One of the most commonly used dependent variables in the field of criminal justice is recidivism. In this case, a ratio measurement scale is being used because it includes the possibility to use zero on a scale. That is important because zero on a scale means the total absence of the needed variable. Indeed, it is true that in some cases, the people who once committed a crime do not repeat it once again after their release. At this point, it is essential to define the concept of recidivism. In criminal justice, recidivism is understood as criminal acts that were committed during the three years after the release from the prison and led to “rearrest, reconviction or return to prison with or without a new sentence” (National Institute of Justice, n.d., para. 1). The reliability and validity of the measurements depend on the source of the data used. Measuring recidivism rates is important because it helps to estimate the efficiency of policies directed at the prevention of recidivism after the release.
Another dependent variable widely applied in the field of criminal justice is crime. It is a nominal variable because an action could be either legal or illegal. Therefore, this variable is used to calculate the number of actions that refer to either of two contradictory categories: illegal activity and legal activity. A crime is conceptualized as an action that contravenes federal or local laws. There are many subtypes of crimes depending on the severity; however, all these actions are unlawful. As in the previous case, the reliability and validity of the rate of crime measurements rely on the quality of the data used for the investigation.
References
National Institute of Justice (n.d.). Recidivism. Web.