U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

MYTHS, MISCONCEPTIONS, AND THE MISUSE OF STATISTICS IN CORRECTIONAL RESEARCH (FROM PROBATION, PAROLE, AND COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS. 2D ED., 1976 BY ROBERT M CARTER AND LESLIE T WILKINS - SEE NCJ-35412)

NCJ Number
35420
Author(s)
G P WALDO
Date Published
1976
Length
10 pages
Annotation
CORRECTIONAL RESEARCHERS HAVE, BY NEGLIGENCE, PERMITTED A NUMBER OF CORRECTIONAL MYTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS TO GO UNCHALLENGED AND A MISUSE OF STATISTICS TO APPEAR IN EVERYDAY CORRECTIONS LANGUAGE AND ANNUAL REPORTS.
Abstract
SOME OF THE MISCONCEPTIONS CITED ARE THAT SOME PROGRAMS ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR EVALUATION, THAT PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS CAN BE DETERMINED THROUGH 'INFORMAL' EVALUATIONS, AND THAT LOW RECIDIVISM PERCENTAGES INDICATE PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS. ALSO CONSIDERED ARE FEARS ABOUT THE USE OF RANDOM ASSIGNMENT, THE NECESSITY FOR EITHER-OR RESULTS, THE COST OF RESEARCH, AND THE SLOW GROWTH OF CORRECTIONAL KNOWLEDGE. THE MISUSES OF ELEMENTARY STATISTICAL TOOLS ENUMERATED INCLUDE MISLEADING USE OF THE 'AVERAGE' INMATE MEASURE, PURPOSEFULLY DISTORTED SAMPLING PROCEDURES, VAGUE STATEMENTS ABOUT THE 'AVAILABILITY' OF PROGRAMS, AND ASSUMPTIONS RELATING TO PROGRAM CORRELATION AND CAUSATION.

Downloads

No download available

Availability