Methods of Inquiry in Criminal Justice - Essay Example

The paper "Methods of Inquiry in Criminal Justice" is an outstanding example of an essay on social science. Inquiry plays a crucial role in criminal justice. Inquiry not only helps us to reconstruct the past but also helps us to create new knowledge that may come in handy in solving contemporary problems. It is essential for criminal justice practitioners to sharpen their inquiry skills so as to enable them to propagate a fair process of a criminal investigation. This essay will examine critical methods of investigation as well as how they applied in a criminal investigation. In addition, the article will also delve into the scientific method of investigation and its application to a criminal investigation.

There are several methods of investigation that include; surveys, content analysis, field research, and deductive reasoning. Firstly, content analysis refers to reviewing and analyzing text composed by someone and then applying their recommendations to solve a crime (Maxfield and Babbie, 2014). Secondly, the survey involves having interviews with respondents on one or via questionnaires online and then using the data to solve a crime. Thirdly, in field research, a criminal investigator observes the behavior of subjects and then proceeds to draw conclusions from the observations made. Finally, in deductive reasoning, a theory is applied to a problem to explain its existence and provide a method to deal with it (Vito, Kunselman, and Tewksbury, 2008, p. 8).
The scientific method is an essential method used by criminal investigators as it allows minimum room for error. It is a systematic approach that involves the identification of a problem, carrying out observations, forming hypotheses, testing hypotheses and finally evaluating the theories to come up with knowledge. Criminal justice practitioners will have to identify a problem and then reduce it to a researchable level. From that point forward, the specialist will have to design a method to find evidence to support his hypothesis. After the evidence has been collected and analyzed, conclusions can now be drawn as to the best method to use in solving the problem that had been identified.
It is clearly evident from this essay that inquiry is essential to criminal investigators in solving crimes satisfactorily. The key methods of examination include but are not limited to survey, content analysis, field research, and deductive reasoning. Of all the approaches to research, the scientific process is the most important as it provides a small margin of error. The scientific method incorporates problem identification, hypothesis formation, hypothesis testing as well as theory evaluation in crime solution. As such, the scientific method is at the forefront of crime solution by crime investigators. Read More