Basic Statistics in Criminology and Criminal Justice

Book excerpt: This introductory textbook takes a building-block approach that emphasizes the application and interpretation of statistics in research in crime and justice. This text is meant for both students and professionals who want to gain a basic understanding of common statistical methods used in criminology and criminal justice before advancing to more complex statistical analyses in future volumes. This book emphasizes comprehension and interpretation. As the statistical methods discussed become more complex and demanding to compute, it integrates statistical software. It provides readers with an accessible understanding of popular statistical programs used to examine real-life crime and justice problems (including SPSS, Stata, and R). In addition, the book includes supplemental resources such as a glossary of key terms, practice questions, and sample data. Basic Statistics in Criminology and Criminal Justice aims to give students and researchers a core understanding of statistical concepts and methods that will leave them with the confidence and tools to tackle the statistical problems in their own research work.