Answer to Question 1
Two reviews capture the broad-scale effectiveness of family-based prevention programs. The first one involved a meta-analysis of the effects of early prevention programs that included parents and children up to age 5.
Eleven high-quality studies were included that covered a variety of program modalities, such as home visitation, family support services, and parental education (improvement of core parenting skills).
Results showed significant effects across a number of important domain outcomes, including educational success, delinquency, cognitive development, involvement in the justice system, and family well-being. Program duration and intensity were associated with larger effects, but not multicomponent programs.
This latter finding goes against much past research, including the latest results on the effectiveness of the Fast Track multicomponent, multisite prevention program.
The second one involved a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of early family/parent training programs for children up to age 5 on antisocial behavior and delinquency.
It included 55 randomized controlled experiments and investigated the full range of these programs, including home visits, parent education plus daycare, and parent training. Results indicated that early family/parent training is an effective intervention for reducing antisocial behavior and delinquency.
These programs also produce a wide range of other important benefits for families, including improved school readiness and school performance on the part of children and greater employment and educational opportunities for parents.
Significant differences were not detected across program types, such as traditional parent training versus home visiting.
Answer to Question 2
Cohort Research Data involves observing over time a group of people who share certain characteristics
o Researchers might select all girls born in Boston in 1970 and then follow their behavior patterns for 20 years
o The research data might include their school experiences, arrests, and hospitalizations, along with information about their family lives
o If the cohort is carefully drawn, it may be possible to accumulate a complex array of data that can be used to determine which life experiences are associated with criminal careers
Experimental Data refers to controlled experiments to collect data on the cause of crime
o To conduct experimental research, criminologists manipulate, or intervene in, the lives of their subjects to see the outcome or the effect of the intervention
o True experiments usually have three elements:
(1) random selection of subjects,
(2) a control or comparison group, and
(3) an experimental condition
Observational and Interview Research involves research focusing on relatively few subjects
o Subjects are interviewed in depth or observed as they go about their activities.
o This research often results in the kind of in-depth data that large-scale surveys do not yield
Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review refers to a meta-analysis that involves gathering data from a number of previous studies
o Compatible information and data are extracted and pooled together
o When analyzed, the grouped data from several different studies provide a more powerful and valid indicator of relationships than the results provided by a single study
o A systematic review involves collecting the findings from previously conducted scientific studies that address a particular problem, appraising and synthesizing the evidence, and using the collective evidence to address a particular scientific question
Data Mining is a relatively new criminological technique using multiple advanced computational methods, including artificial intelligence (the use of computers to perform logical functions), to analyze large data sets that usually involve one or more data sources
o The goal is to identify significant and recognizable patterns, trends, and relationships that are not easily detected through traditional analytical techniques
Crime Mapping is used to create graphical representations of the spatial geography of crime
o Computerized crime maps enable criminologists to analyze and correlate a wide array of data to create immediate, detailed visuals of crime patterns
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RESEARCH TECHNIQUE