Malaspina undergrad co-authors research on the CSI Effect

It was more than the small class sizes at Malaspina University-College that helped Liz Harvey’s academic career become so successful.

It was the opportunity.

While completing her Bachelor of Arts degree at Malaspina, Harvey undertook a project most undergraduates never get to do. She and Malaspina sociology professor Dr. Linda Derksen co-authored a research paper entitled: “The CSI Effect: Science Fiction or Social Fact? A content analysis of popular press reports on the CSI Effect”.

The CSI Effect is defined as a belief in the near-infallibility of forensic science and its ability to solve crimes. It is a belief inspired by the popular TV shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, F2: Forensic Factor, Crossing Jordan and Cold Squad.

If Harvey had been going to a larger university, it is unlikely that a professor would have had the time to work with an undergraduate on such a large project, said Derksen. But at Malaspina, that wasn’t a problem.

“Undergrads absolutely can do this,” said Derksen. “A motivated student can do work of publishable quality and, with a published article, they can really improve their chances of getting into a good graduate school."

Harvey said even though she hadn’t finished her research paper by the time she applied for graduate school, the fact she was working on one gave her an advantage.

“It’s unusual for an undergrad to have anything in the process of submission for publication,” said Derksen. Harvey is now taking her masters degree in Integrated Studies online through the University of Athabasca.

“Without Linda I couldn’t have done this. I’m so grateful she offered me the opportunity and pushed me to do it,” said Harvey.

Harvey’s CSI Effect research started in 2004 while Harvey was still a student at Malaspina. While taking a sociology minor and an anthropology major, Harvey read a lot of newspapers and found the CSI Effect phenomenon kept coming up over and over again.

“It was just something I found so interesting, I couldn’t let it go,” said Harvey. “I was fascinated with the effect media can have on people.”

What Harvey set out to do was to determine if there was any empirical evidence about whether the CSI Effect is a phenomenon having an effect on the criminal justice system, or whether it is created by the media. It’s the first time anyone has examined the effect from this angle.

With no budget, Harvey and Derksen used two different methods of data collection. First, in 2005 they used the Internet to do an email survey of criminal justice experts and real-life CSI techs that had been quoted in media reports. Second, they gathered all media reports they could find and conducted a content analysis of 70 unique English print media sources, published between 2002 and August 2005 in North America. In the end, Harvey and Derksen concluded that there is no evidence to support the belief that CSI or other shows have any influence on the criminal justice system.

“It may be a real effect, but from the evidence we examined, we concluded the CSI Effect is generated by the media, not from the show,” said Harvey.

“I think the important thing Liz's data showed was that all the media hype came from only one or two people, who were quoted over and over again. She also found that media reports of the CSI Effect cluster around major celebrity trials, and that there is a long history of the media saying that television shows have affected the criminal justice system -- like Perry Mason and Quincy,” said Derksen. “As much talk as there is about the CSI Effect, the current evidence shows that it is media generated. To determine whether there is an effect in the criminal justice system, we would need to study real life jurors and criminal justice personnel.”

Now in the final editing stages, Harvey and Derksen’s paper will be published in peer-reviewed collection being edited by Michele Byers and Val Johnson from the department of Sociology and Criminology at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, to be published by Lexington Book. The book is tentatively called The CSI Effect: Television, Crime and Critical Theory.