Research Designs Applicable for Policy Analysis in Criminal justice

Policy Analysis in Criminal Justice
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Policy Analysis in Criminal Justice
Simple Pretest-Posttest Design
Pretest-posttest designs are a form of quasi-experimental/ experimental design (Salkind, 2022). In a simple pretest-posttest design, the participants are exposed to the intervention and are evaluated over a specific period. There is only one group of participants. The outcome is measured before (pretest) and after (posttest), the intervention has been applied (Salkind, 2022). However, because there is no group to compare with, simple pretest-posttest designs are considered weak. There is no way for the researchers to know whether the outcome occurred due to the intervention or as a result of other factors.
Pretest-Posttest Design with a Control Group
In a pretest-posttest design with a control group, participants are randomly assigned to two groups; a control group and a treatment group. A pretest is administered to each group, and the treatment group receives the intervention while the control group receives no intervention (Salkind, 2022). Then, a posttest is administered to both groups. The control group allows the researchers to compare the outcome with the treatment group to establish whether the outcome is a result of the intervention. If there is a significant change in the treatment group, then the change is attributed to the intervention.
Pretest-Posttest Design with Multiple Pretests
A pretest-posttest design with multiple pretests is similar to a pretest-posttest design with a control group because both have a treatment and a control group. However, rather than administering just one pretest before the intervention is applied to the treatment group, this type of pretest-posttest design allows the researcher to administer several pretests (Salkind, 2022). As such, the ...