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Criminal justice research

NIJ's Research Assistantship Program

The NIJ Research Assistantship Program (RAP) offers highly qualified doctoral students the opportunity to bring their expertise to NIJ to work across offices and program areas to obtain a practical and applied research experience. The RAP is a research focused professional development opportunity for doctoral students. We welcome students from all academic disciplines to apply who wish to connect their research to...

Erroneous Convictions in Criminal Justice

March 2013

Interview with Jon Gould, Ph.D., Director of the Washington Institute for Public and International Affairs Research, American University.

Dr. Gould discusses:

  • Bottom line findings from the study "Predicting Erroneous Convictions: A Social Science Approach to Miscarriages of Justice"
  • Ten statistically significant factors related to wrongful convictions
  • The role of systemic error and tunnel vision

Game Change: How Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships Are Redefining How We Study Crime

June 2012

Opening Plenary Panel
When researchers and practitioners work side by side, they can maximize their problem-solving abilities. The research partner can focus on the data and the science; the practitioner can focus on interpreting the findings and applying them in the field. In the plenary panel, panelists described the benefits, challenges and pitfalls of researcher-practitioner partnerships with a focus on the financial benefits to the practitioner.

Moderator: John H. Laub, Director, National Institute of Justice

Panelists: