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Advanced Qualitative Research: Police Officer Decision-Making

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Advanced Qualitative Research:
Police Officer Decision-Making
Cara Henderson
Walden University
Police Officer Decision-Making
1. Reference Information for Article

Bonner, H. S. (2015). Police officer decision-making in dispute encounters: Digging deeper into the ‘black box’. American Journal Of Criminal Justice, 40(3), 493-522. doi:10.1007/s12103-014-9274-2
2. Purpose of Study

The purpose of this study was to increase the existing information on how police officers make decisions.
3. Qual Strategy

This study used interviews as well as narrative debriefings from the police officers participating in the study.
4. Research Question(s)

There are a few questions that can be inferred. How do police officers choose to invoke their authority? …show more content…

7. Findings

The findings for the study revealed some insight into officer decision-making. It was concluded that police officers tend to classify citizens and use those classifications as a portion of their decision making process. It was also found that some categories used to classify citizen’s death with socioeconomic status, but also have past experience with that particular citizen or other similar citizens.
8. Strengths and Weaknesses of Using Qual Approach

In order to gain a more rich and in-depth look at the behaviors of police officers during disputes or throughout debriefings, it is arguably essential to use a qualitative approach. Surveys and other measures would not be able to give the vast amount of information and rich details that in-person ride alongs and interviews can give. There appears to be a need to explore this area in a detailed manner, therefore a qualitative approach seems to strengthen this specific area of research. However, there are always some limitations, and I believe the interpretation of the researcher always has potential for bias in a scenario such as this in regards to a qualitative approach. Meaning, the researcher may set out to understand more detailed and rich observations of the decision-making process in police officers, but interpret their own meaning and understanding that may or may not reflect

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