Deck 2: Reading and Reviewing Research

Question 1

How is it possible that a correct media story about crime can still give us an inaccurate view of the crime problem?

Answer 1

Focuses on certain types of crime that might not be typical

Question 2

How does the idea that criminal justice issues are "common sense" cause problems when policy is made?

Answer 2

It makes some people think that the solutions are easy, therefore expert opinion and research are not necessary.

Question 3

Why is peer-review of articles so important?

Answer 3

There is a certain degree of quality control, since it has to undergo review by multiple experts in the field.

Question 4

Why are predatory journals potentially dangerous?

Question 5

Provide one example of how a conflict of interest can taint research

Question 6

Why is it so important for researchers to discuss the limitations of their research?

Question 7

Why is Wikipedia not a reliable source for information?

Question 8

Why are sites such as the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration sources of good information?

Question 9

FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin is an example of a ______________

A) Trade publication
B) Blog
C) Peer-reviewed journal
D) Refereed Journal

Question 10

If you are weighing the quality of sources of information, which tends to rank highest among these options?

A) A magazine website
B) Trade publication
C) Peer-reviewed journal
D) Blog

Question 11

Authors generally include extensive discussions of theory in the __________ section of an article.

A) Introduction
B) Literature review
C) Research design
D) Results

Question 12

Article authors most often list their hypothesis at _________.

A) The end of the literature review
B) The beginning of the research design section
C) The abstract
D) Both A and B

Question 13

The _______ section of the paper is where the author should inform the reader of changes to the research protocol or unexpected challenges, such as changes to the sample size.

A) Introduction
B) Literature review
C) Results
D) Research design

Question 14

The ___________ of a paper is where researchers try to explain their findings and speculate what they mean.

A) Results
B) Literature review
C) Discussion
D) Limitations

Question 15

The ____________ section of a paper is likely to have the most tables.

A) Literature review
B) Introduction
C) Results
D) Discussion

Question 16

Which of the following web domains is likely to share the most valid and reliable information?

A) .com.co
B) .org
C) .edu
D) .mil

Question 17

When evaluating the credibility of an individual source, factor(s) to consider are the author's ____________.

A) Popularity
B) Common Sense approach
C) Experience
D) All of the above

Question 18

One drawback to trade publications is __________________.

A) Articles are written by practitioners
B) Articles are written for practitioners
C) Articles are not peer reviewed
D) There is no editorial board reviewing articles

Question 19

How do editors of peer-reviewed journals find and choose referees?

A) Editors have a pre-existing knowledge of and familiarity with the research discipline
B) Editors review the bibliographies of submitted manuscripts and select from those researchers
C) Authors of manuscripts identify experts in the field
D) All of the above.

Question 20

Scared straight is an effective criminal justice intervention.

Question 21

Trade publications routinely subject their articles to peer-review.

Question 22

In the 1990s, a young man died while participating in a gene therapy study where researchers withheld information about their financial stake in the medical treatment.

Question 23

Abstracts are typically 100 - 300 words.

Question 24

Authors work to tie their research findings to criminological theory in the results section.

Question 25

More weight should be given to anecdotal information than to empirical evidence.

Question 26

Crimes portrayed in TV shows and in the media accurately represent the most common crimes committed.

Question 27

Stories that are reported by multiple sources are more likely to be credible than stories appearing in limited news outlets.

Question 28

Predatory journals are journals that report cases focusing on predators, such as serial killers.

Question 29

How can you use the limitations found in articles you read to improve your own work?

Question 30

Give an example of how not disclosing a conflict of interest might impact research findings.

Question 31

What is the blind peer review process? Why is this process used?

Question 32

A researcher's financial stake in the issue he/she is studying presents a _____________.

Question 33

The very brief synopsis at the beginning of an article is known as the _____________.

Question 34

The latest research findings are less likely to appear in ____________ due to the length of time it takes to write and publish them, and more likely to be found in ______________________.

Question 35

_________________ is another name for peer-reviewed journals.

Question 36

The _____________ section of an article is where authors present readers with a summary of the available research on this topic.

Question 37

Unit of analysis refers to ____________________.