Researching Crime

Chris Crowther-Dowey is Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Nottingham Trent University, UK. He has extensive experience of teaching criminology at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. His publications include Policing Urban Poverty, An Introduction to Criminology and Criminal Justice, Understanding Modernization in Criminal Justice and Gender and Crime. Pete Fussey is Reader in Criminology and Sociology at the University of Essex, UK. He is an experienced teacher of criminological research methods, theory and related criminological topics and has published widely in the areas of surveillance, major-event security and counter-terrorism.

'Rather than relating generic research strategies and tools to criminology, this text puts the researcher at the heart of the crime and like a detective solving a case, positions the tools of the trade around them and empowers the researcher to apply them in practice, whilst considering the pitfalls along the way. This is a hands on tool for students and professional researchers alike and a must read.' Paul Matthews, University College Birmingham

• IntroductionPART I: THE PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH1. Research as an Integrated Process2. Connecting Research and Theory: Influences on Criminological Research3. Crime Research and Criminological TheoryPART II: THE PRACTICALITIES OF RESEARCH4. Using Other People's Data: the Analysis of Official and Secondary Data5. Asking Questions about Crime: Questionnaires and Surveys6. Talking to People about Crime: Interviews and Focus Groups7. Watching Crime and Crime Control: Ethnographic and Observational Research8. Using Documents: Content, Conversation and Discourse Analysis9. Mixed Methods and TriangulationConclusionAppendix 1: An Internet Guide for Criminology StudentsAppendix 2: Interview Schedule for 'A study of the opportunities and barriers facing BME police officers'Appendix 3: Interview Schedule for 'An assessment of student attitudes to the death penalty'GlossaryReferences.