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Florida international university ccj2020 chapter 4

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Chapter 4 Discussion Question: #1, #2, #4
1. What roles does the scientific process play in the developments of criminological theories?
The scientific process plays a role in not only criminological theory but in all well-established
theories. As with all theory one has to start with a question that guides our background research
which will then lead us to a hypothesis. The important thing to note is that our research has to be
backed up by what we already know in the subject in order to fill in gaps we feel may exist within the
literature. In criminological theory we take what we know not only about crime but about the human
condition and formulate potential explanations for criminal behavior. We take theory and put it to use
in the field, many people forget how most of how procedures and structures are put in place are
guided by theories and research. There are many theories that attempt to explain the reasoning behind
certain occurrences, and they are all stem from different or similar roots. The most important factors
to consider when it comes to theories and research is that they make logical sense, that it can be re-
tested and receive similar results and (specifically for theories) that it be backed by a lot of other
knowledge.
2. What is the difference between causation and correlation? How can we use these terms to
understand criminal behavior?
Correlational studies simply are seeking to establish a relationship between two variables. While an
experiment looks to find a direct cause and effect relationship between the variables. For example,
saying that tattoos will cause you to join a gang and commit crimes because gang members wear
tattoos. In an experiment perhaps we would have randomly assigned groups to either get a tattoo or
not, then track the participants throughout their life to see whether those with tattoos ended up joining
gangs and committing crimes. The researchers would then be able to find a direct link between tattoos
and criminal behavior (assuming we discarded all potential third variables). However, when it comes
to correlational studies, we may take a look at a chart and see that being a gang member is positively
correlated with having a tattoo. With this observation alone, however, we could never establish

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Chapter 4 Discussion Question: #1, #2, #4 1. What roles does the scientific process play in the developments of criminological theories? The scientific process plays a role in not only criminological theory but in all well-established theories. As with all theory one has to start with a question that guides our background research which will then lead us to a hypothesis. The important thing to note is that our research has to be backed up by what we already know in the subject in order to fill in gaps we feel may exist within the literature. In criminological theory we take what we know not on ...
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