POSSE Research Methods & Evidence-Based Practice 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following best describes 'evidence-based policing'?
- Policing based solely on officer experience and intuition
- Using scientific research to guide police policy and practice decisions (Correct answer)
- Collecting physical evidence at crime scenes
- Following departmental tradition and standard operating procedures
Correct answer: Using scientific research to guide police policy and practice decisions
Evidence-based policing integrates the best available research evidence with professional expertise to inform police practices and policies.
Question 2: A police survey asks residents: 'Don't you agree that officers in your neighborhood do a great job?' This question is problematic because it is:
- Too long and complex
- A leading question that biases responses toward agreement (Correct answer)
- Focused on the wrong population
- Written at too high a reading level
Correct answer: A leading question that biases responses toward agreement
Leading questions suggest a desired answer and artificially inflate agreement, compromising the validity of survey data.
Question 3: In crime analysis, a 'hot spot' is best defined as:
- A neighborhood with high unemployment rates
- A small geographic area with a disproportionately high concentration of crime (Correct answer)
- Any block with more than one reported offense per year
- A location where a notorious offender lives
Correct answer: A small geographic area with a disproportionately high concentration of crime
Hot spots are small, specific places where crime clusters far more than would be expected by chance, based on systematic analysis.
Question 4: Which ethical principle requires that research participants be informed about the study and voluntarily agree to participate?
- Beneficence
- Justice
- Informed consent (Correct answer)
- Confidentiality
Correct answer: Informed consent
Informed consent requires that participants understand the nature, risks, and benefits of a study before voluntarily agreeing to take part.
Question 5: An officer notices that crime drops every December and concludes that community holiday events cause the decrease. This is an example of:
- Confirmation bias
- Confusing correlation with causation (Correct answer)
- Selection bias
- Publication bias
Correct answer: Confusing correlation with causation
Confusing correlation with causation means assuming that two things that occur together have a cause-and-effect relationship without eliminating alternative explanations.
Question 6: Which of the following is a primary advantage of using official crime statistics (e.g., UCR data) in research?
- They capture all crimes committed in a jurisdiction
- They are standardized, consistently collected, and allow trend comparisons over time (Correct answer)
- They reflect victims' perceptions of crime severity
- They are free from reporting bias
Correct answer: They are standardized, consistently collected, and allow trend comparisons over time
Official crime statistics like the UCR are consistently collected nationwide, making them useful for longitudinal trend analysis despite under-reporting limitations.
Question 7: In a study on officer wellness, researchers track the same group of officers over five years. This is called a:
- Cross-sectional study
- Longitudinal study (Correct answer)
- Case-control study
- Focus group study
Correct answer: Longitudinal study
Longitudinal studies follow the same subjects over an extended period, allowing researchers to track changes and development over time.
POSSE Research Methods & Evidence-Based Practice 3
Which of the following best describes 'evidence-based policing'?