Observation

This gathering of data is the third major component of the Traditional Model of Science: the observation stage. Whether we collect measurements using a survey, make observations firsthand, or use data that already exists (like police records) we are gathering empirical evidence that will either support or refute our hypothesis, and by extension, our theory. Shaw and McKay, using police reports, tracked juvenile arrests made by the Chicago Police Department over a period of several years and mapped the home addresses of those arrested juveniles on a map of the city to pinpoint where concentrations of juvenile delinquents resided (i.e. what neighborhoods) and where their crimes were being committed (i.e. inside their own neighborhoods or elsewhere).