Research Process and Terminology - Essay Example

There are many research methods that once can choose in the field of criminal justice research. Most of them include the perceiving, gathering, analyzing and then carefully researching by bringing into use the scientific method, and in all these steps, the knowledge of terminology regarding the field plays an important role in fulfilling the requirements of all these steps (Hagan, 2010). Many experts argue that many of the terms which are used in the everyday life have been originated from social sciences research; and little credit has been given to the undertakings that have been achieved through theoretical knowledge because quickly after the discoveries, they were dissolved into the conventional astuteness (Brennett, Briggs &Triola, 2003).

The experts seem to support their assertions by stating the fact that various numbers of practitioners from the field of criminal justice had to face failure every time because they relied more upon their common sense rather than concentrating upon the terminology that has been specially specified for this field (Ellis, Hartley &Walsh, 2010). Over the years, the criminal justice professionals have been facing a lot of challenges in their efforts to restore the tear created in the social fabric.

It is a well known fact that one can’t even begin to flourish in any field in this world without a foundation from which to build, and knowledge if terminology is the foundation of criminal justice research (Ellis, Hartley &Walsh, 2010). Having to go forward in a field without building a solid foundation increases the problems and would continuously perplex the situation further. Having the sound knowledge of the proper terminology and knowledge to the professionals of the field can prove to be very beneficial in incorporation of scientific knowledge and research methods in collecting and analyzing the data and ultimately the results that are extracted from these researches can greatly influence the professionalism and career building ethics (Hagan, 2010).

It is a well known fact that research is the fundamental part of any field of science such as biology, physics and chemistry. Moreover, the same research analysis is also needed in the fields of social sciences, criminal management research and education as well. Experiments are conducted for every research, and in every experiment two types of variables are there, namely; independent variables and independent variables (Brennett, Briggs &Triola, 2003). An independent variable is the variable that the person who is conducting the research directly and systematically manipulates, or is that variable that is selected by the researcher to determine the relation of any type of observation.

In other words, this is a variable that can be under the control of the researcher, like a treatment, or may be not in control such as an exposure. On the other hand, the dependent variables in an experiment are factors which are observed and measured and determined as a result of manipulation that has been done in the independent variables. In short, the dependent variable is the outcome of the experiment that has been obtained by causing a change in the independent variables (Ellis, Hartley &Walsh, 2010).

An important point worth mentioning here is that instead of studying specific elementary concepts such as studying the terminology of the field