Research in the criminal justice follows the steps for other social sciences. In this regard, one has first to select a research topic, define it, carry out literature survey, assess the current state of the problem in question and formulate hypotheses (Rajasekar, Philominathan, and Chinnathambi, 2013 p. 11). Hypotheses are tentative statements about the problem accounting for facts for testing in the research. It follows that the research hypotheses are the focal point of the study, and the processes of arriving at them need the active attention of the scientist(s).
The above proposition places the hypotheses as the central concern of the study. First, the research hypothesis ought to directly relate to aspects of the research topic. In this regard, one cannot develop a research hypothesis that is not grounded in the subject of the study because that would mean that the research would have deviated from the problem(s) under investigation. For instance, if the study topic is about the role of social inequality on criminal behavior, the scientist cannot develop research hypothesis that tests the role of government in shaping criminal actions. A study based on such assumption renders the results technically invalid on grounds of inconsistency.
Moreover, hypotheses formulation ought to be based on existing theories. The importance of exploring existing literature before coming up with tentative explanations is to establish the current knowledge on the problem. The scientist would identify gaps in the current knowledge and seek to fill them with the new knowledge. It follows that the hypotheses cannot deviate from the present knowledge because that would not place them in the larger concepts of criminal justices theories.
Further, the research hypotheses need to be clear, precise, and testable. In this respect, the research hypotheses should not be ambiguous making it difficult for an individual to identify the independent and dependent variables directly. In the case of ambiguity, the research results would also be questionable regarding what the hypotheses were testing. In most instances, ambiguous assumptions lead to confusing results, and the whole study cannot pass the test of validity. Untestable variables cannot yield logical and believable results.
The above propositions on the hypotheses have a bearing on the validity of the study. The validity may vary depending on the various aspects of the research. For instance, internal validity test whether the observed effects results from the manipulation of the independent variables. In particular, internal validity verifies the existence of a relationship between the variables of the hypothesis or other factors. For this reason, the scientists need to be careful in deciding the variables of the assumptions.
Externals validity entails the extent that the researchers can generalize the results in other settings. In this case, external validity involves how the results apply in different ecology (ecological validity), populations (population validity), and time (historical validity). Criminal behavior may be peculiar to specific populations, ecology, and time. In this regard, the results of the research need to point out general clues on the same, but for other regions, population, and time frames.
Other validity issues include the content validity i.e. the degree at of appropriateness of the content depending on the data collected, and criterion validity-the measure of the relationship of what the hypotheses tested and other measures. Others are constructive validity (test on the theatrical concepts related to the study), and predictive validity (the degree at which the results predicts later performances) (McLeod, 2013). To sum it up, hypotheses are the central focus of any study, and as a consequence affects the validity of the data and results.
References
Rajasekar, S., Philominathan, P., and Chinnathambi, V., (2013). RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Pdf file. Retrieved on April 3, 2016 from http://arxiv.org/pdf/physics/0601009.pdf
McLeod, S., (2013). What is validity? Retrieved on April 3, 2016 from http://www.simplypsychology.org/validity.html
