Compare and contrast quantitative and qualitative research in criminology, and provide examples of research that rely on these two approaches.
What will be an ideal response?
Quantitative research can be described as the techniques associated with the gathering, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of numerical information. Through clearly defined dependent and independent variables, quantitative research relies on hypothesis testing to evaluate theories. This requires that researchers understand the differences between propositions, concepts, independent and dependent variables, and correlation versus causation. Quantitative techniques focus on numeric data and seek to test whether, and to what extent, some variables influence criminal acts, criminal behavior, or crime rates.
Qualitative research refers to the gathering, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of narrative information in order to establish concepts and build theories. Qualitative research was very much at the heart of early studies of crime, including the ethnographic and interview research that formed part of what is known as the Chicago school. During the 1920s and 1930s, researchers at the University of Chicago undertook numerous qualitative studies of crime and deviance. These researchers viewed the city of Chicago as a sort of social laboratory and focused on understanding how the urban landscape related to social problems such as crime.
Quantitative research has uncovered four main correlates of crime. These are age, ethnicity, gender, and class. Today, there are calls for a renewed focus on qualitative research to understand issues such as offender decision making, social networks, and the ways in which social processes shape criminal events. This includes the use of life history narratives to understand pathways to offending and desistance from crime as well as research on organizational processes and decision making within criminal justice and other relevant institutions. The benefit of qualitative analysis is that it can provide a means to focus more deeply on individual cases and context-specific realities.
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