ABSTRACT
Criminological researchers come from a variety of disciplines and draw from a range of research techniques. This chapter explores the issues in relation to the nature of criminological data and commonly used research methods, the use of criminal statistics and ethics. It explains a critical approach to crime statistics. In most countries, the main sources of formally recorded crime statistics are government departments responsible for criminal justice. The critical perspective applied to crime statistics to this point perhaps suggests that the statistics provide more of an insight into official definitions of crime, crime recording and policing practice than into actual levels of unlawful activity. Thinking critically about crime statistics, though, also involves thinking about the potential they offer. National crime victimization surveys, with their focus on victims’ experiences, can present a very different picture of crime than that offered by national criminal statistics, with their focus on recorded crime.
