Publications are divided into five topical categories: measurement, explanations or correlates, police or crime prevention, sentencing, and correctional treatment. The most sophisticated studies are on longitudinal and criminal career research, correlates of victimization, quasi-experimental analysis of policing strategies, prediction of reconviction and sentencing, and the evaluation of correctional treatment with the use of statistical controls. Most of the quantitative criminological projects in the United Kingdom are simple and quick data-gathering exercises. This is largely because the business-oriented, "value-for-money" approach of government agencies encourages them to focus on "process" goals, such as improving organizational efficiency rather than outcomes. The equivalent of millions of dollars is spent on low-level survey and record data collection, which may not ultimately be cost- effective in reducing crime. Ideally, funding agencies should appreciate the need for sophisticated, long-term, fundamental research on the causes of crime and on the effectiveness of prevention and treatment methods. Journal editors could require higher standards of methodological and quantitative sophistication, and graduate courses in criminology could be improved. 124 references