Qualitative research in criminology

Last updated September 22, 2024

Qualitative research in criminology consists of research in the criminology field that employs qualitative methods. There are many applications of this research, and they can often intersect with quantitative research in criminology in order to create mixed method studies.

This type of research is key to holistic views of criminological theory (theories of crime, or within the field of criminology), as it is much more capable of establishing context than empirical data alone.^[1] There are also some academics who consider qualitative research to be the superior method of research in criminology,^[2] yet this does not mean that it is more commonly used. In fact, quantitative research is much more frequently published in criminology journals.^[3]

Characteristics and terminology

The characteristics of the research itself are equal to those in qualitative methods overall. However, the characteristics as they relate to criminology relate most closely to the research's applicability. Generally, qualitative methods are used to supplement quantitative data – particularly by establishing background and/or applicability.^[2]

Terminology includes:^[4]

Ethnography – A general definition of ethnography is the field of studying people and cultures. As applied to the criminology field, ethnography generally is applied to one of three areas:^[5]
- Criminal subcultures (i.e. drug trade)
- Policing
- Areas (i.e. neighborhoods with particularly high crime rates)
Ethnomethodology – This study of how social orders are developed and maintained is particularly applicable in high crime areas, any structure of organized crime or transnational crime, or even within the policing hierarchy to identify patterns amongst officers and their superiors.
Grounded Theory – This method's primary strength is the concept of building a theory out of collected findings, establishing theories from patterns of data.^[6]
Narrative Analysis – Narrative analysis is applied to criminology primarily in the notion of profiling, or building findings based on narrative patterns of behavior. The applicability in this field primarily stems from narrative psychology and in conjunction with policing techniques.^[7]

Common methods of data collection

Participant observation

Participant observation can take many forms, but generally it will take one of the three following:

Complete observation – In this form of participant observation, the researcher is completely removed from the activity they are observing. All of the individuals they interact with are fully aware that they are a researcher conducting observation, and that may inform their willingness to interact with the researcher.
Participation and observation – In this form, the researcher is participating alongside the subjects of their research, while making it known that they are a researcher conducting observation.
Covert participation – This is the most discreet form of participation, wherein a researcher does not publicize the information that they are conducting research. Generally, the intent is to enter a community as a peer and observe internally in order to then report their findings after the fact.

Intensive interviewing

Intensive interviewing is a form of interview wherein the researcher uses primarily broad, open-ended questions in order to obtain in-depth information about the interviewee's experiences, thoughts, reactions, and feelings.

Focus groups

Focus groups generally entail a largely unstructured group interview, in which the interviewer actively encourages interaction and discussion among participants.

This is largely relevant when considering policy matters or perception of crime, as the interviewees do not have to be particularly affected by the subject matter at hand.

One fault of this method is that it can be largely unrepresentative, and individuals' participation can be influenced or changed by the input of others in the room. Researchers can often mitigate this by conducting multiple focus groups and comparing the various outcomes and discussions.

Case studies and historical examples

One significant difficulty pertaining to research in the criminological sphere is the inability to conduct experiments. As with some other fields, the scope of criminological issues is so broad that it is nearly always impossible to conduct experiments pertaining to policy (i.e. it would be unethical to subject prisoners at random to higher levels of freedom than others for the sake of experiments, or sentence prisoners at random to longer sentences to observe the effects of increased captivity). Therefore, a common method used to analyze policy practices are case studies and historical examples. These can be local in a specific jurisdiction, on any scale up to and including international treaties. These case studies aid researchers to determine and anticipate potential outcomes of specific policy proposals.

Data analysis

As with the characteristics of this research, much of the data analysis methods are directly comparable to analysis methods of qualitative research in general, and there does not seem to be certain methods that are used more than others within the qualitative research space.^[8]

One key method of data collection and analysis in qualitative methods that is used quite often in criminology is that of progressive focusing. This method involves a researcher beginning with a broad research question or area of investigation, and then progressively narrowing their focus based on their preliminary findings.^[9] This method is particularly applicable in criminological research due to the number of subcultures within criminal trades. It is also a key method used in criminal investigations, and so is present in any case research.

Ethical issues

There are several ethical issues that researchers most commonly face in this field, including the following:

Voluntary participation – This is particularly concerning when it comes to participant observation, and most notably covert participant observation. Due to the nature of criminological research, there are many individuals who may not want to be observed as they may fear for their safety (both from a legal standpoint or for fear of retribution from those they interact with).
Identity disclosure – This raises the question of legal responsibility of reporting criminal activity vs safeguarding the anonymity of participants. Particularly in the case of covert observation, where individuals are not aware that their activities are being observed, identity disclosure is rare.^[10]
Researcher safety – Similarly, though this is applicable to all methods of data collection, it is particularly applicable when considering participant observation. Given that a researcher can be interacting with criminal enterprises, prison inmates, etc. it is important that their safety remain protected through the process by whatever safeguards they are able to establish, such as check-ins with a partner, any support from individuals within the community, etc.

Related Research Articles

Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to controlling sources of bias and error. These activities are characterized by accounting and controlling for biases. A research project may be an expansion of past work in the field. To test the validity of instruments, procedures, or experiments, research may replicate elements of prior projects or the project as a whole.

Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining the behavior of the participants in a given social situation and understanding the group members' own interpretation of such behavior.

In marketing and the social sciences, observational research is a social research technique that involves the direct observation of phenomena in their natural setting. This differentiates it from experimental research in which a quasi-artificial environment is created to control for spurious factors, and where at least one of the variables is manipulated as part of the experilovement.

Qualitative marketing research involves a natural or observational examination of the philosophies that govern consumer behavior. The direction and framework of the research is often revised as new information is gained, allowing the researcher to evaluate issues and subjects in an in-depth manner. The quality of the research produced is heavily dependent on the skills of the researcher and is influenced by researcher bias.

Participant observation is one type of data collection method by practitioner-scholars typically used in qualitative research and ethnography. This type of methodology is employed in many disciplines, particularly anthropology, sociology, communication studies, human geography, and social psychology. Its aim is to gain a close and intimate familiarity with a given group of individuals and their practices through an intensive involvement with people in their cultural environment, usually over an extended period of time.

Qualitative research is a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical (descriptive) data in order to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation. This type of research typically involves in-depth interviews, focus groups, or field observations in order to collect data that is rich in detail and context. Qualitative research is often used to explore complex phenomena or to gain insight into people's experiences and perspectives on a particular topic. It is particularly useful when researchers want to understand the meaning that people attach to their experiences or when they want to uncover the underlying reasons for people's behavior. Qualitative methods include ethnography, grounded theory, discourse analysis, and interpretative phenomenological analysis. Qualitative research methods have been used in sociology, anthropology, political science, psychology, communication studies, social work, folklore, educational research, information science and software engineering research.

Social research is research conducted by social scientists following a systematic plan. Social research methodologies can be classified as quantitative and qualitative.

Quantitative research is a research strategy that focuses on quantifying the collection and analysis of data. It is formed from a deductive approach where emphasis is placed on the testing of theory, shaped by empiricist and positivist philosophies.

Educational research refers to the systematic collection and analysis of evidence and data related to the field of education. Research may involve a variety of methods and various aspects of education including student learning, interaction, teaching methods, teacher training, and classroom dynamics.

In its most common sense, methodology is the study of research methods. However, the term can also refer to the methods themselves or to the philosophical discussion of associated background assumptions. A method is a structured procedure for bringing about a certain goal, like acquiring knowledge or verifying knowledge claims. This normally involves various steps, like choosing a sample, collecting data from this sample, and interpreting the data. The study of methods concerns a detailed description and analysis of these processes. It includes evaluative aspects by comparing different methods. This way, it is assessed what advantages and disadvantages they have and for what research goals they may be used. These descriptions and evaluations depend on philosophical background assumptions. Examples are how to conceptualize the studied phenomena and what constitutes evidence for or against them. When understood in the widest sense, methodology also includes the discussion of these more abstract issues.

Grounded theory is a systematic methodology that has been largely applied to qualitative research conducted by social scientists. The methodology involves the construction of hypotheses and theories through the collecting and analysis of data. Grounded theory involves the application of inductive reasoning. The methodology contrasts with the hypothetico-deductive model used in traditional scientific research.

Narrative inquiry or narrative analysis emerged as a discipline from within the broader field of qualitative research in the early 20th century, as evidence exists that this method was used in psychology and sociology. Narrative inquiry uses field texts, such as stories, autobiography, journals, field notes, letters, conversations, interviews, family stories, photos, and life experience, as the units of analysis to research and understand the way people create meaning in their lives as narratives.

Research design refers to the overall strategy utilized to answer research questions. A research design typically outlines the theories and models underlying a project; the research question(s) of a project; a strategy for gathering data and information; and a strategy for producing answers from the data. A strong research design yields valid answers to research questions while weak designs yield unreliable, imprecise or irrelevant answers.

Online ethnography is an online research method that adapts ethnographic methods to the study of the communities and cultures created through computer-mediated social interaction. As modifications of the term ethnography, cyber-ethnography, online ethnography and virtual ethnography designate particular variations regarding the conduct of online fieldwork that adapts ethnographic methodology. There is no canonical approach to cyber-ethnography that prescribes how ethnography is adapted to the online setting. Instead individual researchers are left to specify their own adaptations. Netnography is another form of online ethnography or cyber-ethnography with more specific sets of guidelines and rules, and a common multidisciplinary base of literature and scholars. This article is not about a particular neologism, but the general application of ethnographic methods to online fieldwork as practiced by anthropologists, sociologists, and other scholars.

Field research, field studies, or fieldwork is the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. For example, biologists who conduct field research may simply observe animals interacting with their environments, whereas social scientists conducting field research may interview or observe people in their natural environments to learn their languages, folklore, and social structures.

Quantitative methods provide the primary research methods for studying the distribution and causes of crime. Quantitative methods provide numerous ways to obtain data that are useful to many aspects of society. The use of quantitative methods such as survey research, field research, and evaluation research as well as others. The data can, and is often, used by criminologists and other social scientists in making causal statements about variables being researched.

Cultural criminology is a subfield in the study of crime that focuses on the ways in which the "dynamics of meaning underpin every process in criminal justice, including the definition of crime itself." In other words, cultural criminology seeks to understand crime through the context of culture and cultural processes. Rather than representing a conclusive paradigm per se, this particular form of criminological analysis interweaves a broad range of perspectives that share a sensitivity to “image, meaning, and representation” to evaluate the convergence of cultural and criminal processes.

Netnography is a "form of qualitative research that seeks to understand the cultural experiences that encompass and are reflected within the traces, practices, networks and systems of social media". It is a specific set of research practices related to data collection, analysis, research ethics, and representation, rooted in participant observation that can be conceptualized into three key stages: investigation, interaction, and immersion. In netnography, a significant amount of the data originates in and manifests through the digital traces of naturally occurring public conversations recorded by contemporary communications networks. Netnography uses these conversations as data. It is an interpretive research method that adapts the traditional, in-person participant observation techniques of anthropology to the study of interactions and experiences manifesting through digital communications.

Video Data Analysis (VDA) is a curated multi-disciplinary collection of tools, techniques, and quality criteria intended for analyzing the content of visuals to study driving dynamics of social behavior and events in real-life settings. It often uses visual data in combination with other data types. VDA is employed across the social sciences such as sociology, psychology, criminology, business research, and education research.

References

↑ Meuser, Michael; Löschper, Gabi (2002). "View of Introduction: Qualitative Research in Criminology | Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research". Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research. 3 (1). doi:10.17169/fqs-3.1.876 . Retrieved 2021-03-27.
1 2 Tewksbury, Richard (2009). "Qualitative versus Quantitative Methods: Understanding Why Qualitative Methods are Superior for Criminology and Criminal Justice". Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Criminology. 1: 38–58.
↑ Tewksbury, Richard; Dabney, Dean A.; Copes, Heith (2010-12-01). "The Prominence of Qualitative Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice Scholarship". Journal of Criminal Justice Education. 21 (4): 391–411. doi:10.1080/10511253.2010.516557. ISSN 1051-1253. S2CID 143961937.
↑ Bachman, Ronet; Schutt, Russell K. (2013-02-14). The Practice of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice. SAGE. ISBN 978-1-4522-5819-5.
↑ Rice, Stephen K.; Maltz, Michael D., eds. (2018). Doing Ethnography in Criminology: Discovery through Fieldwork. Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-96316-7. ISBN 978-3-319-96315-0.
↑ Escalante, Eduardo (1988). "Grounded Theory and research in criminology". International e-Journal of Criminal Sciences.
↑ Verde, Alfredo (2017-09-26). "Narrative Criminology: Crime as Produced by and Re-Lived Through Narratives". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.013.156. ISBN 978-0-19-026407-9 . Retrieved 2021-04-09.
↑ Copes, Heith; Beaton, Blake; Ayeni, David; Dabney, Dean; Tewksbury, Richard (2020-12-01). "A Content Analysis of Qualitative Research Published in Top Criminology and Criminal Justice Journals from 2010 to 2019". American Journal of Criminal Justice. 45 (6): 1060–1079. doi:10.1007/s12103-020-09540-6. ISSN 1936-1351. S2CID 220502128.
↑ Stake, Robert E. (April 1981). The Art of Progressive Focusing.
↑ Wiles, Rose (2008). "The Management of Confidentiality and Anonymity in Social Research" (PDF). International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 11 (5): 417–428. doi:10.1080/13645570701622231. S2CID 145054492.

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[1] Meuser, Michael; Löschper, Gabi (2002). "View of Introduction: Qualitative Research in Criminology | Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research". Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research. 3 (1). doi:10.17169/fqs-3.1.876 . Retrieved 2021-03-27.

[:0-2] 1 2 Tewksbury, Richard (2009). "Qualitative versus Quantitative Methods: Understanding Why Qualitative Methods are Superior for Criminology and Criminal Justice". Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Criminology. 1: 38–58.

[3] Tewksbury, Richard; Dabney, Dean A.; Copes, Heith (2010-12-01). "The Prominence of Qualitative Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice Scholarship". Journal of Criminal Justice Education. 21 (4): 391–411. doi:10.1080/10511253.2010.516557. ISSN 1051-1253. S2CID 143961937.

[4] Bachman, Ronet; Schutt, Russell K. (2013-02-14). The Practice of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice. SAGE. ISBN 978-1-4522-5819-5.

[5] Rice, Stephen K.; Maltz, Michael D., eds. (2018). Doing Ethnography in Criminology: Discovery through Fieldwork. Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-96316-7. ISBN 978-3-319-96315-0.

[6] Escalante, Eduardo (1988). "Grounded Theory and research in criminology". International e-Journal of Criminal Sciences.

[7] Verde, Alfredo (2017-09-26). "Narrative Criminology: Crime as Produced by and Re-Lived Through Narratives". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.013.156. ISBN 978-0-19-026407-9 . Retrieved 2021-04-09.

[8] Copes, Heith; Beaton, Blake; Ayeni, David; Dabney, Dean; Tewksbury, Richard (2020-12-01). "A Content Analysis of Qualitative Research Published in Top Criminology and Criminal Justice Journals from 2010 to 2019". American Journal of Criminal Justice. 45 (6): 1060–1079. doi:10.1007/s12103-020-09540-6. ISSN 1936-1351. S2CID 220502128.

[9] Stake, Robert E. (April 1981). The Art of Progressive Focusing.

[10] Wiles, Rose (2008). "The Management of Confidentiality and Anonymity in Social Research" (PDF). International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 11 (5): 417–428. doi:10.1080/13645570701622231. S2CID 145054492.

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