This course will instruct students how to analyze and conduct research in the field of criminal justice. Students will learn traditional social science methods used in criminal justice and apply these methods in conducting their own research. Research designs, ethical considerations, sampling issues, interviewing, survey construction and computer software techniques will be analyzed and evaluated. Students will learn how to select, critically evaluate, and apply relevant areas of scholarship. Students will develop a better understanding of analyzing criminological data, data using descriptive analysis and inferential statistics, development of hypotheses and testing hypotheses.
Any minister, lay leader, or mission minded believer engaging persons within criminal justice system as well as active community members will inevitably be asked or ask themselves questions related to criminal justice research. Those within the criminal justice profession seeking to live out a missional calling through their work would benefit from a structured and guided engagement of research methods in criminal justice. Due to the current state, members of the community would benefit a better understanding of the criminal justice research methods and statistics. By understanding research methods and statistics, students will learn how to evaluate and analyze and conduct research.
The entire Criminal Justice system is a “hot topic.” The pillars of accountability and understanding flow largely out of religious thought and tradition. Secular institutions in the criminal justice system are continually wrestling with hot topic issues and relations with the public, and they are actually wrestling with ideas that have long been explored in the Christian faith. It would benefit the larger mission of God for mission-minded individuals with training in criminal justice research. Criminal Justice research can help individuals understand criminal justice data and can used for accountability and change in public policy. There is a continuous need for relevant criminal justice research.
Criminal justice research abound, but not all have a biblical basis. This course could help develop biblically-educated criminal justice researchers within their field and community.
If criminal justice practitioners desire to live out their missional calling in the criminal justice field, they will desire to guide and shape their colleagues and institutions to conduct relevant and meaningful criminal justice research.
The criminal justice field is a unique ministry context, and a course on criminal justice research would help practitioners and the community as a whole apply broader biblical principles to specific criminal justice issues.
A large part of criminal justice research focuses on the issues of culture and equity. Criminal justice values can change among differing cultures. Research should take this into account.
Research and statistics provides meaningful data to evaluate, examine and describe current trends in criminal justice. It is very practical.
Research and methods cannot be applied without a case or situation. Learners would bring their cases to the table for analysis and learning and return to their practice with the benefit of that learning.
