DOI: 10.3886/icpsr06315.v1
title: Production and Consumption of Research in Police Agencies in the United States, 1989-1990
title: Version 1

description: The purpose of this study was to describe the dynamics of
 police research, how the role and practice of research differ among
 police agencies, and why this appears to happen. This study also
 attempts to answer, on a national scale, four fundamental questions:
 (1) What is police research? (2) Who does it? (3) Why is it done? and
 (4) What impact does it have? In addition to describing the overall
 contours of the conduct of research in United States police agencies,
 this study also sought to explore the organizational dynamics that
 might contribute to understanding the different roles research plays
 in various types of police organizations. Questionnaires were mailed
 in 1990 to 777 sheriff, municipal, county, and state police agencies
 selected for this study, resulting in 491 surveys for
 analysis. Respondents were asked to identify the extent to which they
 were involved in each of 26 distinct topic areas within the past year,
 to specify the five activities that consumed most of their time during
 the previous year, and to describe briefly any projects currently
 being undertaken that might be of interest to other police agencies. A
 second approach sought to describe police research not in terms of the
 topics studied but in terms of the methods police used to study those
 topics. A third section of the questionnaire called for respondents to
 react to a series of statements characterizing the nature of research
 as practiced in their agencies. A section asking respondents to
 describe the characteristics of those responsible for research in
 their agency followed, covering topics such as to whom the research
 staff reported. Respondent agencies were also asked to evaluate the
 degree to which various factors played a role in initiating research
 in their agencies. Finally, questions about the impact of research on
the police agency were posed.
description: The purpose of this study was to describe the
 dynamics of police research, how the role and practice of research
 differ among police agencies, and why this appears to happen. This
 study also attempts to answer, on a national scale, four fundamental
 questions: (1) What is police research? (2) Who does it? (3) Why is it
 done? and (4) What impact does it have? In addition to describing the
 overall contours of the conduct of research in U.S. police agencies,
 this study also sought to explore the organizational dynamics that
 might contribute to understanding the different roles research plays
in various types of police organizations.
description: In this study, the researchers approached the
 question of "What is police research?" from three different but
 complementary directions. One part of the survey consisted of a series
 of questions asking respondents to identify the topics on which they
 worked during the past year. In another approach, a series of
 questions addressed methods and resources employed in the course of
 doing research. The third technique was to ask respondents to indicate
 their agreement or disagreement with a series of statements that
 characterized the nature of research as it was practiced in their
 agencies. In formulating the questions, a list of topic areas was
 prepared from the researchers' own experience in planning and research
 that was supplemented with results from early pretesting on a small
 number of agencies not in the national sample. Surveys were mailed
 during the last two weeks in August 1990 to each of the 777 police
 agencies selected, resulting in 491 surveys for analysis. In October
 1990, all police agencies that had not returned a questionnaire were
 sent a follow-up letter requesting return of the survey. The survey
 instrument was offered to agencies in two formats: one that phrased
 questions in terms of "the research and planning unit," and another
 that phrased questions in terms of "those responsible for research
 and planning." Agencies were instructed to choose the first format if
 they had a formal research and planning unit, the second if they did
not.
description: Respondents were first asked to identify the extent
 to which they were involved in each of 26 distinct topic areas within
 the past year and next to describe their research topics by listing
 the five activities that consumed most of their time during the
 year. Another question asked respondents to describe briefly any
 projects currently being undertaken that might be of interest to other
 police agencies. A second approach sought to describe police research
 not in terms of the agenda of topics studied but in terms of the
 methods police used to study those topics. Five questions queried
 respondents on various aspects of the methods of police research. A
 third section called for respondents to react to a series of ten
 statements characterizing the nature of research as practiced in their
 agencies. Another section probed for information about the
 characteristics of those responsible for research in their agency,
 such as whether the research staff reported to the agency head and, if
 not, to whom they reported. To determine what initiates police
 research in the police agencies surveyed, respondents were asked to
 evaluate on a 4-point scale the degree to which 14 factors played a
 role in initiating research in their agencies. In assessing the impact
 of research on police agencies, the researchers relied on six
 questions. The mix and phrasing of these questions were designed to
 control and minimize the phenomenon of inflating the actual impact of
research.
description: Response Rates: This study produced a total initial sample of
 777 police agencies, of which 491 (63 percent) returned survey
questionnaires.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Several Likert-type scales were used.
description: The national survey was based on a 50-percent sample of
 all United States police agencies employing more than 50 sworn
 officers, as well as a selected sample of 91 small municipal police
 agencies, each of which employed between 35 and 49 sworn
 officers. This produced a total initial sample of 777 police agencies,
of which 491 (63 percent) returned survey questionnaires.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Data File
description: All police agencies in the United States.