The Production of Criminological Experiments

Abstract

The article examines the production of crime and justice field experiments during the 1990s. Data were collected on the characteristics of criminological experiments funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the principal research agency of the U.S. Department of Justice, during the 10-year period from 1991 through 2000. The analyses find that, whereas the funds available for research and evaluation at the NIJ increased during this period, the number of projects and the amount of funds awarded supporting field experiments declined. The article describes the characteristics of the experiments funded and assesses the extent to which the reduced support can be attributed to the characteristics of NIJ research funding, research topics, researchers, or criminal justice operational agencies.