Criminal Justice Research Organizations and Their Contributions

UPI Study › Courses › Criminology › Free lessons › Lesson 3.1 Free with a free account

Criminal Justice Research Organizations and Their Contributions

Criminology · Chapter 3: Measuring Crime: Research Organizations and Data SourcesSection 3.1 · lesson 5 of 9113 min · free with a free account

← General Classifications of Crime: Legal and Social CriteriaNext lesson: FBI Uniform Crime Report: Purpose, Benefits, and Limitations →

Earn 3 college credits for CriminologyRecommended for credit by NCCRS · Criminology 150 · self-paced · one payment, lifetime access
Enroll in Criminology · $250 →Download the syllabus (PDF)

In this lesson

Criminal justice research organizations and what each contributes.

  • Identify the principal research and data organizations.
  • Distinguish a data collection program from a research funder.
  • Trace how a finding changes on its way to the news.
  • Assess a source for its origin and purpose.

Transcript

Everything said in the video, section by section (1,576 words). Read along, or search it.

Opening Question

Three Conflicting Figures, One Offense

Imagine three figures about the same offense category land on your desk, and they don't line up. One comes from a national statistical agency, one from an advocacy campaign, and one from a single academic study. Which do you trust? Before we ask how much crime there is, we need to ask: who's doing the counting?

Why Sources Matter

Every Number Inherits Its Source

A course on crime could open with the findings themselves: how much crime occurs, who's affected, and what has changed over time. This course opens instead with the institutions that produce those findings. The reason is simple: every number inherits the purpose, method, and limits of the organization behind it. Those three figures aren't interchangeable, even though they seem to describe the same thing. Each was built to answer a different question, using different methods. So the first skill in reading crime data is recognizing the source, before evaluating the claim.

Overview

Five Kinds of Information Producers

Criminal justice information in the United States comes from five broad kinds of organizations. Federal statistical agencies collect, process, and publish data, using a fixed methodology applied consistently over time. Federal research funders don't collect data themselves: they award grants to outside researchers, to study questions and evaluate programs. Academic research centers sit inside universities: they conduct original research, publish in peer-reviewed outlets, and train new researchers. Non-governmental research organizations are independent, often nonprofit bodies that conduct or fund studies. And advocacy organizations form around a policy position, and use data, among other tools, to build support.

Key Point

No Category Is Inherently More Trustworthy

Here's the crucial point: none of these categories is inherently more trustworthy than another. Each serves a different purpose, and each purpose shapes what gets measured, how it's framed, and what's left out.

Agency Profile

BJS as the Measurement Agency

The Bureau of Justice Statistics, or BJS, is the federal statistical agency for crime, victims, and the justice system. It administers the National Crime Victimization Survey, and publishes data on corrections populations, court caseloads, and law enforcement agencies. Its defining feature is what it doesn't do: it doesn't enforce laws, prosecute cases, or advocate policies. Its output is measurement, released on a fixed schedule, with methods documented well enough for outsiders to evaluate.

Agency Profile

NIJ as the Research Funder

The National Institute of Justice, or NIJ, is the research, development, and evaluation arm of the Department of Justice. Unlike BJS, it runs no recurring data collection program. It works as a research funder, issuing grants and contracts to universities, research organizations, and practitioners. Those projects study questions like whether a policing strategy reduces offending, or a court program reduces reoffending.

Comparison

How Much Versus Does It Work

So a BJS report and an NIJ-funded study answer different kinds of questions. BJS answers how much, and of what kind; NIJ-funded work more often asks whether an intervention works.

Agency Profile

The FBI's Two Separate Roles

The FBI is widely known as a federal law enforcement agency. It also runs the nation's principal program for collecting crime data reported by local and state police; the next lesson examines it in detail. These two roles are functionally separate. The data collection division compiles what participating agencies choose to report, while the investigative divisions pursue federal offenses. A local department's choice to report, or not, has no effect on the FBI's investigative jurisdiction. And the data program doesn't investigate the offenses it counts.

Specialized Offices

Narrower Offices for Specific Populations

Several specialized federal offices cover narrower subject areas. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention funds research, sets standards, and publishes data on youth. Other offices do the same for particular populations or offense types, named for the remit they cover. If your question is about a specific population, a specialized office usually serves you better than a general agency.

Academic Research

University Centers and Peer Review

University-based research centers conduct original studies, using their own data, government data, or both. Their work is typically subject to peer review before it appears in an academic journal. In peer review, other qualified researchers evaluate a study's methodology and conclusions, before publication. It's a quality control mechanism, and an important one. Reviewers screen for methodological soundness, and check that the conclusions follow from the data presented.

Quick Check

Does Peer Review Guarantee Correctness?

Quick check: true or false? A peer-reviewed finding is guaranteed to be correct. Pause, and decide. False. Peer review is not a guarantee of correctness. A peer-reviewed finding can still be limited in scope. It can be superseded by later research. And it can be misapplied, when someone summarizes it outside the original study.

Nonprofit Sector

Research Organizations Versus Advocacy Groups

Outside government and universities, many nonprofit organizations produce information about crime and justice. Some are primarily research organizations: their central purpose is producing data or analysis, and any policy positions follow from the findings. Others are primarily advocacy organizations: their central purpose is advancing a defined policy position. The data they produce or cite is selected and framed to support that position.

Key Distinction

Purpose, Not Honesty, Sets Them Apart

This is a difference in institutional purpose, not a difference in honesty. A rigorous advocacy organization may cite entirely accurate data. And a research organization isn't automatically neutral, just because advocacy isn't its stated mission. So the useful question isn't which organization to trust in general. Ask what purpose this organization was built to serve, and how that shaped what it measured and presented.

Checklist Table

Six Organization Types, Six Questions

Table 3.1.1 turns the landscape into a checklist of six organization types. For a federal statistical agency, such as BJS, ask what population and time period the data cover, and how often they're updated. For a federal research funder, such as NIJ, ask whether this was a single funded study, and whether it generalizes beyond its sample. For a data collection operator, such as the FBI's data program, ask whether participation is voluntary, and who might be missing. For a specialized office, such as OJJDP for youth, ask whether its population matches your question. For an academic center, ask whether the work was peer-reviewed, and what the review actually checked. For a non-governmental organization, ask whether it was built to measure, or to persuade. The table is a starting checklist, not an exhaustive classification.

Figure Walkthrough

How Findings Lose Their Hedges

A research finding rarely reaches the public in its original form. Figure 3.1.1 traces its journey through four stages. The original study states a specific sample, a specific method, and a hedged conclusion. An agency or funder summary condenses it, foregrounding the headline finding, and compressing the limitations. A press release compresses further, often dropping caveats entirely: a conditional finding can come out sounding like a general result. A news report, working from the press release rather than the study, may state it as a fact about crime in general. By then, the original sample and its limits are no longer visible at all. Each arrow in the figure marks a transfer where the hedge shrinks, and the claim sharpens toward generality.

Evaluation Method

Four Questions for Any Crime Claim

Evaluating a crime claim doesn't require specialized statistical training. It requires asking the same set of questions every time, before accepting the claim. First: who collected this information, and what is that organization's stated purpose? Second: why was it collected? A recurring measurement, a one-time evaluation, or a case made for a position? Third: what exactly was counted, and does it match what the claim implies was counted? Fourth: who reviewed the work before publication, if anyone, and what did that review actually check? These questions won't resolve every disagreement, but they point to most of the places where a claim is weaker than it first appears.

Case Study

Elena Traces a Striking Statistic

Now consider a case. Elena, a policy analyst, is preparing a briefing for a city council committee. She's handed a striking crime statistic that has been circulating in local media for weeks. Before using it, she traces the statistic backward. The news article cites a press release, and the press release cites a summary report. The summary report cites a single funded study, conducted in one metropolitan area, over a limited period.

Case Analysis

Establishing Population and Time Period

Elena's task isn't to decide whether the number is right or wrong in the abstract. Her task is to establish what population and time period it actually describes. Then she can ask whether the committee's question is one this source can answer.

Practice Matching

Match Each Output to Its Producer

Let's practice: match each output to its most likely producer. A recurring national victimization survey report. A grant-funded evaluation of one city's policing program. A faculty study reviewed by outside experts before publication. A campaign report using selected statistics to push a sentencing change. A national count reported voluntarily by thousands of police agencies. And a delinquency data standard and annual report. Pause, and match them. The survey report comes from a federal statistical agency. The grant-funded evaluation comes from a research funder. The reviewed faculty study comes from an academic research center. The campaign report comes from an advocacy organization. The voluntary national count comes from a data collection operator. And the delinquency standard comes from a specialized federal office. One more: an independent nonprofit comparing public data, without recommending policy, is a research organization.

Reverse Problem

Finding Where the Warning Disappeared

Finally, the reverse problem: a single-city, three-month study is reported as sweeping the nation. Walk the chain, to find the step that first dropped the study's own warning against generalizing. Whichever step that was, the sample, the time period, and the stated limits were what got lost.

Key Takeaways

Source, Purpose, and Four Questions

Let's recap. Every number inherits the purpose, method, and limits of the organization that produced it. Statistical agencies like BJS measure; funders like NIJ pay for studies; the FBI's data role is separate from its enforcement role. Peer review checks methods, but guarantees nothing; and advocacy differs from research in purpose, not honesty. Findings lose their hedges on the way from study to news report. So ask four questions every time: who collected it, why, what was counted, and who reviewed it.

About Criminology at UPI Study

Criminology (Criminology 150) is a self-paced online course of 91 video lessons in 21 chapters, from classical criminology and crime data to theories of crime, victims, policing, courts and corrections. It carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits.

Every lesson transcript is free on pages like this one, and the videos are free with a free UPI Study account. Enrolling adds a practice quiz after each lesson, the graded work and final exam that earn the credit, lifetime access, and an official transcript on completion. UPI Study has helped over 130,000 students with college credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Enroll now → Course details Download the syllabus Every course with PRO →

Why take it here

Why students take Criminology with UPI Study

Understand crime and justiceCriminology explains why crime happens, how it is measured and how the justice system responds. It is a core course for criminal justice, sociology, psychology, law and policing degrees.
Credit at a fraction of the priceThe same 3 credits can cost $750 or more at a US college. Here it is one payment, self-paced, with lifetime access.
Finish your degree soonerTransfer credits reduce the courses you still owe, so you can graduate earlier or lighten a heavy semester.
Strengthen an applicationA completed college-level course on an official transcript shows admissions and scholarship committees you can do the work.
Study on your own scheduleNo start dates, no deadlines. Watch the lessons, practice, and take the final when you are ready.
130,000+students helped with college creditsACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Where the credit goes

Universities that work with NCCRS

Criminology carries a NCCRS credit recommendation. These universities work with NCCRS; some are UPI Study's signed partners. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Thomas Edison State UniversityThomas Edison State UniversitySigned partnerUniversity of the PeopleUniversity of the PeopleSigned partnerCharter Oak State CollegeCharter Oak State CollegeSigned partnerStrayer UniversityStrayer UniversitySigned partnerColumbia Southern UniversityColumbia Southern UniversitySigned partnerIndiana TechIndiana TechSigned partnerPenn StatePenn StateWorks with NCCRSSouthern New Hampshire UniversitySouthern New Hampshire UniversityWorks with NCCRSSUNYSUNYWorks with NCCRS +many more cooperating universitiesFind my college →

Find my college → Not listed? Ask Athena in the corner of this page, or book a 15-minute call.

FAQ

Questions students ask us

About Criminal Justice Research Organizations and Their Contributions

What is the difference between BJS and NIJ?
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is a federal statistical agency that collects and publishes recurring data, while the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is a research funder. BJS runs the National Crime Victimization Survey and answers "how much, and of what kind." NIJ awards grants to outside researchers, whose studies more often ask whether a program or strategy works.
Does peer review mean a study's findings are correct?
No, peer review does not guarantee that a finding is correct. It is a quality-control step in which qualified researchers check a study's methods and whether the conclusions follow from the data before publication. A peer-reviewed finding can still be limited in scope, replaced by later research, or misapplied when someone summarizes it outside the original study.
How does a research finding change by the time it reaches the news?
A finding tends to lose its caveats at each stage between the study and the news report. The original study states its sample, method, and hedged conclusion. Agency summaries condense it, press releases often drop caveats, and news reports may present it as a general fact about crime. A conditional finding can end up sounding universal.
How do I judge whether a crime statistic comes from a reliable source?
Ask four questions about the statistic: who collected it and for what stated purpose, why it was collected, what exactly was counted, and who reviewed it and what that review checked. Trace the claim back to its original study or agency. Then establish what population and time period it describes and whether it answers your question.

About the Criminology course

How many college credits is Criminology?
Criminology (Criminology 150) carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
How much does Criminology cost and what is included?
$250, paid once, with lifetime access: all 91 video lessons, a practice quiz after each, the graded work and final exam, and an official transcript when you finish. Students who want several courses choose UPI Study PRO instead.
Which universities accept UPI Study credits?
UPI Study has signed partner agreements with universities such as Thomas Edison State University, University of the People and Charter Oak State College, and works with universities such as Penn State, SNHU and SUNY. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities. Use "Find my college" on this page to check yours.
How long does Criminology take?
It is self-paced with no deadlines. The 91 lessons total about 4 hours of video; most students add reading and practice time and finish in a few weeks to a few months, on their own schedule.
How are the exams done?
Quizzes and assignments are online in the course. The final exam is taken online with proctoring; a person on the UPI Study team checks assignments, usually within two days.
How do my credits reach my college?
When the course shows 100% complete, request the official transcript from your dashboard. It is sent to the college you name, and you can send it to more than one. Check your college first with "Find my college" on this page, or ask Athena.

Ready for the full course? Earn 3 credits in Criminology.

91 video lessons, a quiz after each one, and the graded work that earns the credit. Recommended for credit by NCCRS.

Enroll in Criminology →Download the syllabusEvery course with PRO →
Criminology
3 credits · NCCRSEnroll →