5. Methods and Counting Crime
5.1 Introduction
Dr. Wendelin Hume and Ashly Hanna, B.A.
🎯 Learning Objectives
- Identify the nine steps in the research process.
- Distinguish between quantitative and qualitative research.
- Distinguish between inductive and deductive research approaches.
- Define Two-Eyed Seeing.
- Distinguish between the key features of Western and Indigenous approaches to research.
- Discuss the importance of ethics when conducting research, with particular mention of research with Indigenous participants.
- Describe the ways to measure crime in Canada.
- Distinguish between evidence-based and evidence-informed practice.
The main purpose of this chapter is to expose the reader to basic social science research methods. Most modern research methods have been developed following typical Western practices. This chapter will provide an overview of those practices as well as offer some additional methods and frameworks that draw from Indigenous ways of knowing and being.
The chapter begins by providing an overview of the nine main steps in the research process. Two examples are used for illustrative purposes as the reader is walked through the nine steps in more detail. We review the process of moving from the formulation of a research question through to the collection of data, how researchers address the time dimension in research, and how they assess the quality of research. The chapter also explores the definition of methodology and provides a brief overview of the various research methods used in the social sciences, with a discussion of the inductive versus deductive models and quantitative versus qualitative research methods.
Interwoven within this discussion of research methods is an outline of some fundamental differences between Western and Indigenous worldviews and the impact of these worldviews on how we conduct research. The chapter provides a brief overview of the various ways we measure crime in Canada, including the Uniform Crime Report, the General Social Survey and self-report data. Throughout the chapter, ethical considerations are discussed. The chapter concludes with how researchers can move forward with culturally sensitive, evidence-informed practice.
