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Flashcards in Self-Report Studies Deck (11)
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1
Q

what is a self-report study?

A

asking people which crimes they themselves have committed

2
Q

who are self-report studies often carried out on and what do they focus on?

A

they’re often carried out on young people

they focus on minor offences which aren’t always picked up on by police recorded crime or crime surveys

3
Q

Shaw (1966)

A

self report studies may be qualitative.

e.g. Shaw used unstructured interviews to build up a ‘life history’ of a criminal

this gives an insight into criminality so is favoured by Interpretivists

4
Q

Campbell (1981)

A

found that levels of crime and deviance were much closer than the police recorded figures suggested. Also suggesting that statistics overemphasis working class male involvement in crime

5
Q

Issues affecting the usefulness of self-report studies:

A

validity

attrition

ethics

6
Q

Validity:

A

how far do SRS produce a true picture of number of offences committed

participants may conceal offending or make false claims

this can be overcome by comparing self-reports against recorded arrests or convictions

7
Q

Validity: Farrington (2001)

A

found that while young males admit their convictions, this may not be true for older males or for females

this is because they may be concerned with presenting a facade of respectability

8
Q

Validity: Farrington et al (1980)

A

self reports can be compared with more direct measures of offending

e.g. Farrington gave young people an opportunity to steal and then compared actual stealing with self reported stealing

9
Q

Attrition:

A

refers to participation and drop out rates in studies

a surgery with high attrition rates is likely to miss out a number o frequent of offenders and underestimate the true number of offences committed

10
Q

Ethics:

A

informed consent, confidentiality and right to withdraw must be considered

11
Q

Ethics: Edinburgh Study

A

Gaines informed consent of parents trough a letter with a tear-off slip for permission.

children were fully informed about the purpose of the study and were free to reduce participation