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Data Analysis for Criminal Justice and Criminology: Practice and Applications

NCJ Number
183366
Author(s)
Jerome McKean; Bryan Byers
Date Published
2000
Length
272 pages
Annotation
Intended as a textbook for undergraduate criminal justice or criminology majors, this book addresses data analysis and statistics in criminal justice and criminology with examples, research, and opportunities to apply knowledge, skills, and abilities in data analysis and statistics.
Abstract
Chapter 1 is an introduction to descriptive and inferential statistics in criminal justice. It covers levels of measurement; descriptive statistics; ratios, percentages, proportions, and rates; measures of central tendency; measures of dispersion; and an introduction to statistical concepts. Chapter 2 focuses on the construction and interpretation of contingency tables, as it discusses cross-tabulation, cross-tabulation with ordinal variables, and multivariate analysis of contingency tables. Chapter 3 discusses the use of chi-square to test hypotheses with contingency tables; and Chapter 4 addresses measures of association used with contingency tables. In explaining the normal distribution and confidence intervals, Chapter 5 defines the normal distribution and provides overviews of population parameters and sample statistics, the central limit theorem, confidence intervals and confidence levels, and confidence intervals for proportions and percentages. Chapter 6 focuses on comparing two sample means, followed by a chapter on analysis of variance. Remaining chapters consider correlation and simple regression and multiple regression and correlation. A significant feature of this textbook is the combined use within each chapter of research literature, study questions, and chapter exercises germane to text presentation. 13 references and appended criminal justice research Internet site guide and statistical tables