Criminologists’ perceptions of qualitative and quantitative methods in criminology and criminal justice

Despite the growing scholarly attention surrounding the marginalization of qualitative research in Criminology, research has yet to examine how criminologists view the legitimacy, value, and contribution of qualitative and quantitative methods. Using a sample of 340 qualitative and quantitative criminologists and a mixed methods approach, we find that qualitative participants reported feeling less valued in the field than their quantitative counterparts, while the majority of all participants believed that our journals are not equally receptive to both methods. Not only do our findings contribute to the ongoing methodological debate in the field, but they also have policy implications for graduate programs, senior scholars, and journal editors - all of which play a significant role in promoting methodological diversity and the (re)production of knowledge.