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Data Collection Methods

Part II: Observational and


Archival Methods

Observation
Archival Methods

Police recorded crime


Self-reported offending/victimization
surveys

An Introduction to Experiments
[if time]

Observational Data: An
example with bullying

Sampling behaviour
when to watch?

What is bullying?

nominal and operational definitions

Reliability

inter-rater agreement

Validity Check

predictive criterion validity

Observational Data: Defining


Bullying (2+) acts of one
Nominal Definition:repeated

child intentionally (lasting 5+ seconds) inflicting


or intentionally attempting to inflict injury or
discomfort (physical or mental) upon another.
Physical discomfort/injury = anything from
pushing and shoving to injuries requiring medical
attention. Mental discomfort = anything that
makes a child feel distressed or embarrassed.

Operational Definition for Observation: at

least two bullying episodes (defined above) that


last at least 5 seconds.

Observational Data: Defining


Bullying
Reliability concerns: Definition very
subjective can people consistently identify
intentionally inflicting or intentionally
attempting to inflict injury or discomfort?

Intentional = over 5 seconds.

But how can


people identify injury or discomfort
(especially if mental)?

Need to do an inter-rater reliability check

Observational Data: An
example with bullying

Sampling behaviour
when to watch?

What is bullying?

nominal and operational definitions

Reliability

inter-rater agreement

Validity Check

predictive criterion validity

Data Collection Methods


Part II: Observational and
Archival Methods

Observation
Archival Methods

Police recorded crime


Self-reported offending/victimization
surveys

An Introduction to Experiments
[if time]

Official Measures of Crime


1. Reporting rules or policy changes?
2. Changing definitions of crimes?
3. What does a single count mean?
Multiple victims or offenders?

4. What behaviours are captured in


definitions?
5. Different components of a sentence?
6. Selection bias?

Archival Data Police


Recorded
Crime
What is a criminal incident
Offences committed? Number of Charges?
Number of Offenders? Number of
Victims?
What if 5 adults break into 10 cars in an
underground parking garage?

Whats the incident?


Number of offenders charged?
Number of offences committed?
Number of Charges?

Archival Data Police


Recorded
Crime
Definition of a criminal incident
Criminal incident: One incident can include
more than one offence. For incidents involving
multiple offences, only the most serious offence
in the incident is counted. In categorizing
offences according to seriousness, generally the
Criminal Code maximum penalties are used,
except that violent offences always take
precedence over non-violent offences.
Violent crime counts reflect the number of victims
in the incident, whereas non-violent crime counts
reflect the number of incidents or occurrences of
crime.

Comment on the Judges


Conclusion Are Assaults
Increasing?

Ten years ago, only about 5% of the cases in


my court involved assaults, the judge said.
Now, about 20% of the charges on my dockets
are for assaults. This increase in assault cases
demonstrates quite clearly that we need to have
a massive education campaign about the
seriousness of assaults.
What questions might you have about this
statement?

Questions
Not clear whats an assault? All assaults or
minor assaults? If minor, was there a change
in charging practices? Changes in the law?
Or some other change (e.g. closing of pubs?)

Charges or cases how are the data


organized?

If cases (and organized by most serious


charge) the increase percent doesnt mean
that these cases went up. It could be others
went down.

Questions
Not clear whats an assault? All assaults or
minor assaults? If minor, was there a change
in charging practices? Changes in the law?
Or some other change (e.g. closing of pubs?)
Charges or cases how are the data
organized?
If cases (and organized by most serious
charge) the increase percent doesnt mean
that these cases went up. It could be others
went down.

Cherry-pick two years? What about inbetween years?

Questions
Not clear whats an assault? All assaults or
minor assaults? If minor, was there a change in
charging practices? Changes in the law? Or some
other change (e.g. closing of pubs?)
Charges or cases how are the data
organized?
If cases (and organized by most serious charge)
the increase percent doesnt mean that these
cases went up. It could be others went down.
Cherry-pick two years? What about in-between
years?

More generally, what does the judges docket

have to do with crime rates. Is that one court


representative of any other jurisdiction?
(Sampling problem)

Data Collection Methods


Part II: Observational and
Archival Methods

Observation
Archival Methods

Police recorded crime


Self-reported offending/victimization
surveys

An Introduction to Experiments
[if time]

Self-Report Offending /
Victimization
Problems with memory
Memory Fade / Telescoping

You get what you ask for


General vs. Specific Questions

What do changes over time mean?


More specific questions? Greater
awareness of behaviour seen as an
offence

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