CHAPTER 1 TEST BANK
Criminal Justice and Scientific Inquiry
TRUE/FALSE
1. We live in a world of two realities; agreement and experiential.
2. Casual human inquiry is typically more rigorous are probabilistic methods.
3. Personal human inquiry is prone to errors such as overgeneralization, inaccurate
observation, replication, and selective observation.
4. Making observations in a more selective way helps to reduce error.
5. Selective observation is a danger of overgeneralization.
6. Each of us is born into and inherits a culture made up, in part, of firmly accepted
knowledge about the workings of the world.
7. The idea that exceptions can be used to prove rules is valid.
8. We should accept research findings with caution even if they come from experts, because
results may be mistaken or misinterpreted.
9. The four purposes of research are exploration, description, explanation, and application.
10. As you review the research literature, you should make note of how other researchers
approach problems of interest, and consider whether the same designs will meet your research
objective.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Most criminal justice professionals routinely review ____ to get the most up–to-date and
accurate information.
a.
computer readouts and news reports
b.
archived and updated spreadsheets
c.
performance reports and statistical tabulations
d.
popular media sources
2. One objective of this book 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
3. We live in a world of two realities: _____.
a.
expressed and assumed
b.
experiential and agreement
c.
expressed and agreement
d.
experiential and assumed
4. Things we know from direct experience are a direct result of ____ reality.
a.
agreement
b.
expressed
c.
assumed
d.
experiential
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5. Things we consider real because we’ve been told they are real reflect ____ reality.
a.
agreement
b.
expressed
c.
assumed
d.
experiential
6. Traditional beliefs about patrol effectiveness, response time, and detective work are
examples of ____ reality.
a.
known
b.
agreement
c.
experiential
d.
assumed
7. What type of research involves measurement and interpretation?
a.
epistemological
b.
logical
c.
empirical
d.
conceptual
8. By accepting what everybody knows, we rely on ____.
a.
tradition
b.
myth
c.
reality
d.
logic
9. When we trust the judgments of people who have special training, such as a doctor or a
lawyer, we relying on _____ as a way of knowing.
a.
wisdom
b.
expertise
c.
authority
d.
power
10. If you make sure that what you are looking at is what you intended to look at, you can
avoid _____.
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a.
overgeneralization
b.
inaccurate observation
c.
illogical reasoning
d.
miscalculations
11. If you have concluded that a particular pattern exists and have developed a general
understanding of why, you may be tempted to ignore facts that don’t fit. This illustrates _____.
a.
inaccurate observation
b.
overgeneralization
c.
illogical reasoning
d.
selective observation
12. The idea that “the exception that proves the rule” is an example of _____.
a.
inaccurate observation
b.
overgeneralization
c.
illogical reasoning
d.
selective observation
13. Scientific inquiry is a(n) _____ activity.
a.
conscious
b.
private
c.
casual
d.
informal
14. In science, an assertion must have be the product of ____ reasoning
a.
independent
b.
question and answer
c.
logical
d.
developmental
15. A(n) _____ can be thought of as a complex set of relationships among several concepts.
a.
analysis
b.
theory
c.
operationalization
d.
generalization
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16. Patterns of cause and effect are _____ in nature.
a.
probabilistic
b.
absolute
c.
experiential
d.
nihilistic
17. The keystone of inquiry is _____.
a.
sampling
b.
induction
c.
literature review
d.
observation
18. Which of the following is included in the “CRAAP Test?”
a.
convenience
b.
reliability
c.
accuracy
d.
acceptability
19. Empirical research involves measurement and _____.
a.
variables
b.
interpretation
c.
description
d.
objectives
20. Science avoids inaccuracy by making _____ a careful and deliberate activity.
a.
reason
b.
description
c.
fallacy
d.
observation
21. What are the four purposes of research?
a.
exploration, description, explanation, application
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b.
exploration, description, funding, application
c.
exploration, development, inquisition, funding
d.
exploration, development, inquisition, application
22. You observe police activity in your city for one week, and then you summarize what you
observed. What type of study have you performed?
a.
explorative
b.
descriptive
c.
explanative
d.
applicative
23. When we attempt to answer questions about why something happens, the purpose of our
research is _____.
a.
exploration
b.
description
c.
explanation
d.
application
24. The two major types of applied research are _____.
a.
program evaluation and policy analysis
b.
program development and causal analysis
c.
psychosocial evaluations and policy creation
d.
goal setting and policy implementation
25. Your college has implemented a new policy on campus regarding underage drinking.
You want to find out if it has been effective. The purpose of your research is _____.
a.
exploration
b.
description
c.
explanation
d.
evaluation
26. Identifying why some people believe that police are doing a good job while other people
believe they are nor is an example of _____.
a.
explanatory research
b.
idiographic explanation
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c.
singular explanation
d.
application research
27. Determining whether a program designed to reduce burglary actually had the intended
effect is an example of _____.
a.
explanation
b.
evaluation
c.
application
d.
deduction
28. Justice organizations are increasingly using techniques of _____ to study patterns of
cases and devise appropriate responses.
a.
problem analysis
b.
systematic interpretation
c.
literature review
d.
inductive reasoning
29. A(n) _____ is the most appropriate method for studying both general concern and fear for
personal safety
a.
survey
b.
observational study
c.
experiment
d.
randomized trial
30. The final stage of the research process is _____.
a.
interpretation
b.
literature review
c.
analysis
d.
application
COMPLETION
1. When we want to try to predict our own personal futures, we use casual and
_______________ reasoning.
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2. Traditional beliefs about patrol effectiveness, response time and detective work are
examples of _________________ reality.
3. _____________ means repeating a study, in order to determine whether similar results
are obtained each time.
4. If you believe that the exception proves the rule, you are engaging in _____________
reasoning.
5. A(n) _____________ is a complex set of relationships among several concepts.
6. ___________ is the final stage of the research process.
7. Manipulation of data for the purpose of drawing conclusions is known as
_____________.
\
8. In our daily lives, we base reality of experience and __________.
9. __________ leads to misrepresentation and simplification of problems.
10. According to the _____________, a consistent run of good or bad luck is presumed to
foreshadow its opposite.
ESSAY
1. Identify as many types of errors in human inquiry as you can. Explain each by using an
example from the field of criminal justice.
2. Discuss the purposes of doing research. Give an example of each by using a hypothetical
from the field of criminal justice.
3. Tradition and authority are forms of personal human inquiry. Give examples of each by
using scenarios from the criminal justice field.