4. How criminology produces knowledge

Abstract

This chapter investigates how researchers create knowledge in criminology. It covers two themes: first, the empirical research methods used in the discipline, and how understanding and knowledge of crime can be developed by applying, analysing, and evaluating criminological information. Secondly, the chapter discusses how this knowledge and understanding is influenced by the three important and interlinking factors of subjectivity (personal and disciplinary perspectives and opinions), supposition (guesswork, assumption), and study (for example, scholarship and conducting empirical and other types of research). ‘Empirical methods’ are the generation of evidence through (sensory) experience, particularly using experiments and observations. The chapter looks at the different research methods available to criminologists, covering both primary and secondary sources.