Criminal Justice - Essay Example

Mixed-Methods Research: Criminal Justice Research Advancement Mixed-Methods Research: Criminal Justice Research Advancement The advancement in the criminal justice research plays a vital role in the security of country, an individual person or an establishment. Every day, different crimes are being committed and some of them are not being solved. In truth, there are even cases that have not been solved through the years. These unsolved cases just became part of the history. To avoid the unsolved cases, the advancement in criminal justice research has been pushed by different agencies. Qualitative research was the first method used then followed by quantitative research. However, mixed-method research has been proven to have more advantages in the criminal justice research (Yin, 2011). In qualitative research, inductive reasoning is being considered. The individual’s view and contribution are vital in reaching to a conclusion. It is used in cases where experiments cannot be done. Most of the time, qualitative research involves interviewing participants (Yin, 2011). Applying in the criminal justice research, qualitative research can be used to people involved in the crime scene. On the other hand, quantitative research is used especially to cases where experiments are involved. The involved things in the case are assigned to variables and being observed as to what are their relationships (Criminology, n.d.). In the history, empirical data was once considered as stronger evidence to qualitative evidences. However, as time passes by people became more versatile. Crimes became more sophisticated that is why advancement is needed to cope with the changes (Ahlberg & Wheeldon, 2012). Mixed-methods research became the answer to the heightening versatility of crimes being committed. Qualitative research and quantitative research have both their own strengths and weaknesses. Combining the two methods can give a better result (Ahlberg & Wheeldon, 2012). Qualitative research is related to quantitative research. The information drawn from qualitative research can be verified or be more widened through quantitative research. The strength of the two can be combined through the third method which is the Mixed-methods research (Ahlberg & Wheeldon, 2012). In Mixed-methods, abductive reasoning is used. Abductive reasoning uses both the inductive and deductive reasoning. However, the integration of the two may result to difficulty in arriving to conclusion that is why in Mixed-methods, the expertise and intuition of the researcher are vital. The process in abductive reasoning involves the first step of choosing between inductive and deductive as the first reasoning to do then followed by the left reasoning to further attest the evidence. After that, the researcher’s best judgment of the results will be used for the conclusion (Ahlberg & Wheeldon, 2012). The flaw from this reasoning is that the judgment of the researcher may be prone to error. However, using both the inductive and deductive gives a stronger argument for making conclusion. It can be said that this kind of reasoning is flexible for many types of crime committed. The Mixed-methods research is being started, most of the time, by qualitative research then followed by a quantitative research (Ahlberg & Wheeldon, 2012). It is because it is easier to draw theories from qualitative then be proven by quantitative research. One example of this is making an observation or interview and drawing theories from it then verifying by experiments or statistical data. On the other hand, the use of quantitative data as first approach is also possible. The quantitative data are first being gathered and quantitatively analyzed then the results are being qualitatively explained in full details. In this method, the results can be easily understood. It is important to choose which kind of research will be applied as a first step in Mixed-methods. Another thing to be considered is the timing and order of analyzing the data gathered from the research done at the earlier steps (Ahlberg & Wheeldon, 2012). These are the things most commonly observed in doing Mixed-methods. The various Mixed-methods research depends on the combination of the characteristics of Mixed-methods. It depends on the design. As of now, there are four major types of Mixed-methods designs namely, Triangulation Design, Embedded Design, Explanatory Design and Exploratory Design (Creswell & Clark 2011). Triangulation design involves validating the results of quantitative research through qualitative research. It is the most common among the four major types of Mixed-methods because it uses both the quantitative and qualitative data of the research. Embedded design is used when a qualitative data is needed to be embedded on a quantitative data. This type of design is suitable for time-constraint research with small amount of qualitative and quantitative data. Explanatory design involves two phases in arriving to a conclusion. This kind of research also uses the combination of qualitative and quantitative research however, each are being one at a time. This method provided a more explainable result because of the two-phase. And lastly, Exploratory design is almost the same as the Explanatory design however Exploratory design needs exploration. This kind of research is useful when the equipments needed for the research are not available. Both the Explanatory design and Exploratory design involve more time compared to the first two designs due to their two phases (Ahlberg & Wheeldon, 2012; Creswell & Clark 2011). Based on the given characteristics of Mixed-methods research, it can be said that it is a suitable research method for criminal justice research. Qualitative research and quantitative research are used individually before and limitations are frequently observed for each. Qualitative research done alone for investigation is limited to producing qualitative results. Quantitative research on done alone for investigation is limited to producing quantitative results. Researchers have seen these limitations and saw Mixed-methods research as an answer to the problem (Ahlberg & Wheeldon, 2012; Creswell & Clark 2011). The combination of qualitative and quantitative by varying the sequence or timing has been the basis for the various types Mixed-methods research design. It is important to consider the available data, equipment and time in choosing the design. Mixed-methods research can be given warranty to be used in criminal justice research. The use of both qualitative research and quantitative research is strength for the investigation in crimes and criminal justice research. Mixed-methods can be considered as advancement for criminal justice research. It is versatile and considers a lot of variables for a given situation. Also, one can design a personal Mixed-method research depending on the situation. The limitations from using qualitative or quantitative alone are lessened and it provides a stronger conclusion. The only flaw from this kind of research is that the expertise and intuition of the researcher are highly observed for the best judgment of the conclusion (Ahlberg & Wheeldon, 2012; Creswell & Clark 2011). Criminal justice research is one of the most important studies and the advancement should be continuous because as time passes by, the crimes are being more sophisticated. Mixed-method can be used in criminal justice research due to its flexibility and the possibility of creating more design for future crime situations. References Ahlberg, M. K. & Wheeldon, J (2012). Mapping mixed-methods research: theories, models and measures. Visualizing social science research. United States of America: SAGE Publications. Creswell, J. W. & Plano Clark, V. L. (2011). Understanding mixed methods research. Designing and conducting mixed methods research (2nd ed.). n.a.: SAGE Publications. Criminology and criminal justice research: methods-quantitative research methods (n.d.). law.jrank.org. Retrieved from Criminology and Criminal Justice Research: Methods - Quantitative Research Methods. Yin, R. K. (2011). Qualitative research from start to finish. New York: The Guilford Press. Read More