Research Methods for Forensic Psychologists ― A Guide to Completing Your Research Project

Research Methods for Forensic Psychologists is an accessible and comprehensive textbook that introduces students to the research process in forensic psychology. Adopting a problem-based learning approach, this book offers a ‘how-to’ guide to the whole research process and empowers readers to develop their own programme of research, from initial vague ideas, to developing a research question, to carrying out a methodologically rigorous research project, to disseminating the findings.

The text is centred on five case studies, sufficiently different in nature to address the most common research methodologies. Each case study is linked with a specific research question that will be used to illustrate the research process throughout the rest of the book. Topics covered in the book include:

• Design and Planning, including a literature search, a discussion of different sorts of data, practical and feasibility issues, research ethics and developing a research proposal.

• Conducting research, including the submission of ethics proposals and responding to feedback, collecting data and dealing with the problems and challenges of analysing data.

• Dissemination of findings, an overview of the different types of papers, with examples listed and other methods of disseminating findings discussed, such as conference presentations and the use of social media.

Throughout, issues of common difficulty or confusion are highlighted and activities are provided for readers to consider and apply the information discussed further. Additional reading sections and summaries are also provided at the end of each chapter. This book is essential reading for advanced students in Forensic Psychology, as well as trainees and practitioners within relevant forensic psychology organisations.

Sarah Brown is a Professor, Chartered Psychologist, Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, a Forensic Psychologist and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has developed and led forensic psychology masters courses, and taught both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Professor Brown has over 15 years’ experience of supervising numerous undergraduate, taught postgraduate and doctoral research projects in forensic psychology, using a range of research methods and types of data analyses. She has published peer-reviewed literature review and empirical papers from many of these projects with masters and doctoral students, and many of these studies have been presented at national and international conferences.

Emma Sleath is a registered HCPC Forensic Psychologist and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Dr. Sleath has taught on postgraduate forensic psychology courses for over ten years and has a range of experience in both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Her research interests focus on police practice in relation to victims of crime and she has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles in this area.