ABSTRACT
In this chapter, various quantitative analyses are used to provide further clarification of qualitative research findings presented in earlier sections of this study. * The purpose of performing these statistical examinations is to explore “numeric” differences that may help to explain which aspects of the LAPD meltdown were most or least important to specific types of officers. Specifically, limited background data gathered from each officer are used as a predictor (or independent variable) of the specific cause of the meltdown (or dependent variable) they identified as most important to them. Five officer characteristics are utilized in these statistical tests: gender, race, age, length of time employed by LAPD, and the chief of police when hired. As identified by previous qualitative study findings, the four major causes of the LAPD meltdown examined here are: (1) the Rodney King incident (see Chapter 4); (2) politicians, special interest groups, and community influences (see Chapter 5); (3) hiring, promotions, and affirmative action (see Chapter 6); and (4) management and administration (see Chapter 7). Again, it should be noted that all findings presented here are extremely exploratory in nature and should be interpreted with caution due to possible limitations of the study data that may produce biased statistical estimates.
