Deck 12: Agency Records Content Analysis and Secondary Data

Question 1

In which type of study are highly aggregated summary data from published statistical series not typically used?

A) descriptive
B) explanatory
C) applied
D) exploratory

Answer 1

exploratory

Question 2

Which of the following is an example of agency records that would be appropriate as a source of data for research?

A) Federal Bureau of Prison inmate records
B) medical records
C) juvenile court records
D) defense attorney records

Answer 2

Federal Bureau of Prison inmate records

Question 3

It is relatively easy and common to have agencies modify their data collection forms in order to get information needed for a specific research project being conducted from someone outside the agency.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Which of the following is not an example of nonpublic agency records?

A) the FBI's publication of the Uniform Crime Reports
B) information from a local police department concerning the number of crimes that happened within the past month
C) a prison's collection of files dealing with inmates currently in their custody
D) a county courthouse's records on defendants tried within the last six months

Question 5

When using agency records, it is possible to move from individual to aggregate units of analysis, but not the other way around.

Question 6

Understanding the details of how agency records are produced is one of the accepted means of controlling reliability and validity problems.

Question 7

Topics that lend themselves to the use of content analysis tend to focus upon the links between communication and:

A) criminal justice policy
B) the actual crime rates
C) the media's understanding of criminal court convictions
D) understanding why people commit crime

Question 8

By its very nature, secondary analysis is always unobtrusive.

Question 9

Of all research purposes, evaluation is most effective when secondary data is used.

Question 10

Which of the following would not be an example of the data coming from the Census Bureau that have criminal justice applications?

A) Census of Children in Custody
B) National Crime Victimization Survey
C) Survey of Inmates in Local Jails
D) Uniform Crime Report

Question 11

All of the following are examples of information collected by or for public agencies except for:

A) published statistics such as National Crime Victimization Survey
B) research produced by faculty at private colleges and universities
C) nonpublic agency records such as internal police data identifying where most crime happens in their jurisdiction
D) new data collected by agency staff that is "hybrid" in nature

Question 12

Being able to link an individual to the agency data collected about him/her is a clear violation of reliability and validity.

Question 13

Social artifacts such as written documents or articles from newspapers would be best understood using which of the following?

A) content analysis
B) secondary analysis
C) agency records
D) none of the above

Question 14

Data collected by other researchers is often used to address new research questions.

Question 15

Agency records, secondary data, and content analysis do not require direct interaction with research subjects.

Question 16

The Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics is the most comprehensive Bureau of Justice Statistics publication. It includes a multitude of data including all of the following except:

A) characteristics of criminal justice agencies
B) public opinion answers coming from the Gallup Poll
C) complete crime data from all local police departments
D) specific data on states using capital punishment and their execution statistics

Question 17

Since criminal justice record-keeping is a social process reflecting the decisions made by criminal justice personnel, a researcher must be careful of the impact this may have on the validity and reliability of the data.

Question 18

Electronic formats of published statistics have which of the following advantages over written records?

A) the data can be read directly into statistical and/or graphics computer programs for analysis
B) much of the electronic data is inappropriate for spreadsheet software
C) most do not contain the original data while printed reports contain aggregate information
D) most will be considered confidential, and thus not available to the researcher

Question 19

Content analysis involves the systematic study of agency records.

Question 20

Agency records and statistics published by agencies or governmental entities are most commonly used for which type of studies?

A) explanatory
B) descriptive
C) evaluations
D) understanding the criminal justice system

Question 21

Which of the following is not accurate concerning the validity and reliability of agency records?

A) the shorter the time intervals under study, the greater the concern about procedure changes
B) longitudinal researchers must be concerned about changes in operational definitions over time
C) longitudinal researchers must be concerned about changes in procedures over time
D) the longer the time interval under study, the greater the concern about procedure changes

Question 22

In Sherman and colleagues' research dealing with crime hot spots, they chose to use "calls for service" to local law enforcement as a means of measuring where different types of crimes happened with greatest frequency. They noted some problems with the use of calls for service. Which of the following represents those problems?

A) there is a potential for duplicate calls to local law enforcement for any one event
B) there may be false reports; in other words, no crime happened
C) there can be misleading findings, such as parking lots or hospitals appearing to be hot spots when in fact they are not
D) all of the above

Question 23

Secondary analysis encompasses which of the following sources of criminal justice data?

A) content analysis of agency records
B) UCR
C) self-reports
D) NCVS

Question 24

Which of the following statements is most accurate?

A) once units of analysis are defined, sampling agency records is relatively simple
B) once units of analysis are defined, sampling agency records is quite complicated
C) there is no relationship between the units of analysis used in agency records and the sampling techniques used
D) you must use all agency records and cannot select a subset since that will lead to incomplete conclusions

Question 25

If you wanted to measure the number of date and acquaintance rapes that happen in this country and use UCR data as your source, what is likely to be your most significant problem?

A) generalizability
B) validity
C) reliability
D) applicability

Question 26

Coding in content analysis involves the logic of conceptualization and:

A) application
B) operationalization
C) validity
D) generalization

Question 27

In Widom's research on the relationship between early child abuse and later delinquency or adult criminal behavior, which of the following were considered to be either validity or reliability problems?

A) using public school records and birth records from local hospitals to select the sample
B) by using law enforcement data to assess delinquent and criminal behavior, Widom only identified those who were caught for their behavior, not those who were criminally active but were not caught
C) by using court data to identify those for the sample who were abused, Widom only knew about those cases where abuse came to the attention of the public officials, not all the cases that go unreported
D) all of the above

Question 28

A researcher is interested in using content analysis to determine how the United States Supreme Court has changed its interpretation of the Fourth Amendment's "unreasonable" search and seizure prohibition over time. Which of the following are the units of analysis?

A) individual justices
B) court decisions in Fourth Amendment cases
C) the dissenting opinions
D) the concurring opinions

Question 29

In the text, an example was given concerning the difficulty in trying to measure how much crime happened to victims who were not residents of South Florida. Since police only routinely kept records on where victims stayed locally (such as hotel addresses), researchers could have an additional question added to the incident recording form asking for the victim's permanent address. All of the following would be benefits of that except:

A) it is much cheaper to add a question to a form than collecting the data oneself
B) it is much more expensive to add a question to a form because it requires all the forms to be reprinted
C) it allows for more control over the measurement process
D) it enhances the reliability of data collection

Question 30

Which of the following would not be an appropriate target of content analysis?

A) speeches
B) newscasts
C) constitutions
D) number of domestic violence arrests

Question 31

Which of the following is an accurate statement concerning the use of content analysis?

A) content analysis involves a statistical study of messages
B) content analysis involves a systematic study of messages and the meaning that those messages convey
C) content analysis involves only the analysis of speeches given concerning criminal justice issues
D) content analysis methods can only be used with agency reports to determine their applicability

Question 32

The underlying meaning of a communication is its:

A) latent content
B) manifest content
C) coding content
D) coding scheme

Question 33

Which of the following is not a concern about the use of agency records?

A) since most agencies are computerized, there is little cause to be concerned about the quality of the data
B) expect the expected; it is the unexpected findings that are worrisome
C) changes in record-keeping practices can affect the measurement
D) data will be accurate because agency data has to be

Question 34

Which of the following situations would not have an impact upon errors in agency records?

A) computers have the capacity to magnify clerical errors
B) a single crime could be recorded by two agencies, thus making that event over-represented
C) having very little data to input
D) even rare events can be recorded improperly

Question 35

It is often said that agency data are not designed for research purposes. Which of the following support that statement?

A) some criminal justice agencies collect data because they are legally required to do so
B) often the data collected by criminal justice agencies is not covered under privacy regulations
C) variable definitions are consistent from agency to agency
D) all of the above

Question 36

Which of the following is an example of content analysis in criminal justice research?

A) counting the number of stories devoted to the coverage of crime in your local newspaper
B) counting the number of robberies that happen in your city
C) measuring the average length of time from arrest to disposition in your city
D) determining the average number of inmates housed in your city's jail on a daily basis

Question 37

Which of the following would not impact the validity and reliability of a study using agency records?

A) discretion of prosecutors in whom to charge and what counts to add
B) decisions that are made by police officers to arrest versus give a warning
C) recognition on the part of the researcher that criminal justice data is a composite of criminal behavior, ability to detect that behavior, and decisions about system response to that behavior
D) decisions made by probation officers to revoke on new crimes and not on technical violations

Question 38

Which of the following represents reliability or validity concerns when a researcher uses agency records?

A) the number of general clerical staff, since too few is not good
B) changes in the operational definitions the agencies use to specify key terms
C) maintaining consistent procedures the agency uses to collect the data over time
D) agency records are generalizable to similar agencies

Question 39

Which of the following is accurate concerning having agencies collect original research data?

A) cooperation in adding research questions is not as likely to be successful if you are asking for a major additional effort on the part of the agency staff
B) the cooperation of the staff and their organizations is directly proportional to the intrusiveness of the data collection
C) if the research project is likely to save the agency money or improve staff performance, the chances of enlisting assistance is greater
D) all of the above are accurate

Question 40

Which of the following is not an advantage of using secondary data?

A) reduction in validity threats
B) it is cheaper than collecting original data
C) it is faster than collecting original data
D) the researcher may benefit from the work of others established in their fields

Question 41

Dr. Quinn is interested in studying the amount of overtime worked by police officers. He gains access to agency personnel files. This is an illustration of which type of data?

A) new data collected by agency staff
B) nonpublic agency records
C) secondary data
D) published statistics

Question 42

Which of the following is not a source of reliability and validity problems with agency records?

A) changes in definitions of crime over time
B) agency data are not designed for research
C) agency data are designed to track patterns, not people
D) data entry errors

Question 43

When dealing with the conceptual problems that emerge from complex relationships between different units of counting, Maxfield and Babbie suggest:

A) defining individual people as units of analysis
B) following the paper trail
C) using systematic sampling
D) expecting the expected

Question 44

Clinic workers in a major Northwest city have been asked to track the incidence and patterns of STDs in their patients as part of a research project dealing with public health. They ask a number of specific questions upon intake but do not ask about their clients' sexual partners. The only way to examine patterns in the spread of the STDs is to add a question to the intake form about the identity of their sexual partners. The data that was gathered illustrates:

A) nonpublic agency records
B) published statistics
C) new data collected by agency staff
D) content analysis

Question 45

Being able to benefit from the work of topflight professionals and esteemed academics is an advantage of using:

A) secondary data
B) published statistics
C) nonpublic agency data
D) new data collected by agency staff

Question 46

Which of the following is not considered to be a published statistic?

A) Criminal Victimization in the United States
B) Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics
C) Detroit Police Department calls for service statistics
D) Correctional Populations in the United States

Question 47

NCVS data would be helpful in answering all of the research questions except

A) What is the average age of sexual assault victims in urban areas with populations over 100,000?
B) What is the mean income of families that are victims of burglary?
C) Why might an offender change from doing burglaries to committing home invasions?
D) What city in the country has the greatest number of victims of robbery?

Question 48

The use of secondary analysis of data has become very popular because:

A) it is cheaper but never as good as collecting your own data
B) it is faster because the data is readily available
C) scholarly journals are now publishing primarily data gathered from secondary analysis
D) it is always considered valid

Question 49

A researcher is interested in studying the budgeting of money within a police department in a midsized American city. She gains access to the department's detailed records of expenditures and human resources. This is an example of which type of agency records, as described in the text?

A) published statistics
B) nonpublic agency records
C) new data collected by agency staff
D) content analysis

Question 50

Which of the following is important to remember when using agency records?

A) to ask permission before you study any agency data
B) to examine the data through some form of content analysis
C) the financial considerations of obtaining complete agency records are typically substantial
D) the discretionary actions by criminal justice officials and others can affect the production of agency records

Question 51

FBI statistics and annual reports from the Federal Bureau of Prisons are examples of:

A) nonpublic agency records
B) new data collected by agency staff
C) published statistics
D) content analysis

Question 52

In an effort to ensure that textbooks for introductory level criminology and criminal justice courses are gender and race neutral, an analysis of the language was undertaken. Which of the following would be appropriate?

A) measuring the only the manifest content
B) measuring the latent content
C) measuring the number of words used
D) measuring the number of different subjects the author uses

Question 53

The visible, objective context of a communication is known as:

A) latent content
B) manifest content
C) concept
D) validity

Question 54

In which of the following analyses is content analysis least likely to be used?

A) coverage of proposed crime legislation in your state House of Representatives
B) the number of references to crime in rap music
C) the number of murder convictions in Michigan during 2009
D) the frequency of "get tough on crime" as a theme for political speeches

Question 55

You are analyzing data that has been collected in annual waves for the past twenty years. Which of the following might be problematic in this type of analysis?

A) many similar questions were asked during each of these waves, and the wording is consistent
B) for the entire twenty years, the data was collected by personal interviews
C) the definitions of some key items have changed over time within the culture
D) using variables that are operationalized consistently over time

Question 56

When a researcher uses the term "silo databases" she is referring to:

A) when data is stacked in linear fashion
B) the communication link between local law enforcement and the FBI for the purposes of submitting crime data
C) stacks of data that are isolated from each other
D) data that are stacked in round computer tape files stacked on each other

Question 57

Dr. Jones is having his Introductory to Criminal Justice students analyze cartoons. He instructs them to identify the number of violent acts per show, the type of violent act, and the characteristics of the victim. Dr. Jones is having his students use:

A) content analysis
B) secondary data
C) new data collected by agency staff
D) nonpublic agency records

Question 58

The operational definition of any variable is composed of:

A) the hypothesis
B) the content analysis
C) manifest content
D) attributes

Question 59

The publication produced by the Bureau of Justice Statistics that includes information about hundreds of justice agency data sets, characteristics of criminal justice agencies, and perceptions of crime, to name just a few, is:

A) the Uniform Crime Reports
B) the National Crime Victimization Survey
C) the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics
D) the international Crime Victimization Survey

Question 60

Which of the following data sources could not be coded for use in content analysis?

A) letters to the editor
B) commentaries by talk show hosts
C) dissenting opinions in cases dealing with the death penalty
D) agency aggregate statistics

Question 61

The potential for _____________________ increases as the number of clerical entries increases.

Question 62

Which of the following would not be considered appropriate use for agency records?

A) explanatory studies
B) descriptive studies
C) applied research
D) experimental research

Question 63

Sometimes there are problems with the people or patterns that are gathered as agency data within the criminal justice system. Which of the following is an incorrect statement with respect to the data gathered by the agencies identified?

A) police officers deal not with individual calls but with cases
B) prosecutors document their work by case
C) judges document their work by their dockets
D) the FBI collects arrest data for NCIC based upon the individual

Question 64

Which of the following is not an example of the use of secondary analysis?

A) using UCR data to measure the trends over time in reported rapes
B) identifying the characteristics of your state's prisoners for the last ten years
C) developing a measurement for your city's juvenile intake facility
D) using NCVS to see if there have been changes in the incidents of personal theft over the last ten years

Question 65

Criminal justice agencies collect information about individuals and that information is often kept isolated from each other as the offender travels through the system. This method of keeping data on individuals in an unrelated fashion is known as _____________________ databasing.

Question 66

Which factor has the greatest impact upon a geographical area becoming a "hot spot"?

A) where occasional auto thefts happen
B) where people are repeatedly victimized
C) where community policing is used
D) where neighborhood watch programs exist

Question 67

Which of the following is not a problem with respect to units of analysis when using agency records?

A) the definitions of the variables collected
B) the manner in which the data are collected
C) the summary data
D) all of the above are potential problems

Question 68

Archives and agency records may be based on _____________________ of analysis that are not suitable for particular research questions.

Question 69

Content analysis is really a(n) _____________________ operation that represents the measurement process.

Question 70

What factor is most important when evaluating the reliability and validity of agency records?

A) who collected the data from within the agency
B) where that data were stored (file cabinet, computer, etc.)
C) who has access to the records
D) how the data were collected

Question 71

Which of the following is not accurate with respect to the data that agencies collect?

A) nonpublic agency records contain information pertinent to criminal justice research
B) nonpublic records, even though significant for our understanding of criminal justice processing, are unavailable to any researcher who does not work for the specific agency
C) all criminal justice agencies keep nonpublic records
D) most researchers in the field of criminal justice use agency records as their source of data

Question 72

Generally speaking, secondary data are least useful when the purpose of research is _____________________.

Question 73

It may be possible to use a(n) ________________ source of data in which criminal justice agency staff collect information for specific research purposes that they typically would not have collected.

Question 74

The use of information that is collected by other people, often as a part of their day-to-day work in a justice agency, but by someone else for research purposes is referred to as ________________________ of existing data.

Question 75

Which of the following is most accurate with respect to published statistics?

A) published statistics such as FBI data present almost no threat to validity
B) published statistics such as FBI data present almost no threat to reliability
C) published statistics such as FBI data present potential threats to validity and reliability
D) published statistics such as FBI data should only be used by law enforcement since the data were collected by them

Question 76

In content analysis, one may code the underlying meaning of a communication, which is often referred to as the _____________________ content.

Question 77

When using agency records as a data source the researcher must always keep changes in operational definitions and _____________________ in mind because of their potential impact upon validity and reliability.

Question 78

In content analysis, one may code the visible, surface content known as the ______________________ content.

Question 79

In Widom's research on child abuse discussed in your text, what was used as matching criteria for the public school records?

A) being born at the same hospital
B) having parents the same age
C) having the same number of siblings
D) being an outstanding student

Question 80

Which of the following is not an example of nonpublic agency records?

A) annual expenditures by your local courts
B) the state prison records for the facility closest to your location
C) employment records for your state's probation agency
D) the records of criminal convictions at your local courthouse