ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author describes the re-state the object of the study and identifies the main hypotheses. He outlines the methodology employed in each of the quantitative and qualitative analyses. One of the consequences of research programmes, it seems, is that they often pose more questions than they answer. The author analyses the hypotheses a study was designed in two parts they are quantitative study was undertaken of all cases heard in Wolverhampton Juvenile Court in 1990. He argues that cases involving Black defendants carry features which are likely to be impossible to match especially in those circumstances where the victim of the offence was white. The author provides hypothesis as a qualitative analysis of a sample of 123 court reports was undertaken relating to cases heard in the same court during the same period. In considering the nature of the analysis attention was paid to the means by which court reports communicate information to sentencers.
