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February, 2018 | SAGE Publications, Inc

Statistics for Criminology and Criminal Justice

Third Edition
Jacinta Michele Gau - University of Central Florida, USA
456 pages | February, 2018 | SAGE Publications, Inc
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ISBN: 9781506391779
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“…It is a great textbook for undergrads who are being exposed to statistics in the field for the first time and for Master’s students who need a better grasp of the fundamentals of statistics before taking more advanced courses…”
—Calli M. Cain, University of Nebraska at Omaha

“A must-have textbook for Instructors and students alike in the fields of Criminology and Criminal Justice.  The book is user-friendly.”
—Bonny Mhlanga, Western Illinois University

An Introduction to Statistics in Criminology and Criminal Justice

Statistics for Criminology and Criminal Justice, Third Edition demonstrates how statistics is relevant to a student’s life and future career by illustrating the logical connections between basic statistical concepts and their real-world implications in criminology and criminal justice. Written for students with a limited mathematical background, author Jacinta Gau eases student anxiety around statistics by simplifying the overarching goal of each statistical technique and providing step-by-step instructions for working through the formulas and numbers. Students use real data from the field to build a foundational knowledge of statistics, rather than merely memorizing key terms or formulas. 

New to the Third Edition

  • NEW Thinking Critically feature encourages students to apply the concepts from the chapter to real-life scenarios, with open-ended questions that are designed to inspire students to think about the nuances of science, statistics, and their application to criminal justice. 
  • Additional illustrations and examples in every chapter keep students engaged with the content and offer ample opportunities for them to practice the techniques. 
  • New and updated data sets from a wide range of relevant sources, such as the NCVS and UCR, BJS, LEMAS, the Census of Jails, and much more have been incorporated to give students insights into the state of criminal justice research today. 
  • New research on critical topics encourages students to discuss changes happening in the field such as the Census of Jails, inmate-on-staff assaults in prisons, and homicide rates.
  • Practicing Statistics Whiteboard Videos, available in SAGE edge, walk students through statistical calculations to reinforce key concepts. 
  • Previous edition errors have been corrected by a statistician. 

Give your students the SAGE edge!

SAGE edge offers a robust online environment featuring an impressive array of free tools and resources for review, study, and further exploration, keeping both instructors and students on the cutting edge of teaching and learning. Learn more at edge.sagepub.com/gau3e. 

Preface to the Third Edition
Acknowledgments
About the Author
PART I DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS

Science: Basic Terms and Concepts
Types of Scientific Research in Criminal Justice and Criminology
Software Packages for Statistical Analysis
Organization of the Book
Review Problems

Units of Analysis
Independent Variables and Dependent Variables
Relationships Between Variables: A Cautionary Note
Levels of Measurement
Chapter Summary
Review Problems

Data Distributions
Graphs and Charts
Grouped Data
SPSS
Chapter Summary
Review Problems

The Mode
The Median
The Mean
Using the Mean and Median to Determine Distribution Shape
Deviation Scores and the Mean as the Midpoint of the Magnitudes
SPSS
Chapter Summary
Review Problems

The Variation Ratio
The Range
The Variance
The Standard Deviation
The Standard Deviation and the Normal Curve
SPSS
Chapter Summary
Review Problems
PART II PROBABILITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS

Discrete Probability: The Binomial Probability Distribution
Continuous Probability: The Standard Normal Curve
Chapter Summary
Review Problems

Empirical Distributions: Population and Sample Distributions
Theoretical Distributions: Sampling Distributions
Sample Size and the Sampling Distribution: The z and t Distributions
Chapter Summary
Review Problems

The Level of Confidence: The Probability of Being Correct
Confidence Intervals for Means With Large Samples
Confidence Intervals for Means With Small Samples
Confidence Intervals With Proportions and Percentages
Chapter Summary
Review Problems
PART III HYPOTHESIS TESTING

Sample Statistics and Population Parameters: Sampling Error or True Difference?
Null and Alternative Hypotheses
Chapter Summary
Review Problems

Conceptual Basis of the Chi-Square Test: Statistical Dependence and Independence
The Chi-Square Test of Independence
Measures of Association
SPSS
Chapter Summary
Review Problems

Two-Population Tests for Differences Between Means: t Tests
Two-Population Tests for Differences Between Proportions
SPSS
Chapter Summary
Review Problems

ANOVA: Different Types of Variances
When the Null Is Rejected: A Measure of Association and Post Hoc Tests
SPSS
Chapter Summary
Review Problems

Beyond Statistical Significance: Sign, Magnitude, and Coefficient of Determination
SPSS
Chapter Summary
Review Problems

One Independent Variable and One Dependent Variable: Bivariate Regression
Adding More Independent Variables: Multiple Regression
Ordinary Least Squares Regression in SPSS
Alternatives to Ordinary Least Squares Regression
Chapter Summary
Review Problems
Appendix A Review of Basic Mathematical Techniques
Appendix B Standard Normal (z) Distribution
Appendix C t Distribution
Appendix D Chi-Square (c²) Distribution
Appendix E F Distribution
Glossary
Answers to Learning Checks
Answers to Review Problems
References
Index

Instructor Resouce Site

The password-protected Instructor Resource Site includes the following:

  • A Microsoft® Word® test bank is available containing multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and essay questions for each chapter. The test bank provides you with a diverse range of pre-written options as well as the opportunity for editing any question and/or inserting your own personalized questions to effectively assess students’ progress and understanding.
  • Editable, chapter-specific Microsoft® PowerPoint® slides offer you complete flexibility in easily creating a multimedia presentation for your course. Highlight essential content, features, and artwork from the book.
  • Sample course syllabi for semester and quarter courses provide suggested models for use when creating the syllabi for your courses.
  • EXCLUSIVE! Access to certain full-text SAGE journal articles that have been carefully selected for each chapter. Each article supports and expands on the concepts presented in the chapter.
  • Web resources are included for further research and insights.
  • Chapter activities for individual or group projects provide lively and stimulating ideas for use in and out of class reinforce active learning
  • Practicing Statistics Whiteboard Videos, available in SAGE edge, walk students through statistical calculations to reinforce key concepts.

Student Study Site

The open-access Student Study Site includes the following:

  • Mobile-friendly eFlashcards reinforce understanding of key terms and concepts that have been outlined in the chapters.
  • Mobile-friendly web quizzes allow for independent assessment of progress made in learning course material.
  • EXCLUSIVE! Access to certain full-text SAGE journal articles that have been carefully selected for each chapter.
  • Web resources are included for further research and insights.
  • Data-sets reinforce concepts from the book and provide real-world application
  • Practicing Statistics Whiteboard Videos, available in SAGE edge, walk students through statistical calculations to reinforce key concepts.

NEW TO THIS EDITION: 

  • NEW Thinking Critically feature encourages students to apply the concepts from the chapter to real-life scenarios, with open-ended questions that are designed to inspire students to think about the nuances of science, statistics, and their application to criminal justice. 
  • Additional illustrations and examples in every chapter keep students engaged with the content and offer ample opportunities for them to practice the techniques. 
  • New and updated data sets from a wide range of relevant sources, such as the NCVS and UCR, BJS, LEMAS, the Census of Jails, and much more have been incorporated to give students insights into the state of criminal justice research today. 
  • New research on critical topics encourages students to discuss changes happening in the field such as the Census of Jails, inmate-on-staff assaults in prisons, and homicide rates.
  • Practicing Statistics Whiteboard Videos, available in SAGE edge, walk students through statistical calculations to reinforce key concepts. 
  • An increased amount of Research Examples enables readers to see the rich variety of research that has been taking place over time and to foster discussion of key research questions, such as What factors influence police agencies’ ability to identify and investigate human trafficking? Do neighborhoods with higher immigrant concentrations experience more crime? and How extensively do news media stories distort public perceptions about racial minorities’ criminal involvement? 
  • Expanded coverage of statistical concepts helps simplify difficult concepts and processes such as Nonspuriousness, Empirical relationship, Temporal ordering, representativeness, Null and Alternative Hypotheses, hypothesis testing, correlation testing, and using SPSS.
  • Previous edition errors have been corrected by a statistician.

  KEY FEATURES: 

  • In-text examples and end-of-chapter exercises use real data to demonstrate how statistics are used in criminal justice and criminology. 
  • Research Example boxes explore key research questions related to criminal justice and criminology from peer-reviewed journal articles that illustrate techniques and show students how statistics and research are used to find solutions. 
  • Data Source boxes describe common, publicly-available data sets like the Uniform Crime Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, State Court Processing Statistics, General Social Survey, and others, to demonstrate practical applications of statistics. 
  • A breadth of probability coverage better acquaints students with its application to criminal justice and of the practical application of statistical techniques so that students can develop genuine comprehension.
  • Learning Check boxes in each chapter test student comprehension of concepts as they progress through the chapter and include an answer key in the back of the book to help ensure mastery of the content. 
  • Chapter-ending sections on SPSS can be used with one or more pared-down versions of a major data set in SPSS format. 
  • Extensive end-of-chapter review questions and exercises include answers to the odd-numbered questions/exercises in the back of the book.