Methods of Criminological Research specifically addresses the methodological issues and problems implicit in research on crime and criminal justice. It is designed for those pursuing undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in criminology, socio-legal studies, police studies and criminal justice studies, as well as for those engaged in criminological research. The book examines the different ways in which data is collected and analyzed in research on crime and criminal justice. In doing so it deals with social surveys, experimental methods, official statistics, observation and interviews. Throughout, it emphasizes the necessity of examining forms of data collection and analysis within the context of the criminological problems that are being investigated, the theoretical approaches that are used to address these problems, and the political and institutional contexts within which research takes place. A contribution of the book is its emphasis upon the need to examine the dynamic interchange between problems, theories, methods and politics.