How does the testing of hypotheses derived from theory contribute to advances in the fields
of criminology and criminal justice policy?
Hypothesis testing is important in the field of criminology as it aids in the analysis of various
factors, for instance, if a person who was punished for a particular crime ends up doing the same
or a more violent crime or not. The hypothesis also aids in testing whether the crime rate has
increased or decreased in a particular region. In view of these, hypothesis testing is of great
importance when it comes to validating whether rate of crimes in a given area or region have
improved over the years or if the crime rate has gotten worse over the years. The policy makers
can use the results of the hypothesis test to make policies. For instance, when the study results
shows that a given area is prone to some form of crime, the policy could recommend certain
intervention measures aimed at curbing or reducing the crime rate. This is only possible based on
the empirical evidence obtained from the data through hypothesis testing. A study through
hypothesis test could also point to crime as a result young people being engaged in crime. The
reason could be as a result of idleness of the youths hence divulging into crimes, through the
hypothesis test, the policy makers could be advised to come up interventions that would see the
youths get involved in some meaningful activities that might make them busy and not get into
crime related activities.
The specific examples could be as follows;
1. Testing whether crime rate in a given area or region is associated with gender or age.
2. Testing whether the crime rates (kidnapping, murder, burglary, rape) in a given region
have increased or decreased.
3. Testing whether awareness among the women on their rights has anything to do with the
perceptions of crimes in an area or region.

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Hypothesis Testing in Criminology and Criminal Justice Policy

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