
BOX 1.7 EXAMPLE OF AN ABSTRACT

Davies, P. (2012) ‘“Me”, “me”, “me”: the use of the first person in academic writing
and some reflections on subjective analyses of personal experiences’, Sociology,
6(4): 744–52.

Abstract
This research note discusses being self-conscious methodologically. It illustrates my

pains to be deeply reflexive about research and academic writing. It does so with
reference to a personal experience that raised, as feminist research often does,
emotional as well as intellectual issues. It specifically explores the use of the first
person in academic writing. Writing as ‘I’ forced comparisons between the personal
and impersonal which, in turn, have caused me to reflect more deeply on emotive,
individual and subjective analyses of personal experiences. With reference to a case
study of ‘me’, this note is a reminder of the materiality and sociality of writing. It
shows how social scientists have emotions about the subjects they study.
Furthermore, it demonstrates implications for parental experience studies research
and policy and practice in child and family social work.
Keywords: emotions, experience, ‘I’, individual, personal, reflexivity, subjective
Research and politics
Criminological research is not just a social activity; it is also a political activity. It

involves some form of relationship between the subjects of research and the investi-
gators, but there are also others who have an interest. The range of stakeholders
typically includes sponsors of research, gatekeepers who control access to sources of
data and the various audiences of research findings. These audiences include the
media, policy-makers and professionals working in the criminal justice system, politi-
cians and academics. Gatekeepers may have a formal role and legal powers to restrict
access (for example, a prison governor) or they may be able to deny access by infor-
mal means (for example, by continually cancelling appointments). Sponsors of
research include government departments, the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice,
institutions of criminal justice, such as the police and charitable bodies or pressure
groups such as the Howard League or Prison Reform Trust. Each of these stakehold-
ers has interests to promote and to protect. Also, each has differential levels of power
with which to promote and protect such interests. The exercise of such power is
ingrained in the research process, from the formulation of problems through to the
publication of results.
Research and politics connect in differing ways. For example, politics can have an
impact on the doing of criminological research and also on its outcome. The kind of
research which is funded and the ways in which research problems and questions are
framed are very much influenced by sponsors. Often, they are interested in policy
relevance (in their terms) and insist on a formal customer–contractor relationship
in which ‘deliverables’ are clearly specified. Research is often also dependent on

whether gatekeepers give access to subjects – or other data sources – in the first
place.
A second way in which politics and research connect is in the differing ways in
which the activity of research and its outputs contribute to politics. One impor-
tant way in which this occurs in criminology is in the conduct of policy-related
research. Such research can take a variety of forms but one which has contributed
substantially to the formulation and implementation of criminal justice policy is
evaluation research. Sometimes this kind of work is known as administrative
criminology because of its contribution to the administration and management of
the criminal justice system. However, criminologists who represent a critical
approach see such work not solely as contributing to policy, but, more impor-
tantly, as also justifying policy. In this sense, they look on policy-related research
as playing a political role in mechanisms of social control and not as benign,
value-free contributions to administration and management. David Scott, in
Chapter 6, explores the politics of doing criminological research from a critical
criminological perspective, while Rob White, in Chapter 22, explores evaluation
research.
Research and ethics
Research is not just a social and political activity but also an ethical activity, as David
Scott further describes in Chapter 6. Ethics is about the standards to be adopted
towards others in carrying out research. Sometimes these standards are mandatory
to the practice of research, for example in certain kinds of medical research, whereas
in other contexts and disciplines they are merely guidelines. Sometimes they are
formally expressed in professional codes of conduct such as in the ethical codes of
the British Society of Criminology, the British Sociological Association and the
British Psychological Society, whereas in other disciplines there is a much less formal
body of custom and practice.
One ethical principle which is often expressed in social research is that of informed
consent. This can be rather elastic but basically it refers to the principle that the
subjects of research should be informed of their participation in research, which may
be taken to include giving information about possible consequences of participation.
Further, it includes the belief that subjects should give their consent to participation,
and its possible consequences, prior to their inclusion. Another principle which is
sometimes propounded is that no person should be harmed by research, for example
that the introduction of ‘experimental treatment’ in some styles of research should
not cause physical or psychological damage to subjects or, perhaps, disadvantage
some individuals in comparison with others.
Matters of ethics interact with the pursuit of validity and also with the political
dimensions of research. If the principle of informed consent is applied in full and in

such a way that subjects are aware of all aspects of research, including its purpose, it
is highly likely that they will behave or react in ways in which they would not nor-
mally do. Such reactivity on the part of subjects is a threat to the validity of findings.
Further, the challenging of the ideological positions of certain groups in society –
perhaps with a view to replacing them with others – is a central aim of some forms
of research, especially critical research. However, this inevitably involves doing harm
to the interests of such groups. In this way, the fundamental aims of critical research
can come face to face with the ethical principle that research should not harm or
damage individuals or groups of individuals.
The case for reflexivity
It has been emphasized that your reflexivity is a vital part of planning and doing
criminological research. This is because criminological research is a social, political
and ethical activity. There are several roles which reflexivity can play in research, for
example the assessment of validity. Validity is the extent to which conclusions drawn
from a study are plausible and credible and the extent to which they can be general-
ized to other contexts and to other people. Validity is always relative, being
dependent on the decisions which have had to be taken in the planning and doing of
research. Making such decisions explicit and, more importantly, assessing the prob-
able effect on validity is the main purpose of a reflexive account (which is sometimes
published alongside conclusions).
SUMMARY AND REVIEW

Throughout this book, we suggest that the conduct of research can be expressed
in terms of decision making. Such decision making inevitably involves trade-offs,
for example trading off the weaknesses of one course of action against the
strengths of another. Some decisions have to be taken about the minutiae of
research, say in deciding whether to have a sample of 100 or of 1200. Such tech-
nical issues matter, but so do the fundamental principles of criminological
inquiry. These include validity (the pursuit of credible and plausible knowledge);
politics (whose side am I on, if any?); and ethics (what standards should I adopt
and in relation to what?). Unfortunately, as noted earlier, the pursuit of one prin-
ciple may inhibit the pursuit of another. So, the most fundamental decision you
must make is how to position yourself in relation to the validity, the politics and
the ethics of research and the trade-offs which may have to be made between
these.

STUDY QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES FOR STUDENTS
1. Read this chapter and Chapter 2 and then write a sentence describing each of
the following terms: research proposal; research focus; research problem;
research question; research hypothesis.
2. Read Chapters 3, 4 and 5 and then write a sentence describing each of the fol-
lowing terms: research strategy; research design; quantitative research;
qualitative research; systematic literature review; narrative review.
3. Read Chapter 10 and then answer the following:
a. What are the challenges and opportunities of doing quantitative crimino-
logical research?
4. Read Chapters 12, 14 and 17 and then answer the following:

a. What are the challenges and opportunities of doing qualitative criminologi-
cal research?
5. Read Chapters 4 and 5 and then answer the following:

a. What are the challenges and opportunities of doing mixed method crimino-
logical research?
6. Read Chapters 14, 16 and 17 and then compare the strengths and weaknesses
of each of the following:
� semi-structured interviews
� biographical interviews
� participant observation
� appreciative ethnography.
7. Read Chapters 11, 13 and 15 and then, drawing on the innovative ways of doing
criminological research that these chapters discuss, plan a strategy to conduct
research on your chosen topic. You should aim for methodological triangulation
in your research design.
8. As you read Chapters 6, 15, 17 and 22, write down the differing ways in which
politics intrudes into social research.
9. Reflecting on Chapters 1, 4, 6, 15 and 17, describe the main ethical issues fac-
ing criminology research.
10. What are the ways in which people can be harmed by criminological
research? Are there some categories of people (e.g. corrupt police officers)
who should not be protected against the harmful effects of criminological
research?

11. What distinguishes critical research from policy-related research, if anything?
12. Write down the issues which you think should be addressed in a reflexive
account.
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING

There are a number of texts on social research methods and on doing criminological
research, many of varying quality and content. The two, in our view, that offer authoritative,
clear and well-authored overviews of doing criminological research for students are:
Caulfield, L. and Hill, J. (2014) Criminological Research for Beginners: A Student’s Guide.
London: Routledge.
Crowther-Duffy, C. and Fussey, P. (2013) Researching Crime. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillan.
In relation to understanding the detail, breadth and scope of doing criminological research,
we would still recommend our ex-colleague, Victor Jupp’s classic criminological text-
book: Jupp, V. (1989) Researching Crime. London: Routledge; and the first two editions
of this book, namely: Jupp, V., Davies, P. and Francis, P. (eds) (2000) Doing Criminological
Research, 1st edition. London: Sage; and Jupp, V., Davies, P. and Francis, P. (eds) (2010)
Doing Criminological Research, 2nd edition. London: Sage.
REFERENCES
Davies, P. (2006) ‘Interviews’: entry in V. Jupp (ed.), The Sage Dictionary of Social Research.
London: Sage.
Davies, P. (2012) ‘“Me”, “me”, “me”: the use of the first person in academic writing and
some reflections on subjective analyses of personal experiences’, Sociology, 6(4):
744–52.
Dolman, F. and Francis, P. (2010) ‘Doing ethnography in the context of policing’, in
P. Davies, P. Francis and V. Jupp (eds), Doing Criminological Research. London: Sage.
Economic and Social Research Council (2018) https://esrc.ukri.org/research/impact-
toolkit/what-is-impact/ (accessed 2 August 2018).

Francis, P. (2007) ‘Young people, victims and crime’, in P. Davies, P. Francis and C. Greer
(eds), Victims, Crime and Society. London: Sage.
Green, N. (2008) 'Formulating and Refining a Research Question', in N. Gilbert, Researching
Social Life (third edition). London: Sage.
HEFCE (2014) Research Excellence Framework 2014: The Results. Available at: www.ref.
ac.uk/2014/media/ref/content/pub/REF%2001%202014%20-%20full%20document.
pdf (accessed 18 March 2018).
Hollands, R.G. (2000) ‘“Lager louts, tarts, and hooligans”: the criminalisation of young
adults in a study of Newcastle night-life’, in V. Jupp, P. Davies and P. Francis (eds), Doing
Criminological Research. London: Sage.
Letherby, G. (2003) Feminist Research in Theory and Practice. Milton Keynes: Open
University Press.
Loader, I. and Sparks, R. (2007) ‘Contemporary landscapes of crime, order and control:
governance, risk and globalization’, in M. Maguire, R. Morgan and R. Reiner (eds),
The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, 3rd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
pp. 78–101.
Martin, C. (2000) ‘Doing research in a prison setting’, in V. Jupp, P. Davies and P. Francis
(eds), Doing Criminological Research. London: Sage.
Pain, R. and Francis, P. (2003) ‘Reflections on participatory research’, Area, 35(1): 46–54.
Reed, M.S. (2016) The Research Impact Handbook. Fast Track Impact.
Silverman, D. (2007) Doing Qualitative Research. London: Sage.
Stanley, L. (1993) ‘On auto/biography in sociology’, Sociology, 27(1): 41–52.
Stanley, L. and Wise, S. (1993) Breaking Out Again: Feminist Ontology and Epistemology.
London: Routledge.
van Dijk, J. (2015) ‘The case for survey-based comparative measures of crime’, European
Journal of Criminology, 12(4): 437–45.
van Kesteren, J., van Dijk, J. and Mayhew, P. (2014) ‘The international crime victims sur-
veys: a retrospective’, International Review of Victimology, 20(1): 49–69.
Walklate, S., Fitz-Gibbon, K. and McCulloch, J. (2018) ‘Is more law the answer? Seeking
justice for victims of intimate partner violence through the reform of legal categories’,
Criminology and Criminal Justice, 18(1): 115–31.
Wright Mills, C. (1959) The Sociological Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.


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Pamela Davies Peter Francis

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Notes on Contributors xxii

1 Decision Making and Reflexivity in Doing Criminological Research 1

2 Planning and Proposing Criminological Research 35

3 Undertaking a Criminological Literature Review 67

4 Methodological Approaches to Criminological Research 93

5 Using Mixed Methods in Criminological Research 113

6 The Politics and Ethics of Criminological Research 137

7 Writing Up and Presenting Criminological Research 161

8 Using Historical Artefacts, Records and Resources in Criminological Research 179

9 Using Social Surveys in Criminological Research 199

10 Doing Quantitative Data Analysis in Criminological Research 229

11 Using Big Data and Data Analytics in Criminological Research 251

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13 Doing Longitudinal and Life-Course Criminological Research 297

14 Using Interviews as Storytelling in Criminological Research 321

15 Using In-Depth Interviewing and Documentary

16 Using Biography and Autobiography in

17 Doing Ethnographic Research in Criminology 385

18 Doing Criminological Research Online 413

19 Using Visual Methods in Criminological Research 433

20 Doing Comparative Criminological Research 455

21 Using Case Study Methods in Criminological Research 475

22 Doing Criminological Evaluation Research 497

vi Doing Criminological Research

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Notes on Contributors xxii

1 Decision Making and Reflexivity in

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2 Doing Criminological Research

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Golden threads and cross-cutting themes

Imagination, Preparation, Decision Making and Reflexivity 3

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4 Doing Criminological Research

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Reading and using Doing Criminological Research

Imagination, Preparation, Decision Making and Reflexivity 5

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• ensure consistency in approach and to secure a thorough review of all aspects of

Where relevant, each chapter offers:

Chapters variously also incorporate the following features:

6 Doing Criminological Research

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Defining the topic, cases, context and time

End purpose of research

Imagination, Preparation, Decision Making and Reflexivity 7

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BOX 1.1 DESIGNING AN EVALUATION OF A MULTI-

• to prevent further domestic abuse related to offending

International, cross-cultural and comparative research

8 Doing Criminological Research

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Imagination, Preparation, Decision Making and Reflexivity 9

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10 Doing Criminological Research

Notes on Contributors xxii

1 Decision Making and Reflexivity in Doing Criminological Research 1

2 Planning and Proposing Criminological Research 35

3 Undertaking a Criminological Literature Review 67

4 Methodological Approaches to Criminological Research 93

5 Using Mixed Methods in Criminological Research 113

6 The Politics and Ethics of Criminological Research 137

7 Writing Up and Presenting Criminological Research 161

8 Using Historical Artefacts, Records and Resources in Criminological Research 179

9 Using Social Surveys in Criminological Research 199

10 Doing Quantitative Data Analysis in Criminological Research 229

11 Using Big Data and Data Analytics in Criminological Research 251

13 Doing Longitudinal and Life-Course Criminological Research 297

14 Using Interviews as Storytelling in Criminological Research 321

17 Doing Ethnographic Research in Criminology 385

18 Doing Criminological Research Online 413

19 Using Visual Methods in Criminological Research 433

20 Doing Comparative Criminological Research 455

21 Using Case Study Methods in Criminological Research 475

22 Doing Criminological Evaluation Research 497

Notes on Contributors xxii