Elementary Statistics in Criminal Justice Research

by Fox, James Alan; Levin, Jack A.; Shively, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780205333738
• ISBN10: 0205333737
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-01-01
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon

Summary

The best-selling book, Elementary Statistics in Social Research, 7/e, has been adapted to provide a broad and accessible introduction to statistics for criminal justice enthusiasts. This straightforward book written specifically for criminal justice helps readers who do not have a strong background in mathematics, make sense of statistics. For anyone interested in statistics related to criminal justice.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Why the Criminal Justice Researcher Uses Statistics	1	(22)
The Nature of Criminal Justice Research	1	(5)
Major Data Sources in Criminology and Criminal Justice	6	(1)
Why Test Hypotheses?	7	(1)
The Stages of Criminal Justice Research	8	(1)
Using Series of Numbers to Do Criminal Justice Research	9	(4)
Functions of Statistics	13	(5)
Summary	18	(1)
Terms to Remember	19	(1)
Questions and Problems	19	(4)
Looking at the Larger Picture A Student Survey	21	(2)
PART ONE Description	23	(98)
Organizing the Data	25	(48)
Frequency Distributions of Nominal Data	25	(1)
Comparing Distributions	26	(1)
Proportions and Percentages	27	(1)
Ratios and Rates	28	(3)
Simple Frequency Distributions of Ordinal and Interval Data	31	(1)
Grouped Frequency Distributions of Interval Data	32	(3)
Cumulative Distributions	35	(2)
Percentile Ranks	37	(6)
Dealing with Decimal Data	43	(2)
Flexible Class Intervals	45	(1)
Cross-Tabulations	46	(7)
Graphic Presentations	53	(14)
Summary	67	(1)
Terms to Remember	68	(1)
Questions and Problems	68	(5)
Measures of Central Tendency	73	(22)
The Mode	73	(1)
The Median	74	(1)
The Mean	75	(4)
Taking One Step at a Time	79	(1)
Comparing the Mode, Median, and Mean	80	(4)
Obtaining the Mode, Median, and Mean from a Simple Frequency Distribution	84	(3)
Obtaining the Mode, Median, and Mean from a Grouped Frequency Distribution	87	(2)
Summary	89	(1)
Terms to Remember	90	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Mode, Median, and Mean for Raw Scores	90	(1)
Questions and Problems	91	(4)
Measures of Variability	95	(26)
The Range	96	(1)
The Mean Deviation	97	(2)
The Variance and Standard Deviation	99	(4)
The Raw-Score Formula for Variance and Standard Deviation	103	(2)
The Meaning of the Standard Deviation	105	(3)
Comparing Measures of Variability	108	(1)
Obtaining the Variance and Standard Deviation from a Simple Frequency Distribution	109	(3)
Obtaining the Variance and Standard Deviation from a Grouped Frequency Distribution	112	(2)
Summary	114	(1)
Terms to Remember	114	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Variance and Standard Deviation for Raw Scores	114	(1)
Questions and Problems	115	(6)
Looking at the Larger Picture Describing Data	118	(3)
PART TWO From Description to Decision Making	121	(72)
Probability and the Normal Curve	123	(33)
Rules of Probability	124	(3)
Probability Distributions	127	(4)
The Normal Curve as a Probability Distribution	131	(1)
Characteristics of the Normal Curve	131	(1)
The Model and the Reality of the Normal Curve	132	(2)
The Area under the Normal Curve	134	(6)
Standard Scores and the Normal Curve	140	(3)
Finding Probability under the Normal Curve	143	(4)
Obtaining Percentile Ranks from the Normal Curve	147	(4)
Summary	151	(1)
Terms to Remember	151	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Probability under the Normal Curve	151	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Percentile Ranks from the Normal Curve	151	(1)
Questions and Problems	152	(4)
Samples and Populations	156	(37)
Sampling Methods	157	(4)
Sampling Error	161	(1)
Sampling Distribution of Means	162	(7)
Standard Error of the Mean	169	(1)
Confidence Intervals	170	(6)
The t Distribution	176	(7)
Estimating Proportions	183	(3)
Summary	186	(1)
Terms to Remember	186	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Confidence Interval for the Mean Using z	186	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Confidence Interval for the Mean Usin t	187	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Confidence Interval for the Proportion	188	(1)
Questions and Problems	188	(5)
Looking at the Larger Picture Generalizing from Samples to Populations	191	(2)
PART THREE Decision Making	193	(114)
Testing Differences between Means	195	(43)
The Null Hypothesis: No Difference between Means	197	(1)
The Research Hypothesis: A Difference between Means	198	(1)
Sampling Distribution of Differences between Means	198	(4)
Testing Hypotheses with the Distribution of Differences between Means	202	(4)
Levels of Significance	206	(4)
Standard Error of the Difference between Means	210	(1)
Testing the Difference between Means	211	(4)
Comparing the Same Sample Measured Twice	215	(4)
Two Sample Tests of Proportions	219	(2)
One-Tailed Tests	221	(7)
Requirements for Testing the Difference between Means	228	(1)
Summary	229	(1)
Terms to Remember	230	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Test of Differences between Means for Independent Groups	230	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Test of Differences between Means for the Same Sample Measured Twice	231	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Test of Differences between Proportions	232	(1)
Questions and Problems	232	(6)
Analysis of Variance	238	(25)
The Logic of Analysis of Variance	239	(2)
The Sum of Squares	241	(6)
Mean Square	247	(2)
The F Ratio	249	(6)
A Multiple Comparison of Means	255	(2)
Requirements for Using the F Ratio	257	(1)
Summary	258	(1)
Test to Remember	258	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Test of Differences between Means for Several Independent Groups Using Analysis of Variance	259	(1)
Questions and Problems	260	(3)
Nonparametric Tests of Significance	263	(44)
One-Way Chi-Square Test	264	(5)
Two-Way Chi-Square Test	269	(19)
The Median Test	288	(3)
The Mann-Whitney U Test	291	(3)
Kruskal-Wallis One-Way Analysis of Variance by Ranks	294	(3)
Summary	297	(1)
Terms to Remember	298	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Test of Differences between Groups for Nominal-Level Data Using Chi-Square	298	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Test of Differences between Groups for Ordinal-Level Data Using the Mann-Whitney U Test	299	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Test of Differences between Several Groups for Ordinal-Level Data Using the Kruskal-Wallis Test	299	(1)
Questions and Problems	300	(7)
Looking at the Larger Picture Testing for Differences	305	(2)
PART FOUR From Decision Making to Association	307	(112)
Correlation	309	(25)
Strength of Correlation	309	(1)
Direction of Correlation	310	(1)
Curvilinear Correlation	311	(1)
The Correlation Coefficient	312	(1)
Pearson's Correlation Coefficient	313	(8)
The Importance of Scatter Plots	321	(2)
Partial Correlation	323	(6)
Summary	329	(1)
Terms to Remember	329	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Testing the Strength of Association between Interval-Level Variables Using Pearson's Correlation	329	(1)
Questions and Problems	330	(4)
Regression Analysis	334	(26)
The Regression Model	335	(5)
Interpreting the Regression Line	340	(2)
Prediction Errors	342	(4)
Regression and Pearson's Correlation	346	(1)
Regression and Analysis of Variance	347	(5)
Multiple Regression	352	(2)
Summary	354	(1)
Terms to Remember	355	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Testing the Effect of an Independent Variable on a Dependent Variable Using Regression Analysis	355	(1)
Questions and Problems	356	(4)
Nonparametric Measures of Correlation	360	(32)
Spearman's Rank-Order Correlation Coefficient	360	(7)
Goodman's and Kruskal's Gamma	367	(5)
Correlation Coefficient for Nominal Data Arranged in a 2 X 2 Table	372	(2)
Correlation Coefficient for Nominal Data in Larger than 2 X 2 Tables	374	(3)
Lambda	377	(3)
Elaboration	380	(5)
Summary	385	(1)
Terms to Remember	385	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Testing the Strength of Association between Ordinal-Level Variables Using Spearman's Rank-Order Correlation	386	(1)
Step-by-Step Study Guide: Testing the Strength of Association between Cross-Tabulated, Ordinal-Level Variables Using Goodman's and Kruskal's Gamma	386	(1)
Questions and Problems	387	(5)
Looking at the Larger Picture Measuring Association	391	(1)
Applying Statistical Procedures to Research Problems	392	(27)
Research Situations	394	(15)
Research Solutions	409	(10)
APPENDIXES	419	(33)
Appendix A Selected Criminal Justice Sites on the World Wide Web	421	(3)
Appendix B A Review of Some Fundamentals of Mathematics	424	(5)
Appendix C Tables	429	(16)
Appendix D List of Formulas	445	(7)
Glossary	452	(7)
Answers to Problems	459	(7)
Index	466