Employer Expectations of Research Skills Provided in Criminology Undergraduate Education

Abstract

Students often receive information literacy training however undergraduate programs often fail to provide students with the practical skills they require to produce quantitative and qualitative research. This is evidenced by the findings of research which show that some schools including those offering criminal justice and criminology degrees do not place enough focus on teaching students about research methods and the research process including sample recruitment, data collection, data analysis and research report writing. This chapter reports on a small-scale study that examined research skills requirements from the perspectives of potential employers, postgraduate supervisors, and graduating students. We then propose ways in which we might go about addressing these needs in the curriculum with particular.