This sixth edition continues to demonstrate the vital role research plays by integrating in-depth, real-world case studies with a comprehensive discussion of research methods. By pairing research techniques with practical examples from the field, the authors equip students to evaluate and conduct research. Covering research findings from critical areas in criminal justice, such as police use of force, cybercrime, and race, this text helps students understand the importance of research, not just the process. The Sixth Edition of this best-selling text retains the strengths of previous editions while breaking ground with emergent research methods, enhanced tools for learning in the text and online, and contemporary, fascinating research findings. Students engage with the wide realm of research methods available to them, delve deeper into topics relevant to their field of study, and benefit from the wide variety of new exercises to help them practice as they learn. This edition is accompanied by an Edge site: edge.sagepub.com/bachmanprccj6e New to this edition: New real-world research examples including the effects of incarceration on employment, the effects of police wearing body cameras on police and citizen injury, the perceptions of citizens regarding police misconduct, and an investigation into the lives of gang members. A new chapter on qualitative data analysis summarizes the different techniques using a case study of interviews with drug-involved offenders. Updated "Research in the News" boxes feature the latest media stories which have made an impact both on researchers and practitioners New "Careers and Research" profiles highlight the relevance of research in today's job market New end-of-chapter exercise questions refer students to a chapter-specific video posted on the Study Site, in which researchers discuss their experiences with a method presented in that chapter. New empirical data sets featured on the Study Site give students access to new subsets of data New SPSS and Excel exercises that correspond to the chapter material provide students with extra practice of the research methods being explained.

Author Biography

Ronet Bachman, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware. She is coauthor of Statistical Methods for Crime and Criminal Justice, coauthor of The Practice of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice, co-editor of Explaining Crime and Criminology: Essays in Contemporary Criminal Theory. In addition, she is author of Death and Violence on the Reservation; coauthor of Stress, Culture, and Aggression in the United States; and coauthor of Murder American Style as well as numerous articles and papers that examine the epidemiology and etiology of violence, with a particular emphasis on women, the elderly, and minority populations. Her most recent federally funded research examines the desistance trajectories of drug-involved offenders 10 years after release from prison using a mixed-method design. Russell K. Schutt, PhD, is a professor and the chair of sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and a lecturer on sociology in the Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School (Massachusetts Mental Health Center). He completed his BA, MA, and PhD (1977) at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a postdoctoral fellowship in the Sociology of Social Control Training Program at Yale University (1977-1979). His other books include Investigating the Social World: The Process and Practice of Research and Fundamentals of Social Work Research (with Ray Engel), Making Sense of the Social World (with Dan Chambliss), and Research Methods in Psychology (with Paul G. Nestor)-all with SAGE Publications, as well as Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Illness (Harvard University Press) and Social Neuroscience: Brain, Mind, and Society (coedited with Larry J. Seidman and Matcheri S. Keshavan, also Harvard University Press). Most of his peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters focus on the effect of social context on cognition, satisfaction, functioning, and recidivism, the orientations of service recipients and of service and criminal justice personnel, and the organization of health and social services. He is currently a coinvestigator for a randomized trial of peer support for homeless dually diagnosed veterans, funded by the Veterans Administration.