Module Identifier CR31420  
Module Title CRIMINOLOGY SKILLS 2  
Academic Year 2007/2008  
Co-ordinator Professor Alan H Clarke  
Semester Semester 1  
Other staff Miss Katherine S Williams, Dr Gareth Norris  
Pre-Requisite CR10120 OR LA39220 , CR10220  
Course delivery Lecture   12 one hour lectures and six two hour lectures  
  Lecture    
  Seminars / Tutorials   3 two hour seminars  
  Practical   6 x 1 hour or 3 x 2 hour  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Assessment 3000 word assessed assignment required in week 12  100%
Supplementary Assessment   

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. demonstrate an understanding of the basic methodological principles underpinning evaluation research;
2. show an appreciation of some of the technical, practical and ethical problems encountered when evaluating the impact of criminal justice interventions;
3   critically assess evidence-based policy reports;
4   design a simple evaluation study;
5   draw appropriate inferences from statistical data and establish statistical significance;
6   identify what constitutes good ethical practice in criminological research and demonstrate an understanding of some of the major ethical concerns faced by researchers.

Aims

The first year core module CR10220 (Criminology Research Skills) provided a basic grounding in the fundamental principles of qualitative and quantitative methods and methodologies in criminological research. The current module builds on this foundation by enabling students to appreciate how these research methods and techniques can be applied to the evaluation of crime policy initiatives and intervention programmes. It introduces students to more advanced ideas and techniques in both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. There is a growing demand for graduates with empirical research skills at all levels in the criminal justice system.

Brief description

The module covers the principles of evaluation research and demonstrates how social science methods and methodologies are applied to the study of planned interventions and treatment programmes in the criminal justice field. It will provide the student with the knowledge and skills to conduct their own empirical research and critically analyse existing studies.

Content

An introduction to programme evaluation and the use of logic models.
Experimental and quasi-experimental research designs in policy contexts.
Qualitative approaches to evaluating practices and policies in criminal justice.
Collecting qualitative data: participant and non-participant observation, focus groups and interview techniques.
Basic psychological tests
Quantitative methods: Inferential statistics, statistical significance and Chi-square.
Introduction to quantitative software.
Evaluating crime reduction programmes, and crime prevention initiatives.
Ethical principles and practices in criminological research.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6