Criminal Justice Professor how-to

How to Analyze Crime Trend Data

Data skills help students understand crime.

Updated By the Career Education Institute Curriculum Team
Quick answer

Data skills help students understand crime. In short: get; clean; calculate, then complete the remaining steps below.

Step by step

  1. Get official data.

  2. Clean it.

  3. Calculate rates.

  4. Chart trends.

  5. Discuss limitations.

  6. Draw careful conclusions.

Safety reminders for criminal justice professors

  • Protect sensitive data
  • Follow research ethics
  • Discuss trauma topics with care
  • Protect student privacy

Criminology · Recidivism · Due process · Probable cause · Corrections · Victimology: see the full criminal justice professor glossary.

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