Chapter_1 Crime Criminal_Justice and_Scientific_Inquiry
True / False
1. We live in a world of two realities; agreement and empirical.
a. True
b. False
2. Casual human inquiry is a more rigorous way of investigation than probability and causality.
a. True
b. False
3. The keystone of inquiry is observation.
a. True
b. False
4. We can understand something by knowing the why before the what.
a. True
b. False
5. Selective observation is a danger of overgeneralization.
a. True
b. False
Chapter_1 Crime Criminal_Justice and_Scientific_Inquiry
6. Value is a relative concept and cannot be settled by science.
a. True
b. False
7. A vast number of norms and rules in society create regularity.
a. True
b. False
8. Four purposes of research are exploration, description, explanation, and application.
a. True
b. False
Multiple Choice
9. According to the text, most criminal justice professionals (especially supervisors) routinely review:
a. computer readouts and news reports
b. archived and updated spreadsheets
c. performance reports and statistical tabulations
d. databases
10. The objective of the text is to help future criminal justice professionals become:
a. informed consumers of research
b. informed consumers of books
c. experts in the department of justice
d. expert readers
Chapter_1 Crime Criminal_Justice and_Scientific_Inquiry
11. We live in a world of two realities known as:
a. expressed and assumed
b. experiential and agreement
c. expressed and agreement
d. experiential and assumed
12. Things we know from direct experience are a direct result of which type of reality?
a. agreement
b. expressed
c. assumed
d. experiential
13. Things we consider real because we’ve been told they are real is an example of:
a. agreement reality
b. expressed reality
c. assumed reality
d. experiential reality
14. A research project concerning law enforcement that produces an alternative view of a practice represents:
a. known reality
b. expressed reality
c. empirical reality
d. experiential reality
Chapter_1 Crime Criminal_Justice and_Scientific_Inquiry
15. Traditional beliefs about patrol effectiveness, response time, and detective work are examples of:
a. known reality
b. agreement reality
c. experiential reality
d. assumed reality
16. Scientists must have two types of support before they will agree on something they haven’t personally experienced.
These types are:
a. epistemological and methodological
b. logical and hard facts
c. logical and empirical
d. hard facts and complete data
17. What is the science of knowing?
a. methodology
b. entomology
c. modality
d. epistemology
18. What method is known as the science of finding out?
a. epistemology
b. methodology
c. observations
d. data gathering
19. Human inquiry attempts to answer what two questions?
a. where and when
b. who and why
c. how and when
d. what and why
20. Prediction can be made better by observation and remembering regular:
a. assumptions
b. patterns
c. educated guesses
d. pasts
21. Agreed on knowledge that others give us is known as:
a. tradition and authority
b. tradition and experience
c. agreement reality
d. understanding
22. When we rely on the “truths” of our culture, we are accepting knowledge derived from the majority, and this is
called acceptance of:
a. traditions
b. myths
c. reality
d. agreement
23. As we learn about the world around us we use personal inquiry and direct experience. However, what other sources
of knowledge do we rely on?
a. tradition and authority
b. exploration and description
c. surveys and observations
d. aggregate data and survey data
24. When we trust the judgments of people who have special training, such as a doctor or a lawyer, we are accepting
their:
a. wisdom
b. expertise
c. authority
d. word
25. When we rely on authority to get information about the world around us, which of the following is most likely?
a. the resulting information is always correct
b. the information can both help inquiry and hinder it
c. the resulting information is always wrong
d. you can never know if the information you gather is correct
26. Selective observation can be the result of
a. replication
b. illogical reasoning
c. ideology and politics
d. overgeneralization
27. When taking conscious and deliberate steps to insure that what you are looking at is what you intended to look at,
you avoid:
a. overgeneralization
b. inaccurate observation
c. illogical reasoning
d. generalization
28. Which of the following would be the best example of the potential for inaccurate observations in the criminal justice
system?
a. eyewitness testimony
b. police officers on a stake-out
c. the state witnesses at an execution
d. correction officers watching a potentially suicidal prisoner
29. When there is pressure to reach a general understanding, there is a tendency toward
a. overgeneralization
b. inaccurate observations
c. illogical reasoning
d. miscalculation
30. When you repeat a study to see if you achieve similar results, you are doing
a. too much work
b. pattern following
c. replication
d. theoretical repetition
31. Overgeneralization can lead to misrepresentation and:
a. justification
b. simplification
c. complication
d. replication
32. If you have concluded that a particular pattern exists and have developed a general understanding of why, you may
be tempted to ignore facts in the future that don’t fit. This is:
a. inaccurate observation
b. overgeneralization
c. illogical reasoning
d. selective observation
33. During observation, if you choose to follow “the exception that proves the rule,” you have made what error?
a. inaccurate observation
b. overgeneralization
c. illogical reasoning
d. selective observation
34. Illogical reasoning is best illustrated by which of the following?
a. the weather has been good all month, so this weekend the weather will be good enough to go to the beach
b. I have lost gambling for hours now, if I just pay a little longer I will win back what I have lost
c. on my way to work I always ease through the stop sign at the corner of the school’s parking lot and since I
have never been hit there, I will continue to do that
d. the last two exams were easy, so there is no need for me to study for this exam
35. One way social science differs from our casual day-to-day inquiry is that it is:
a. a conscious activity
b. a subconscious activity
c. a formal activity
d. an informal activity
36. Research into crime is related to ideology and politics in the following manner:
a. crime should not be used as a political issue
b. the study of crime can lead to policies that enhance the functioning of the criminal justice system
c. there is no political nature to the study of crime
d. there is no ideological issues in the study of crime
37. Two pillars of science are:
a. logic and data
b. questions and answers
c. logic and observation
d. research and development
38. What are three major aspects of the overall scientific enterprise?
a. theory, data collection, selective observation
b. theory, data collection, data analysis
c. data collection, data analysis, funding
d. theory, data analysis, funding
39. Social science cannot settle debates on:
a. facts
b. observations
c. logic
d. values
40. Which of the following is not a subject that can be studied effectively?
a. Should a state consider adopting the death penalty.
b. Are appointed public defenders better than those that are elected in getting not-guilty verdicts.
c. Are police officers respected by the citizens more in community policing areas.
d. Are child protective services employees effective as measured by the number of families they reunite.
41. Social regularities represent:
a. probabilistic patterns
b. probabilistic problems
c. probabilistic predictions
d. probabilistic positions
42. In social science, rather than focusing upon an individual, we look at whole groups known as:
a. pairs
b. gangs
c. gaggles
d. aggregates
43. Gender and race are both examples of:
a. an attribute
b. a variable
c. an assessment
d. a fallacy
44. Social science involves the study of:
a. positives and negatives
b. variables and concepts
c. variables and paradigms
d. variables and attributes
45. Characteristics or qualities that describe an object are known as:
a. variables
b. attributes
c. descriptions
d. objectives
46. If gender is the variable, male is the:
a. description
b. variable
c. attribute
d. concept
47. Of hair color and blonde, which is the attribute?
a. hair color
b. blonde
c. both are attributes
d. neither are attributes
48. Values of the dependant variable depend on the:
a. independent variable
b. main variable
c. independent attribute
d. dependant attribute
49. If the independent variable is the cause then the dependant variable is the:
a. reason
b. description
c. fallacy
d. effect
50. If a trial is the independent variable, then which of the following is the dependant variable?
a. courtroom
b. attorney
c. verdict
d. judge
51. What are the four purposes of research?
a. exploration, description, explanation, application
b. exploration, description, funding, application
c. exploration, development, inquisition, funding
d. exploration, development, inquisition, application
52. When we attempt to gather base line data, usually because of new technology or some new law, the purpose of our
research is:
a. exploration
b. description
c. explanation
d. application
53. When a policy change is being considered, the most appropriate study would be:
a. descriptive
b. explanatory
c. explorative
d. applicative
54. You observe police activity in your city for one week, and then you describe what you observed. What type of study
have you preformed?
a. explorative
b. descriptive
c. explanative
d. applicative
55. When we do a study to determine why people have different opinions on the same topic, what is the purpose for the
study?
a. exploration
b. description
c. explanation
d. application
56. When we attempt to answer questions about why something happens, the purpose of our research is?
a. exploration
b. description
c. explanation
d. application
57. What are the two major types of applied research?
a. evaluation and problem analysis
b. evaluation and policy analysis
c. application and policy analysis
d. problem and policy analysis
58. Your college has implemented a new policy on campus regarding underage drinking. You want to evaluate its
effects. The purpose of your research is:
a. exploration
b. description
c. explanation
d. application
59. A great place to start when conducting a literature review is:
a. a scholarly journal
b. a previous research study
c. a library
d. a data software program
60. Which of the following is an important element that is often not thought of when creating a research project:?
a. the budget
b. the population
c. research methods
d. stakeholders
61. An Internet Search is good for getting ideas about potential research topics when:
a. specialized tools are used
b. All the time
c. Internet searches are not good, book bound journals are better
d. when you are late on an assignment
62. The research process starts with:
a. observations
b. data processing
c. an idea
d. research methods
63. Doing a literature review should be:
a. done only when one has to do it
b. done in pieces to setup a research problem
c. systematic and deliberate
d. unorganized
64. Stepping on a thorn for the first time and realizing that it is painful before anyone tells you it is painful is an example
of:
a. agreement reality
b. inaccurate observation
c. experiential reality
d. a nomothetic explanation
65. Which of the following describes politic’s role in social science/CJ research:
a. can play
b. never play
c. rarely play
d. play an essential role
66. Which of the following best defines conceptualization of a research process:
a. the manner in which variables are defined
b. how a population is decided upon
c. the specific analytic structure used for a study
d. the initial concept used for a study
67. Samantha has concluded that living in a co–ed residence hall makes residents more alike in characteristics. As she
continues her research, she tends to focus on events and situations that fit this pattern. Which error in inquiry is
reflected:
a. inaccurate observation
b. selective observation
c. overgeneralization
d. illogical reasoning
68. The first part of most scholarly journal articles is:
a. the Introduction
b. the Discussion Section
c. a Research Abstract
d. the Methods Section
69. Emma studied the literature on binge drinking and discovered a pattern between gender and binge drinking that
might be logically and theoretically expected. She then did her study of college students and drinking. Which
approach is reflected:
a. experiential
b. deductive
c. inductive
d. applied
70. Astor repeated a study to determine if she would obtain similar results that were found in her original study, and
thereby engaged in:
a. research and development
b. logical reasoning
c. replication
d. theoretical repetition
Completion
71. Patterns of cause and effect are ____________________ in nature.
72. research is the production of knowledge based on experience or observation.
73. means repeating a study, checking to see whether similar results are obtained each time.
74. Illogical reasoning occurs if you choose to follow the exception that proves the .
75. science cannot settle debates on values.
76. Epistemology and are two scientific approaches to the discovery of reality.
77. are logical groupings of attributes.
78. Characteristics or qualities that describe some object are known as ____________________.
79. Eye witness testimony that turns out to be inaccurate is an example of the inaccurate ____________________
type of error in personal human inquiry.
80. Although social scientists study motivations that affect individuals, ____________________ are more often the
subjects of social science research.
81. The culture where we are born is made up of accepted knowledge about the world around us and is known as
____________________.
82. When a researcher is aware that a certain pattern exists in the data, he/she may commit the error of
____________________ observation when they ignore events that do not fit the pattern.
83. Much of our knowledge is based on rather than on direct experience.
84. The “science of knowing” refers to .
85. Moving from specific data to a general theory or understanding is called reasoning.
86. Discuss the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning. Give examples of each.
87. Identify 3 errors in human inquiry. Explain each by using an example from the field of criminal justice.
88. Discuss the purposes of doing research. Give an example of each by using a hypothetical from the field of criminal
justice.
89. Explain the difference between quantitative and qualitative data. Give an example of each from the field of criminal
justice. Can both quantitative and qualitative data be used in each of the four purposes of doing research? Why or
why not?
90. Tradition and authority are forms of personal human inquiry. Give examples of each by using scenarios from the
criminal justice field.