Rigours Testing in Criminological Research

Session Submission Type: Pre-arranged Panel

Abstract

While theories in criminology are (often) quite explicit about their causal models, tests of these models could often not mimic the theoretical precision. In the worst case, this leads to questioning whether the results speak at all to the assumed model. Besides all other challenges for empirical research, we aim to question and, at best, to improve the match between models and actual tests regarding, e.g., research designs and statistical modeling. Each presentation shows an approach to improve tests by aiming for a more rigorous fit between theoretical assumptions and implications for testing. The presentation by Yastrebov/Trinidad /Leopold disentangles the relationship between age, period, and cohorts (APC) regarding public concerns about crime in Germany. Becher /Mehlkop /Sattler test with a scenario-based 2x2 design the General Aggression Model (GAM) while recognizing a mediated moderation between provocation, internal state, and social status. Hasselhorn tests the often overlooked aspect of motivation within Wikstöm’s Situational Action Theory (SAT) while focusing on and testing for different statistical modeling strategies. Ernst /Trinidad recognize the systematic selection of people into different settings and the following implications for testing the interplay between crime propensity and settings criminogeneity in a simulation study.

Subtopic

• Topic 8: Methodologies in Criminology / Advances in Quantitative Methods (Qantitative Methods WG)

Chair

• André Ernst, Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology, University of Cologne

Individual Presentations

• Identifying Period Trend in the Public Concerns about Crime in Germany - Gordey Yastrebov, University of Cologne; Alexander Trinidad, Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology, University of Cologne; Thomas Leopold, University of Cologne

• Understanding Aggression: The Role of Provocation, Internal State, and Provocateur’s Social Status in a Scenario Based Experiment - Lea Becher, Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony; Guido Mehlkop, University of Erfurt; Sebastian Sattler, University of Bielefeld

• Understanding Motivation's Role in Deviant Behavior: Methodological Reflections - Fabian Hasselhorn, University of Bielefeld

• The Relation between ‘the Selection of kinds-of-people into kinds-of-setting’ and ‘the Interplay between person and setting’ in the explanation and investigation of rule-breaking - André Ernst, Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology, University of Cologne; Alexander Trinidad, Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology, University of Cologne