In their article, Johnson & King (2017) aim to investigate how offenders’ physical appearance, threat perception, and punishment are associated with each other. Thus, in this study, it is possible to identify three concepts:
- The concept of dependence between race, ethnicity, appearance, and the perception of threat.
- The concept of dependence between race, ethnicity, appearance, and sentence.
- The concept of dependence between the perception of threat and sentence.
The first concept was measured through the rating of offenders’ photographs by a team of researchers in relation to their potential threat on the basis of their race and appearance. Thus, the variables used for it are offender appearance measures through threatening appearance scale as the dependent variable, offender race or ethnicity (White, Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian American), attractiveness, and facial features (babyface, tattoos, scars) as independent variables. The second concept was measured through the comparison of race and appearance with different types of sentences. Variables used here are types of sentences as dependent variables and ethnicity, attractiveness, and facial features as independent variables. The variables for the third concepts to be evaluated are offender appearance measures, types of sentence, and control variables, including criminal history, age, different types of offense, trial conviction, presumptive sentence, attorney, and location as independent variables. From a personal perspective, these variables are highly suitable regardless of a limited number of categories. Nevertheless, they allow to answer research questions and make appropriate conclusions.
Concerning the level of management, such varieties as offender race and offender appearance may be regarded as nominal. They do not include any order, and descriptive data is only categorized. At the same time, offender appearance measures are an interval-dependent variable as it is represented by a specific threatening appearance scale (Johnson & King, 2017). It includes several categories represented mathematically to evaluate researchers’ attitudes.
Reference
Johnson, B. D., & King, R. D. (2017). Facial profiling: Race, physical appearance, and punishment. Criminology, 55(3), 520-547.