NCJ Number
230373
Date Published
2010
Length
6 pages
Annotation
In this chapter, the author draws on his years of experience as a researcher working with the Chicago police, as he advises that police-researcher partnerships must address widely different perspectives on such issues as time lines, the timeliness of research, and perceptions of its usefulness.
Abstract
Regarding timeliness, researchers require time to proceed through a series of steps that are required for scientific research. Time-consuming tasks include getting funding for the research; clarifying the issues being investigated; designing appropriate data collection instruments; developing a valid and reliable research design; the collection of representative data from broad samples; data analysis; and preparing various reports in different formats for different audiences. It may be possible to improve the timeliness of products from a research or evaluation project by producing interim products. It is also important that research in progress or completed be perceived as useful by those whose work is most likely to be affected by it. The practical uses of research could include an identification of chronic crime and disorder "hot spots," coupled with an analysis of how the routine activities of victims attract offenders to a particular location. Collaborations between researchers and practitioners must work toward a shared understanding of when and how particular research efforts can improve the effectiveness of police policies and practices. This involves a "strategic feedback" approach to communicating research findings that addresses questions such as what works; in what kinds of places; and the policymaking and supervisory issues involved in making it work. Strategic analysis identifies external forces that are impacting the process, as well as structural features of the organization that are helping or hindering effective practice.