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IMPROVING OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES OF POLICE
Author(s) -
MASTROFSKI STEPHEN,
PARKS ROGER B.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
criminology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.467
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1745-9125
pISSN - 0011-1384
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-9125.1990.tb01335.x
Subject(s) - sophistication , observational study , discretion , debriefing , variance (accounting) , psychology , test (biology) , applied psychology , social psychology , political science , sociology , economics , law , statistics , mathematics , social science , paleontology , accounting , biology
Despite advances in measurement and the sophistication of statistical technique, quantitative studies of police behavior seems to have reached the limits of their capacity to explain variance, develop and test theory, and inform policy choices. This paper suggests that further advances in observational studies of police behavior require that researchers account for the cognitive decision processes police use in exercising their discretion. A method for debriefing officers after encounters with the public is described. The results of a preliminary test of the method indicate that valuable in formation can be obtained with quite limited reactivity effects.