CJUS 310 - Research Methods of Criminal Justice

Credit Hours: 3
Lecture Hours: 3
Laboratory (or Other) Hours: 0

Prerequisite(s): CJUS 100
Restriction(s): None

Corequisite(s): None

This course is an introduction to the basic ideas, perspectives, and methods used in conducting investigations of phenomenon in the social and behavioral sciences, specifically criminal justice. The main goal of this course is to provide student with the knowledge necessary to understand the various research methods and be able to apply that knowledge in the criminal justice context. Further, this course is designed to expose the student to research, to develop skills to help the student read, understand, and critically evaluate research, and to plan research projects.

Student Learning Outcomes of the Course: After completing this course, the student will be able to:

Understand how the research process and methods contribute to the development of knowledge
Recognize and understand the differences between various research techniques used in social science.
Recognize the ethical issues of completing social science research.
Differentiate between qualitative and quantitative research.
Be able to interpret the various types of statistics used in criminal justice reports
Identify and access current research and data bases available in the field of criminal justice.
Critically evaluate research in the field of criminal justice.
Design a research project.