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 Outline on the Social Causes of Juvenile Delinquency
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  See Also:  
  -  An Overview of Methods
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  -  An Overview of  Examples of Research in the Social Sciences
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  Social Scientists of the Chicago School, circa 1900, were interested in urbanization & the social problems associated w/ it
 
  Through years of research & hundreds of studies they eventually concluded that there is a correlation btwn population density & delinquency
 
  Many Chicago theorists believed that crowding caused delinquency
 
  And indeed even today we see that delinquency rates are high in densely populated neighborhoods
 
  But as early as the 1930s, some social scientists began to question this result
 
  In 1984, Fischer demonstrated that virtually all the correlation btwn crowding & delinquency disappears if income is controlled
 
  Chicago School found that 
 
        Hi Crowding is correlated Hi Delinquency
 
        Lo Crowding is correlated Lo Delinquency
 
  Fischer found that 
 
        Lo Income  ::  Hi Crowding :: Hi Delinquency
 
        Lo Income  ::  Lo Crowding  ::  Hi Delinquency
 
        Hi Income  ::  Hi Crowding  ::  Lo  Delinquency
 
        Hi Income  ::  Lo Crowding :: Lo Delinquency
 
  In other words, Fisher found that the Level of Income is correlated w/ the Level of Crowding, which is Correlated w/ the Level of Delinquency  
  Fischer used a research technique called control, where he held constant all relevant variables except one in order to clearly see its effect
 
  Fischer used Income as a Control Variable
 
  Holding Income constant at a low level, Fischer found that delinquency was high in both crowded & uncrowded areas
 
  Holding Income constant at a high level, Fischer found that delinquency was low in both crowded & uncrowded areas
 
  The correlation btwn Crowding & Delinquency is Spurious, that is, there is an apparent, although false, association btwn two or more variables caused by some other variable  

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