Abstract
This study examines issues centering on the collection of court-related data. Specifically, it questions whether researchers run into difficulties in collecting data for research on the criminal courts. Information was gathered through in-depth interviews with twenty-seven researchers around the country who have experience collecting court data. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of these researchers reported encountering problems in collecting court data and admitted the use of several different strategies. These strategies include using a contact within or close to the agency, as well as withholding the exact nature of the researcher's study. Unfortunately, these strategies only alleviate the difficulties of the individual researcher and do nothing to help reduce the problems that future researchers will encounter.
