A review of the life-events calendar method for criminological research

This review presents an overview of the life-events calendar method for criminologists. In recent years researchers in the health and social sciences have increasingly adopted the life-events calendar method to examine a range of topics. Most of these applications have occurred across disparate disciplines outside of criminology. Criminologists may therefore be unaware of the life-events calendar method's advantages for studying offending. Compared to traditional surveys the life-events calendar method facilitates recall more effectively and measures temporal ordering, co-occurring events, and other complicated data more accurately. Respondents with unstable lives and cognitive difficulties respond favorably to the life-events calendar method's interactive mode of administration and use of visual and mental cues, and using the life-events calendar method to gather retrospective longitudinal data from offenders is cheaper and potentially more practical than implementing traditional panel designs. For these reasons the life-events calendar method should be regarded as a viable option for criminologists.

Research Highlights
► This review provides an overview of the life-events calendar method for criminological research.
► A number of methodological and practical considerations make the life-events calendar method well suited for criminological research.
► The future prospects of the life-events calendar method in criminological research appear bountiful given its emphases on timeline data and facilitating recall from respondents who present cognitive challenges and instability.