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Abstract
Introductory textbooks socialize students by exposing them to core subfields within the discipline. The purpose of this paper is to understand the nature and extent of research methods and ethics coverage in introductory criminal justice and criminology textbooks. Analysis of 15 introductory criminal justice and 10 criminology textbooks suggests that while criminology textbooks do a better job of introducing students to research methods and ethics, the discussions are rather sparse and cursory. Of primary importance in this discussion is how neglecting research methods and research ethics in introductory textbooks may impact the disciplines of criminal justice and criminology.
∗The author wishes to thank Thomas L. Van Valey for his insightful comments on an earlier draft of this paper, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions.
Notes
∗The author wishes to thank Thomas L. Van Valey for his insightful comments on an earlier draft of this paper, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions.
1. Out of the 11 textbooks analyzed by McSkimming et al. (Citation2000), eight had a chapter devoted solely to ethics.
2. Although these textbooks were not selected randomly, they reflect a large sample of the current introductory sociology textbooks.
3. The author would like to thank the American Society of Criminology for providing this list.
4. The author would like to thank the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences for providing this list.
5. Although there were some textbooks with a 2005 edition, the older edition was used in some cases as the newer edition was not yet available when the textbooks were being collected for this project.
6. In only one case (Hagan) was this particular exclusion difficult to assess. Hagan discusses both generic “Victim Surveys” and the NCVS under the umbrella heading of “surveys.” He does not, however, limit his discussion of weaknesses of victim surveys to the NCVS. Therefore, only the three‐quarters of a page that directly concerned the NCVS was excluded from the analysis.