Researching Deviance 3 Primary Sources of Information/Data: Official Data Survey Data Qualitative Data

Official Data Sources Reliance on agencies (and their agents) who police/advocate specific behaviors Sample: Persons/behaviors that come to attention of official agents/agencies Who’s left out? Goal/Strengths: Uniformity of data Generalize-ability to a large population Problems: Missing data; Consequences of sample bias? Data may simply be artifacts of reporting procedures Politics of control agents and clients; inducements/deterrents Trends may reflect cultural focus of moral panics rather than real change How are these reflected in the study of Child Abuse Reporting?

Self-report Surveys Mode of Administration: Sample: Probability sample Phone, Mail and In-person Sample: Probability sample representative of (sub)population(s) of interest Sample size determined by need for precise estimates http://www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm Response rate & sample bias Data generated from a questionnaire Asking good questions Limit sources of measurement error and other response burdens

Self-report Surveys Goal/Strengths of Surveys: Generalize to population (external validity); Efficiency; Uniformity Problems/Issues to be aware of: Cooperation & Response rate – issues of sample bias? Missing data Measurement error Candor, especially about deviant behavior Asking the wrong questions Constraining responses

Qualitative Research In-depth interviews Ethnography Goal/Strengths: Gathering the viewpoint of subjects/internal validity; M. Weber’s concept of “Verstehen” (understanding); objectivity Thick description of context and behavior which give life to social meanings

Qualitative Research Long-term Observation Sample: referral; “snowball” Problems/Issues to be aware of : Ethical dilemmas; Human subjects (IRB) Covert vs. Overt research – informed consent Legal issues Navigating scientific and deviant subcultural terrains (at odds); Rapport and trust is critical; “Going Native”; Hawthorne effect?