Adventures in Criminal Justice Research: Data Analysis Using SPSS 15.0 and 16.0 for Windows

The only book of its kind, this text guides students through the process of conducting criminological data analysis. Used primarily in lab settings, the Fourth Edition of Adventures in Criminal Justice Research, derived from the popular Adventures in Social Research (Babbie et al, Pine Forge Press/SAGE), systematically takes students through a series of investigative adventures. Using the latest version of SPSS and providing recent data sets, this straightforward text gives students important tools for conducting and analyzing their own surveys. More than 150 screenshots in the text offer clear visual step-by-step instructions to solidify student understanding.

New to This Edition

§ Provides step-by-step instructions for using SPSS 16.0 specifically for criminal justice research

Incorporates even more criminal justice exercises, policy-related exercises, and hot criminal justice-related issues throughout the book

Includes analysis of criminal justice and other social issues using data from GSS sets, the 2000 Census, the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Survey, and other data sets available to the public through the Internet

Offers increased coverage of Web-based surveys and survey software

Ancillaries

· A new student study site at sagepub.com/logiostudy features data sets along with four online appendices - Appendix A: How to Read a Research Article, Appendix B: College Alcohol Study Questionnaire, Appendix C: Chapter Review Quizzes and Independent Projects and Appendix D: Answers to Chapter Review Quizzes to help reinforce studentlearning.

The SPSS 16.0 Student Resource CD is available bundled with this book, and allows students to practice what they learn conveniently on their laptops at home or elsewhere, rather than in the campus computer lab.

Intended Audience

This practical textbook is a valuable supplement for courses in Research Methods and/or Statistics in departments of criminal justice or criminology.

Earl R. Babbie was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1938, although he chose to return to Vermont 3 months later, growing up there and in New Hampshire. In 1956, he set off for Harvard Yard, where he spent the next 4 years learning more than he initially planned. After three years with the U.S. Marine Corps, mostly in Asia, he began graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his Ph.D. from Berkeley in 1969. He taught sociology at the University of Hawaii from 1968 through 1979, took time off from teaching and research to write full time for 8 years, and then joined the faculty at Chapman University in Southern California in 1987. Although an author of research articles and monographs, he is best known for the many texts he has written, which have been widely adopted in colleges throughout the United States and the world. He also has been active in the American Sociological Association for 25 years and served on the ASA's executive committee. He is also past president of the Pacific Sociological Association and California Sociological Association. He has been married to his wife, Sheila, for more than 40 years, and they have a son, Aaron, who would make any parent proud. As proof, he helped produce the world's two greatest grandchildren.

George Dowdall teaches undergraduate and graduate Criminal Justice and Sociology at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. He is chair-elect of the American Sociological Association's Section on Communication and Information Technologies. He has taught methods, statistics, and data analysis courses at St. Joseph's University, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the Brown UniversitySchool of Medicine.

Fred Halley, State University of New York College at Brockport, has been developing computer-based tools for teaching social science since 1970. He has served as a collegewide social science computer consultant, directed Brockport's Institute for Social Research, and now directs the college's Data Analysis Laboratory.

Kim A. Logio is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. She teaches research methods for sociology and criminal justice students. She is actively involved in research on victims of juvenile crime and adolescent body image.