CRIM 101 Lecture 3: CRIM 101 LEC 3
Document Summary
Direct observation in natural settings (ethnographic research) Not necessarily the most efficient way to study crime. Criminals spend a lot of their time doing same things as non-criminals. Criminal behavior tends to be secretive in nature. Criminals go out their way to avoid observation/detection. However, if conducted successfully, ethnographic researches may learn-in-depth information about criminal subcultures that are not usually amenable to investigation. Issues of informed consent (if you tell the subjects what you"re going to do, they may refuse or alter their behavior) If you encourage subjects to break the law, you may be breaking the law yourself. In canada, police recorded crime statistics have been collected and published since 1921 . In 1962, canada implemented the uniform crime report (ucr) Most common data used by criminologists and criminal justice personnel when estimating crime rates. Introduction of ucr in 1962 was intended to standardize the collection and assembly of police reported crime statistics from across canada.