Data, Methods, and Analytical Approach
Steven N. Zane · 2021
This chapter provides a detailed overview of the data used in the present study, the operationalization of key variables, and the analytical approach employed to test the research questions of interest. Juvenile court data was obtained from the National Juvenile Court Data Archive for 475 counties across seven states—Alabama, Connecticut, Missouri, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah—for years 2010 ( N = 246,729 referrals) and 2000 ( N = 301,641 referrals). This case-level data was merged with a county-level dataset containing demographic factors based on Census and other data sources. The research questions under investigation involve whether the 20 included contextual variables—corresponding to community threats (eight measures) social disorganization (eight measures), and political economy (four measures)—were associated with variation in juvenile court outcomes across counties and states. Due to the nested nature of the data, a three-level hierarchical modeling strategy was employed to test the research hypotheses.