Quantitative methods in criminology

Quantitative methods provide the primary research methods for studying the distribution and causes of ''crime''. Quantitative methods provide numerous ways to obtain data that are useful to many aspects of society. The use of quantitative methods such as survey research, field research, and evaluation research as well as others. The data can, and is often, used by criminologists and other social scientists in making causal statements about variables being researched.

History and development of quantitative research in criminology

A general definition for criminology is a scientific approach to the study of criminal behavior. By this definition, one of the first appearances of criminology was the work of Cesare Beccaria in 1764 related to torture and the death penalty. Beccaria's contribution to criminology was foundational, but purely philosophical. Quantitative methods in Criminology were developed later during the 19th century resurgence of positivism spearheaded by well-known sociologist Émile Durkheim, who is responsible for one of the first modern research projects titled ''Suicide''. It was published in 1897 and was the first work of its kind to include quantitative data, mainly suicide rates across different populations. This study marks the first documented use of quantitative research methods in the field of criminology. The first case of this in the United States occurred at the University of Chicago, around 1915 where scientists were studying the massive immigration into the city. It provided an ideal setting for empirical studies, where the scientists were testing hypotheses related to the proneness to criminal behavior. To study this they looked at recorded convictions, environment and social experiences, from which they recorded data and statistics to formulate a conclusion for the study. American criminology was greatly influenced by British criminology due to the large number of social scientist that developed criminology theories. Some of these early criminologist theorists were Karl Marx, Cesare Lombroso, Jeremy Bentham, and Émile Durkheim. Criminology back in the late 19th century was a broader scope which included similar theories as sociology. A more current and encompassing definition of criminology is: The scientific study of crime, criminals, criminal behavior, and corrections. This is the definition that is more widely used than the one from the late 19th century. In general criminology has remained constant in terms of its science and how it is conducted. Research methods for criminology and well as early theories have ha