Teaching Responsibility
LJMU Schools involved in Delivery:
Justice Studies
Learning Methods
Lecture
Seminar
Module Offerings
7054LAWCJ-SEP-MTP
Aims
To prepare students for the compulsory dissertation on the MSc Criminal Psychology and Criminal Justice
To enable students to develop an advanced and critical knowledge of the key ontological, epistemological and methodological issues that impact upon research into criminal behaviour and criminal justice.
To consider and demonstrate a critical appreciation of the particular research theories and methods of data collection and analysis, which researchers use to study criminal behaviour and criminal justice.
To examine and demonstrate advanced and critical understanding of issues relating to the politics and ethics of crime and criminal justice research.
To examine and demonstrate advanced and critical understanding of practical issues which can affect research into particular aspects of criminal behaviour and criminal justice.
Learning Outcomes
1.
Recognise and critically evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of various
theoretical perspectives on research into criminal behaviour and criminal justice.
2.
Apply an advanced understanding of how to critically appraise research studies in
the field of criminal behaviour and criminal justice.
3.
Show advanced and critical awareness of the politics and ethics of research into
criminal behaviour and criminal justice.
4.
Show an advanced ability to recognise and critically evaluate the substance,
strengths and weaknesses of quantitative and qualitative research techniques,
when used individually and in combination with others.
5.
Show critical awareness of techniques of quantitative and qualitative data analysis.
6.
Construct a viable, robust and well-planned research design and methodology,
applying advanced and critical knowledge of issues relating to research theory,
research design, data collection, data analysis, and other relevant issues to a
personal area of specialist postgraduate study relating to a particular aspect of
criminal behaviour or criminal justice.
Module Content
Outline Syllabus:
BLOCK A: RESEARCH INTO CRIME AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE - What is social research? Issues of acquiring knowledge about the social world - Research theory and its links with methods of doing research - Producing a literature review for your research and secondary data sources in criminal justice - Assessing research designs - The politics of criminal justice research - Ethical issues in criminal justice research BLOCK B: METHODS OF RESEARCHING CRIME AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE - Quantitative research: introduction and sampling issues - Quantitative research: structured interviews, self-completion questionnaires and structured observation - Quantitative research: quantitative documentary analysis and secondary analysis of official statistics - Quantitative data analysis - Using SPSS to analyse quantitative data - Qualitative research: introduction, principles and practice - Qualitative research: ethnography and participant observation - Qualitative research: qualitative interviewing techniques and qualitative documentary research - Qualitative data analysis: introduction, principles and practice - Triangulation in research BLOCK C: PLANNING RESEARCH PROJECTS IN CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE Writing research proposals Formative peer review of research proposals and projects
BLOCK A: RESEARCH INTO CRIME AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE - What is social research? Issues of acquiring knowledge about the social world - Research theory and its links with methods of doing research - Producing a literature review for your research and secondary data sources in criminal justice - Assessing research designs - The politics of criminal justice research - Ethical issues in criminal justice research BLOCK B: METHODS OF RESEARCHING CRIME AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE - Quantitative research: introduction and sampling issues - Quantitative research: structured interviews, self-completion questionnaires and structured observation - Quantitative research: quantitative documentary analysis and secondary analysis of official statistics - Quantitative data analysis - Using SPSS to analyse quantitative data - Qualitative research: introduction, principles and practice - Qualitative research: ethnography and participant observation - Qualitative research: qualitative interviewing techniques and qualitative documentary research - Qualitative data analysis: introduction, principles and practice - Triangulation in research BLOCK C: PLANNING RESEARCH PROJECTS IN CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE Writing research proposals Formative peer review of research proposals and projects
Module Overview:
This module will help to prepare you for your compulsory dissertation on the MSc Criminal Psychology and Criminal Justice. This will enable you to develop an advanced and critical knowledge of the key ontological, epistemological and methodological issues that impact upon research into criminal behaviour and criminal justice.
Within this module, you will consider and demonstrate a critical appreciation of the particular research theories and methods of data collection and analysis, which researchers use to study criminal behaviour and criminal justice. In doing so, you will examine and demonstrate advanced and critical understanding of issues relating to the politics and ethics of crime and criminal justice research. This will help you to examine and demonstrate advanced and critical understanding of practical issues which can affect research into particular aspects of criminal behaviour and criminal justice.
This module will help to prepare you for your compulsory dissertation on the MSc Criminal Psychology and Criminal Justice. This will enable you to develop an advanced and critical knowledge of the key ontological, epistemological and methodological issues that impact upon research into criminal behaviour and criminal justice.
Within this module, you will consider and demonstrate a critical appreciation of the particular research theories and methods of data collection and analysis, which researchers use to study criminal behaviour and criminal justice. In doing so, you will examine and demonstrate advanced and critical understanding of issues relating to the politics and ethics of crime and criminal justice research. This will help you to examine and demonstrate advanced and critical understanding of practical issues which can affect research into particular aspects of criminal behaviour and criminal justice.
Additional Information:
This module aims to give students a comprehensive and critical guide to both the theory and practice of research on criminal behaviour and the criminal justice process. It will link theories to the practical issues relating to doing these kinds of research, using case studies to illustrate the possible difficulties which students may face when doing research for themselves (including political and ethical obstacles). It will also act as an advanced and theoretically-informed guide to the strengths and weaknesses of both quantitative and qualitative research methods in the context of research on criminal behaviour and criminal justice. The assignments for this module are designed to allow students to develop skills for appraising research and to be as practical as possible for students planning and undertaking dissertation-length, postgraduate-level research for the first time. Formative assessment takes place in the form of peer group presentations in a symposium format, to present ideas for the module assessment.
This module aims to give students a comprehensive and critical guide to both the theory and practice of research on criminal behaviour and the criminal justice process. It will link theories to the practical issues relating to doing these kinds of research, using case studies to illustrate the possible difficulties which students may face when doing research for themselves (including political and ethical obstacles). It will also act as an advanced and theoretically-informed guide to the strengths and weaknesses of both quantitative and qualitative research methods in the context of research on criminal behaviour and criminal justice. The assignments for this module are designed to allow students to develop skills for appraising research and to be as practical as possible for students planning and undertaking dissertation-length, postgraduate-level research for the first time. Formative assessment takes place in the form of peer group presentations in a symposium format, to present ideas for the module assessment.