RESEARCHING CRIME & DEVIANCE - Essay Example

R. Jupp and V. Jupp, 2012). Learning to form hypothesis about reasons of a crime and analysing the social, mental and physiological conditions of a criminal while committing the same is a very important aspect of the study. Due to the large variety of perspectives and paradigms related to criminology, it is important for one to be able to make a critical analysis of the premises and presumptions about the human nature. The need to de-polarize theories and be unbiased towards any particular theory or personal beliefs is highly imperative while analysing a crime (Farrington and Loebar, 2000). 2. Quantitative Research - The options of Quantitative Research are predetermined and the number of respondents involved is quite large.

The measurements must be objective, quantitative and statistically compelling. Hence, quantitative research mostly involves numbers and objective hard data. The sample size for a survey is calculated by statisticians in order to determine its magnitude for analysing a given population. Generally, researchers seek sample sizes that yield findings with at least a 95% confidence interval. However, there are a few surveys that are designed to produce a smaller margin of error (Newman, 1998). Qualitative Research - Qualitative Research involves collecting, analyzing and interpreting data by observing the behaviour of people.

Qualitative research deals with and analyses the meanings, concepts, characteristics, symbols, definitions and metaphors. It is a subjective and open-ended in nature, unlike quantitative research. The methods of collecting information involve in-depth interviews, focus group meeting and questionnaire surveys. Participants of the interviews or focused group meetings respond to general questions and the interviewer probes and analyses their responses so as to identify and assess individual feelings, perceptions and opinions about the subject matter, thereby