What forms of evidence have been used by social scientists in stidies Essay

What forms of evidence have been used by social scientists in stidies of crime - Essay Example Social scientists link the crime to society and find the rate of crime, criminal behaviour and other aspects of crime as a social issue with the support of different methodologies of finding and gathering data related to crime. For studying crime, different methods are adopted such as commonsense approach in which, the researcher becomes â€Å"acquainted with people around him/her, the community, business, politics or any social issue† (Sutherland, et al 2005, 78) and the systematic study of individuals in which, the individuals who are involved in crime directly or indirectly are studied or the statistical details related to their arrest, conviction or involvement (Sutherland, et al 2005). The systematic study of individuals takes into consideration statistics, individual case study, analytical induction, participant observation and the experimental method (Sutherland, et al 2005, 78). Burfeind and Bartusch (1992) inform about interdisciplinary approach, case studies, analytical induction, ethnography, ecological analysis and survey research. The statistical evidence of study of crime deals with statistical analysis in terms of correlation between the crime and any social condition (Burfeind and Bartusch 1992). There is no hard and fast rule that the analysis should be between certain aspects. It can be correlated between crime and any other aspect of society. The social scientists use this form of evidence to study crime prevalent in society along with many other methods. Individual case study is another form of evidence used by social scientists. In this form of evidence, the study of crime is based on an individual crime, this means that the social scientist gets engaged into analyzing only a person involved in a criminal activity and bases his study on only that individual (Burfeind and Bartusch 1992). This form is also advantageous as the study is specifically connected to one person and is somehow limited. Interdisciplinary approach to study