Psychology Press

About the Book

Explore the most effective methods of studying school violence!

School violence and safety research will move forward and make unique scientific contributions only if it develops a core literature that critically examines its measurements, methods, and data analysis techniques. Issues in School Violence Research is the first book to expose the limitations of previous research, to critically examine methodological and measurement practices, and to provide guidelines to enhance future school violence research. Early literature focused on school violence as a social problem, not as an integrated area of legitimate scientific research. It is time to move beyond the social problem era of school violence to begin critically assessing its common research practices.

Until recently, there has been such a rush to gather information about school violence that the methods used have hardly been questioned. The editors of this book are some of the first to raise questions about how the field conducts its research, especially with regard to self-reports among students. Issues in School Violence Research addresses significant measurement and methodological issues in school violence research. The contributors have been conducting school research for more than 15 years. To enhance your understanding of the practices used—past and proposed—numerous tables are included.

In Issues in School Violence Research, you’ll find information about:

• school-level warning signs of safety problems
  
• weapon possession
  
• using office referral records in school violence research
  
• identification of bullies and victims
  
• data quality issues in student risk behavior surveys
  
• extreme response bias patterns for youth risk behavior surveys
  
• the structure of student perceptions of school safety
  
• and much more!

Issues in School Violence Research is an important resource for anyone, from professors to policymakers. It is also appropriate as a textbook for research methodology courses. It is only through objective analysis that school violence research can develop new insights. This book presents topics that should stimulate new and better inquiry into the climate within which school violence occurs.