Quantitative Research Methods for Social Scientists on Knife Crime in UK

This research aims to identify the major reason for increasing knife crime in the United Kingdom. The report consists of five chapters, including introduction, literature review, methodology, data analysis and interpretation, and conclusion. The research methodology is quantitative, and primary data is collected through a questionnaire. The study explores the concept of crime, the cause of increasing knife crime, and the motive for carrying knives by the people of the United Kingdom.

Quantitative Research
Methods for Social
scientists
(To identify the major reason for increasing
the knife crime in United Kingdom)
1

ABSTRACT
The present research is on the topic knife crime and the reason for increasing the knife crime
in United Kingdom. The major research objective in the current investigation is to understand the
concept of crime, to identify the major reason foe enhancing the knife crime in United Kingdom
and to analyse the reason why people carry knives with them. This report consists of five chapter
which are introduction, literature review, methodology, data analysis and interpretation and
conclusion. In the existing report primary data is collected with the help of questionnaire and the
research methodology is quantitative so that numerical data can be gathered and analysed.
2

Table of Contents
ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
Introduction to the topic...............................................................................................................4
Rationale for doing the research..................................................................................................4
Research questions and aims.......................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................5
What is the concept of crime in context of citizen?.....................................................................5
What is the cause of increasing knife crime in the United Kingdom?........................................5
What is the motive for carrying knives by the people of United Kingdom?...............................5
METHODOLOGY..........................................................................................................................6
Research methodology.................................................................................................................6
Research tool...............................................................................................................................6
Sampling......................................................................................................................................6
Ethical consideration...................................................................................................................6
Reflection.....................................................................................................................................6
RESULT..........................................................................................................................................8
Frequency distribution of gender.................................................................................................8
Cross tabs and correlation with bar charts...................................................................................9
DISCUSSION................................................................................................................................23
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................25
REFERENCE LIST.......................................................................................................................26
3

INTRODUCTION
Introduction to the topic
A crime can be defined as an illegal activity or action undertaken by an individual or group
of people for which they can be punished by the legal authority of the nation. They are various
type of crime such as drug crime, street crime, organized crime, political crime and many more
(Williams and Squires, 2021). In the current research the investigator will gather data regarding
Knife crime. Knife crime is an illegal action that involve an object having blade or any sharp tool
(Zavyalov and et. al, 2021).
Rationale for doing the research
The main reason for conducting the above investigation is to gain detailed understanding
about the knife crime. This research will also help in knowing the cause of increasing knife
crime. Through this detailed knowledge about the knife crime, the cause, measures, motive
behind carrying knives can be known. The present investigation also helps in fulfilling two vital
perspective that are personal and professional objective (Bigler and et. al, 2021). In respect to
personal I will develop SPSS skill in me detailed manner which helps in completing the
investigation in systematic manner. On the other hand, in respect to professional I will be using
this software in cooperative sector to analyse large financial data in scientific manner.
Research questions and aims
Research aim:
To identify the major reason for increasing the knife crime in United Kingdom: “A study
on citizen of UK”.
Research objective:
 To understand the concept of crime in context of citizen
 To identify the cause of increasing knife crime in the United Kingdom
 To analyse the motive for carrying knives by the people of United Kingdom
Research question:
 What is the concept of crime in context of citizen?
 What is the cause of increasing knife crime in the United Kingdom?
 What is the motive for carrying knives by the people of United Kingdom?
4

LITERATURE REVIEW
What is the concept of crime in context of citizen?
As per the view of Haylock and et. al (2020), crime is an illegal activity which is
conducted by the person to harm somebody felling or sentiment. This is action for which they
can be punished by the government of the country. There is various type of crime that can be
done by an individual depends upon the nature and behaviour. Such as Felonies, misdemeanours,
inchoate offense and strict liability offenses. It is something which is an offense that happen
against the morality. Through their act an individual is being harmed physically and mentally.
What is the cause of increasing knife crime in the United Kingdom?
According to the opinion Bailey Harinam and Ariel (2020), there are various reason why
people are joining crime or committing illegal activity. Some of them are Violence at home, in
response to bullying, for making money , to think it's cool/ Fashionable, for security/
Protection, to feel powerful, Family breakdown/ Single parent family and many other. These all
increase the level of crime happening in UK. The major crime that happens in United Kingdom
is Knife crime. In this a person uses an sharp instrument and tool to physically injury a other
person.
What is the motive for carrying knives by the people of United Kingdom?
As per the view of Roberts (2019), there are various reason for which the citizen of United
Kingdom carries knives with them. Some of the reason for this are Self-defence, previously
threatened, because other people do, encouraged to by family friends and don’t feel safe in at the
area you live and many more. One of the major reasons is people do not feel safe and secure in
the area they live because of drugs and poverty. So it secure and protect them and their loved one
they carry blade or any sharp instrument.
5

METHODOLOGY
Research methodology
This is the section which identify, analyse and interpret data as per the topic. In the current
research the research choice is quantitative method because it helps in gathering numerical
information. The philosophy which is used to collect the phenomenon is positivism and to test
the hypothesis deductive approach has been chosen (Mukherjee, 2019). The researcher has
selected survey research strategy because it helps in gathering mass quantitative data from large
group of people. The current investigation has completed in shorter time so that time horizon is
cross sectional as it also observes multiple variables at the same time.
Research tool
Data collection: Primary and secondary are the two data collection method. In the current
investigation primary data is collected. This type of information is fresh which is gathered by
researcher themselves. The tool which is used for collecting this is Questionnaire (Mkandawire,
2019).
Data analysis: In the present report the data is being analysed by the helps of software
which is SPPSS. This software helps in knowing the frequency distribution as well as correlation
between the variables.
Sampling
The sampling method for the existing research is probability as it helps in taking out
participants in equal and fair manner. Through this method equal opportunity is being provided
to the respondent. The sample size is 20 people who are the citizen of United Kingdom
(Esbensen, 2020).
Ethical consideration
It is the set of principle and belief followed by the investigator to collect information.
Some of the morale and values which need to follow in present investigation is openness,
flexibility, consent participants and many more (Kaewkungwal and Adams, 2019).
Reflection
From the above research I had gained various knowledge regarding the Spss tool which
helped me to develop analytical skill in me. This research also helps me in identifying the
6

strength and weakness I have. The major strength I possess is great communication skill which
assist me in gathering data from the respondent. The weakness I have is poor time management
skill which create problem in completing the time within given duration.
7

RESULT
Frequency distribution of gender
Table 1: Descriptive statistics of gender and their bar chart
Statistics
What is your gender?
N Valid 20
Missing 0
Mean 2.0000
Median 2.0000
Mode 2.00
Std. Deviation .97333
Range 3.00
What is your gender?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Male 7 35.0 35.0 35.0
Female 8 40.0 40.0 75.0
Non- binary 3 15.0 15.0 90.0
Prefer not to say 2 10.0 10.0 100.0
Total 20 100.0 100.0
8

Cross tabs and correlation with bar charts
Table 1: cross tab and correlation between gender and ethnicity
Crosstab
Count
What is your ethnicity? Total
White Black/
African/
Caribbean/
Black
british
Mixed/
Multiple/
other ethnic
group
Asian/
Asian
british
Pefer not to
say
What is your
gender?
Male 2 4 1 0 0 7
Female 2 3 1 2 0 8
Non- binary 2 0 0 1 0 3
Prefer not to
say 1 0 0 0 1 2
Total 7 7 2 3 1 20
Chi-Square Tests
9

Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2-
sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 16.278a 12 .179
Likelihood Ratio 14.874 12 .248
Linear-by-Linear Association .904 1 .342
N of Valid Cases 20
Symmetric Measures
Value Asymp. Std.
Errora
Approx. Tb Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal Phi .902 .179
Cramer's V .521 .179
Interval by Interval Pearson's R .218 .268 .948 .356c
Ordinal by Ordinal Spearman Correlation .065 .264 .275 .787c
N of Valid Cases 20
10

Table 2: Cross tab and correlation of gender with knife crime
Crosstab
Do you believe knife crime is real problem in UK? Total
Strongly
disagree
Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
agree
What is your
gender?
Male 0 0 1 3 3 7
Female 1 1 2 2 2 8
Non- binary 0 2 1 0 0 3
Prefer not to
say 0 0 0 0 2 2
Total 1 3 4 5 7 20
Chi-Square Tests
Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2-
sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 15.062a 12 .238
Likelihood Ratio 15.978 12 .192
Linear-by-Linear Association .315 1 .575
N of Valid Cases 20
Symmetric Measures
Value Asymp. Std.
Errora
Approx. Tb Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal Phi .868 .238
Cramer's V .501 .238
Interval by Interval Pearson's R -.129 .226 -.550 .589c
Ordinal by Ordinal Spearman Correlation -.211 .240 -.917 .371c
N of Valid Cases 20
11

Table 3: Cross tab and correlation between gender and government taking measures
Crosstab
Do you thiink government are takingenough measures to
reduce knife crime?
Total
Stronlgy
Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
agree
What is your
gender?
Male 0 1 3 1 2 7
Female 0 3 2 2 1 8
Non- binary 2 0 0 0 1 3
Prefer not to
say 0 0 2 0 0 2
Total 2 4 7 3 4 20
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-
sided)
12

Pearson Chi-Square 19.923a 12 .069
Likelihood Ratio 18.210 12 .109
Linear-by-Linear Association 1.244 1 .265
N of Valid Cases 20
Symmetric Measures
Value Asymp. Std.
Errora
Approx. Tb Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal Phi .998 .069
Cramer's V .576 .069
Interval by Interval Pearson's R -.256 .176 -1.123 .276c
Ordinal by Ordinal Spearman Correlation -.264 .201 -1.161 .261c
N of Valid Cases 20
13

Table 4: Cross tab and correlation between gender and knife crime is common in ethnic
minorities.
Crosstab
Do you think knife crime is most common in ethnic minorities/ Total
Strongly
disgree
Disagree Neutral agree Strongly
agree
What is your
gender?
Male 0 2 1 4 0 7
Female 0 1 4 2 1 8
Non- binary 1 1 1 0 0 3
Prefer not to
say 0 0 0 1 1 2
Total 1 4 6 7 2 20
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-
sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 15.707a 12 .205
Likelihood Ratio 15.070 12 .238
Linear-by-Linear Association .049 1 .826
N of Valid Cases 20
Symmetric Measures
Value Asymp. Std.
Errora
Approx. Tb Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal Phi .886 .205
Cramer's V .512 .205
Interval by Interval Pearson's R .051 .257 .215 .832c
Ordinal by Ordinal Spearman Correlation -.015 .257 -.062 .952c
N of Valid Cases 20
14

Table 4: Cross tabs and correlation between gender and reason for knife crime
Crosstab
Count
In your opinion what are the main reason people join crime gangs? To
tal
Voilence
at home
In
response
to
bullying
To
make
money
Think it's
cool/
Fashionable
For
security/
Protection
To
mak
e
frien
ds
To feel
powerful
In
respeonse
to racism
Family
breakdown/
Single
parent
family
Others
What is
your
gender?
M
ale 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 1 7
Fe
m
ale
0 1 2 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 8
15

No
n-
bin
ar
y
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3
Pr
ef
er
no
t
to
sa
y
0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2
Total 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 7 1 20
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-
sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 21.752a 27 .750
Likelihood Ratio 23.755 27 .644
Linear-by-Linear Association .058 1 .810
N of Valid Cases 20
Symmetric Measures
Value Asymp. Std.
Errora
Approx. Tb Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal Phi 1.043 .750
Cramer's V .602 .750
Interval by Interval Pearson's R .055 .200 .234 .818c
Ordinal by Ordinal Spearman Correlation -.017 .228 -.071 .944c
N of Valid Cases 20
16

Table 5: Cross tab between gender and media role
Crosstab
Do yu beleive Media plays important role to increase knife
crime?
Total
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
agree
What is your
gender?
Male 1 0 4 2 0 7
Female 1 2 2 2 1 8
Non- binary 1 1 0 0 1 3
Prefer not to
say 0 0 1 0 1 2
Total 3 3 7 4 3 20
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-
sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 10.697a 12 .555
17

Likelihood Ratio 14.024 12 .299
Linear-by-Linear Association .307 1 .580
N of Valid Cases 20
Symmetric Measures
Value Asymp. Std.
Errora
Approx. Tb Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal Phi .731 .555
Cramer's V .422 .555
Interval by Interval Pearson's R .127 .220 .544 .593c
Ordinal by Ordinal Spearman Correlation .062 .237 .262 .796c
N of Valid Cases 20
Table 7: Cross tab and correlation table of gender and reason to carry knives
Crosstab
18

In your opinion, why people carry weapons particularlly knives/ Total
Self
defence
Previoulsy
threatened
Because
other
people do
Encourgaed
to by family
friends
Don't feel
safe in at
the area
you live
What is your
gender?
Male 0 3 0 2 2 7
Female 1 0 3 2 2 8
Non- binary 1 0 0 1 1 3
Prefer not to
say 0 0 0 0 2 2
Total 2 3 3 5 7 20
Chi-Square Tests
Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2-
sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 16.002a 12 .191
Likelihood Ratio 17.704 12 .125
Linear-by-Linear Association 1.033 1 .310
N of Valid Cases 20
.
Symmetric Measures
Value Asymp. Std.
Errora
Approx. Tb Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal Phi .894 .191
Cramer's V .516 .191
Interval by Interval Pearson's R .233 .218 1.017 .323c
Ordinal by Ordinal Spearman Correlation .221 .236 .962 .349c
N of Valid Cases 20
19

Table 8: Cross tab and correlation between gender and support programmed outside school
hours
Crosstab
Do you thinbk, enough support programmaed outside
school hours for young people/
Total
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
agree
What is your
gender?
Male 2 0 3 1 1 7
Female 0 2 3 1 2 8
Non- binary 2 0 1 0 0 3
Prefer not
to say 0 0 0 2 0 2
Total 4 2 7 4 3 20
20

Chi-Square Tests
Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2-
sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 17.989a 12 .116
Likelihood Ratio 18.210 12 .109
Linear-by-Linear Association .031 1 .860
N of Valid Cases 20
Symmetric Measures
Value Asymp. Std.
Errora
Approx. Tb Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal Phi .948 .116
Cramer's V .548 .116
Interval by Interval Pearson's R .040 .216 .172 .866c
Ordinal by Ordinal Spearman Correlation .032 .235 .134 .895c
N of Valid Cases 20
21

22

DISCUSSION
Theme 1: Frequency distribution of gender
Interpretation: From the above gathered data it is being analysed that out of 20 people
majority of people are female. The number of females is 8 and the male is 7, non-binary are 3
people and the rest 2 citizen does not want to disclose their gender.
Theme 2: Cross tab and correlation between gender and ethnicity
Interpretation: From the above gathered data it is being evaluated that the majority of
male belongs to Black and African ethnicity and the majority of female also belong to the same
ethnicity. Out of 7 male 4 belong to black ethnicity and out of 8 female 3 are of black ethnicity.
Theme 3: Cross tab and correlation of gender with knife crime
Interpretation: From the above data it is being analyses that out of 20 people 7 are
strongly agree and believe that knife crime is the real problem in UK. In this 3 are male, 2 female
and the rest 2 prefer no to reveal their gender.
Theme 4: Cross tab and correlation of gender and government taking measures
Interpretation: With the assemble piece of information is analyses that 7 people are
neutral in their view. They think somehow government are taking measure and some time they
do not.
Theme 5: Cross tab and correlation between gender and knife crime is common in ethnic
minorities
Interpretation: With the accumulated data through table and charts it is discussed that
out of 20 people 7 agree that the knife crime is most common in ethnic minorities. Out of which
most of the majority answer were given by 4 male participants.
Theme 6: Cross tabs and correlation between gender and reason for knife crime
Interpretation: From the above gathered information it is analysed that majority of 7
participants say that the major reason for knife crime is family breakdown and single parent
family. Due to this many people are adopting the line of knife crime.
Theme 7: Cross tab between gender and media role
23

Interpretation: From the above table and graph it is being interpreted that 7 citizen of
UK are neutral in their view. They say it might play important role or might not. It just depends
upon the perception made by an individual about media.
Theme 8: Cross tab and correlation table of gender and reason to carry knives
Interpretation: With the accumulated primary data it is being discussed that out of 20
people, 7 answer the main reason for carrying knives with them is due to not feeling safe at the
place where they live.
24

CONCLUSION
From the above research it is being concluded that in UK knife crime is the most common
type of crime that happen very frequently. It is also analysed that people think government is not
taking strong measure to stoop knife crime in the nation. From the data it is also concluded that
the major reason for knife crime is family breakdown and single parent family. Some people also
carry knives with them because they don’t feel safe will living in the area.
25

REFERENCE LIST
Books and journals
Bailey, L., Harinam, V. and Ariel, B., 2020. Victims, offenders and victim-offender overlaps of
knife crime: A social network analysis approach using police records. PLoS one. 15(12).
p.e0242621.
Bigler, M.R., and et. al, 2021. The Concept of Securing Evidence Remote of the Crime
Scene. Cardiovascular Interventions. 14(9). pp.1041-1042.
Esbensen, K., 2020. Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Sampling. IM Publications Open.
Haylock, S., and et. al, 2020. Risk factors associated with knife-crime in United Kingdom among
young people aged 10–24 years: a systematic review. BMC Public Health. 20(1). pp.1-
19.
Kaewkungwal, J. and Adams, P., 2019. Ethical consideration of the research proposal and the
informed-consent process: An online survey of researchers and ethics committee
members in Thailand. Accountability in research,.26(3). pp.176-197.
Mkandawire, S.B., 2019. Selected common methods and tools for data collection in
research. Selected Readings in Education. 2. pp.143-153.
Mukherjee, S.P., 2019. A guide to research methodology: An overview of research problems,
tasks and methods. CRC Press.
Roberts, S., 2019. The London killings of 2018: the story behind the numbers and some
proposed solutions. Crime prevention and community safety. 21(2). pp.94-115.
Williams, E. and Squires, P., 2021. The Realities of ‘Knife Crime’: Life Beneath the Label.
In Rethinking Knife Crime (pp. 287-321). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Zavyalov, I.A., and et. al, 2021. The concept of crime detection in Russian law. Cuestiones
Políticas. 39(70).
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