The quantitative emphasis in criminal justice education

The emphasis on quantitative research over qualitative research in criminal justice has encountered strong criticism; yet it has endured. One dimension of its persistence concerns the organization of doctoral programs in the field. In this article I examine the extent and rationality of the quantitative emphasis within these programs. Course requirements in quantitative methods, relative to those in qualitative methods, are explored as indicators of this emphasis. I find support for the claim that doctoral education in criminal justice has gone beyond mere emphasis on quantitative methods, and has become a detrimental preoccupation. In addition to supplementing the ongoing critique of this emphasis, I consider the possibility of moderating it.

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Bruce DiCristina

The author would like to thank John Fuller and the two anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier version of this paper. This is a substantially revised version of a paper that was presented at the 1995 annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, held in Boston.