Fluent Essays

Discussion Assignment Instructions # 5 The student will post one thread of at least 750–850 words by 10:59 a.m. (ET) on Friday, September 24, 2021.  For each thread, students must support their assertions with at least 4 scholarly citations in APA format.  Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years. The original thread must incorporate ideas and several scholarly citations from all of the Learn materials for that Module: Week. The reply posts can integrate ideas and citations from the Learn materials for other Modules: Weeks. Integrate Biblical principles in your personal thread and in all replies to peers. Due by Friday 10:59 a.m (Eastern Time) September 24,2021. NO LATE WORK! Discussion Board Question #5 What if you were asked to pick a research topic that dealt with all of the following: communication, perceptions of crime problems, individual behavior, and criminal justice policy? Can you think of a clear research idea that would implicate all four? References King James Bible. (1970). The Holy Bible. Camden, New Jersey. Thomas Nelson, Inc. Maxfield, M. G., & Babbie, E. R. (2018). Research methods for criminal justice and criminology (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. Chapter 11: Field Observation 1 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Learning Objectives • Be able to describe field research as a data collection method that involves the direct observation of phenomena in their natural settings • Recognize that field observation is usually the preferred data collection method for obtaining information about physical or social settings, behavior, and events • Understand that field research in criminal justice may produce either qualitative or quantitative data • Provide examples of how observations made through field research can be integrated with data collected through interviews and from other sources • Understand why field researchers may or may not identify themselves as researchers to the people they are observing 2 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Learning Objectives, cont. • Recognize what sampling techniques are best suited for field research, and when they can be used • Recognize the alternatives for recording field observations, ranging from video, audio, and other equipment to unstructured field notes • Understand how field notes are taken, and be able to describe different ways to combine structure and flexibility in field notes • Summarize how field research measures up on validity and reliability 3 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Introduction • Field research encompasses two different methods of obtaining data: – Direct observation – Asking questions • May yield qualitative and quantitative data • Often no precisely defined hypotheses to be tested • Used to make sense out of an ongoing process 4 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Field Research Topics • Gives comprehensive perspective— enhances validity – Go directly to phenomenon; observe it as completely as possible • Especially appropriate for topics best understood in their natural setting – Street-level drug dealers to distinguish customers • Ethnography: Focuses on detailed and accurate description rather than explanation 5 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Discussion Question 1 What if your government supplied you with $50,000 for field research? Which conditions or behaviors would you be interested in observing? 6 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Roles of the Observer • Complete participant: Participate fully; true identity and purpose are not known to subjects • Participant-as-observer: Make known your position as researcher and participate with the group • Observer-as-participant: Make known your position as a researcher; do not actually participate • Complete observer: Observe without becoming a participant 7 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Purposive Sampling in Field Research • Controlled probability sampling used rarely; purposive sampling is common • Bear in mind two stages of sampling: – To what extent are the situations available for observation representative of the general phenomena you wish to describe and explain? – Are your actual observations within those total situations representative of all observations? – Consider how observations will vary by population, space, micro time, macro time, and weather dimensions 8 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Recording Observations • Note-taking or tape recording when interviewing and when making observations (dictation) • Videotaping or photographs can make records of “before” and “after” some physical design change • Field notes: Observations are recorded as written notes, often in a field journal; first take sketchy notes and then rewrite your notes in detail • Structured observations: Observers mark closed- ended forms, which produce numeric measures 9 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Discussion Question 2 What if you wanted to research crime in a dangerous area? Would you use a camera? Why or why not? Be specific. 10 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Linking Field Observations • Useful to combine field research with surveys or data from official records – Baltimore study of the effects of neighborhood physical characteristics on residents’ perceptions of crime problems (Taylor, Shumaker, and Gottfredson, 1985) – Perceptions: Surveys – Physical problems: Observations; actual population and crime information (census data and crime reports from police records) 11 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Shoplifting • Counted only when offense is seen; takes place only in certain locations; crime of stealth and not confrontation – Prevalence defined as ratio of shoplifters: shoppers – Subjects selected by systematic sampling, e.g., every twentieth shopper was followed by a field observer – Other research staff were employed as shoplifters to measure reliability of observers’ detections – Could adjust prevalence rate with reliability figures 12 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. How Many People Wear Seat Belts? • Rate of use: # of people wearing: # of cars observed • Stationary observers at roadsides rather than mobile • Placed at controlled intersections • Sampled cars on three dimensions: Time of day, roadway type, observation site; stratified sites by density of auto ownership (correlated with population) • Emphasized marking “U” when uncertain 13 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Discussion Question 3 What if you could replicate one of these projects? Which would you choose? 14 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Strengths & Weaknesses • Provides great depth of understanding • Flexibility (no need to prepare much in advance) • More appropriate to measure behavior than surveys • High validity: quant. measures—incomplete picture • Low reliability: Often very personal • Generalizability: Personal nature may produce findings that may not be replicated by another • Precise probability samples can’t normally be drawn 15 Chapter 12: Agency Records, Content Analysis, and Secondary Data 1 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Learning Objectives • Recognize that public organizations produce statistics and data that are often useful for criminal justice researchers • Provide examples of nonpublic agency records that can serve as data for criminal justice research • Understand why the units of analysis represented by agency data may be confusing for researchers • Explain why researchers must be attentive to reliability and validity problems that might stem from agency records • Summarize why “follow the paper trail” and “expect the expected” are useful maxims to follow when using agency records in research 2 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Learning Objectives, cont. • Summarize content analysis as a research method appropriate for studying communications • Describe examples of coding to transform raw data into a standardized, quantitative form • Summarize how secondary analysis refers to the analysis of data collected by another researcher for some other purpose • Be able to access archives of criminal justice data that are maintained by the ICPSR and the NACJD • Understand how the advantages and disadvantages of secondary data are similar to those for agency records 3 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Introduction • Agency records, secondary data, and content analysis do not require direct interaction with research subjects • Data from agency records: Agencies collect a vast amount of crime and criminal justice data • Secondary analysis: Analyzing data previously collected • Content analysis: Researchers examine a class of social artifacts (typically written documents) 4 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Agency Records Topics • Most commonly used in descriptive or exploratory studies • Topics appropriate to research using content analysis center on the important links between communication, perceptions of crime problems, individual behavior, and criminal justice policy 5 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Discussion Question 1 What if you were asked to pick a research topic that dealt with all of the following: communication, perceptions of crime problems, individual behavior, and criminal justice policy? Can you think of a clear research idea that would implicate all four? 6 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Types of Agency Records • Published Statistics • Nonpublic Agency Records • New Data Collected by Agency Staff 7 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Published Statistics • Government organizations routinely collect and publish compilations of data – FBI, Census Bureau, BJS, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Administrative Office of US Courts – Often available in libraries and online • Ted Robert Gurr (1989) – Used published statistics on violent crime dating back to thirteenth- century England to examine how social and political events affected patterns of homicide through 1984 8 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Nonpublic Agency Records • Agencies produce data not routinely released – Police departments, courthouses, correctional facilities, BJS: Correctional Population in the US, National Center for State Courts: Court Caseload Statistics • Child Abuse, Delinquency, and Adult Arrests • Crime Hot Spots: Geographic areas and times of day that signal concentrations of various types of crime • Agency Records as Measures of Decision-Making – “Expect the Expected” 9 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. New Data Collected • Collected for specific research purposes – Less costly, more control – “Hybrid" source: Combines the collection of new data—through observation or interviews—with day-to- day criminal justice agency activities – Need to obtain the cooperation of organizations and staff 10 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Units of Analysis and Sampling • If you use agency records, be attentive to match or mismatch between units of analysis appropriate for research question and units of analysis represented in aggregate form • You can go from individual to aggregate, but not aggregate to individual • Sampling: Taking subsets of agency records is relatively simple and quite useful 11 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Units of Analysis in Criminal Justice Data• Criminal Activity – Incidents – Crimes violated – Victims – Offenders • Court Activity – Defendants – Filings – Charges and Counts – Cases – Appearances – Dispositions – Sentences • Apprehension – Arrests – Offenders – Charges – Counts • Corrections – Offenders – Admissions – Returns – Discharges 12 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Reliability and Validity Problems • Virtually all CJ record-keeping is a social process: “social production of data” – Records reflect decisions made by CJ personnel as well as actual behavior by juveniles and adults – Discretion factors in to record-keeping • CJ organizations are more interested in keeping track of individual cases than in examining patterns • Potential for clerical errors increases with the volume of data 13 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Discussion Question 2 In which are you more interested: cases or patterns? Explain. 14 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Content Analysis • Systematic study of messages—can be applied to virtually any form of communication – Decide on operational definitions of key variables – Decide what to watch, read, and listen to, and time frame – Analyze collected data – As a mode of observation, content analysis requires a considered handling of the what, and the analysis of data collected in this mode, as in others, addresses the why and with what effect 15 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Coding in Content Analysis • First establish your universe, then your units of analysis and sampling frame, then sample • Communications need to be coded according to some conceptual framework • Choice between depth and specificity of understanding: – Manifest content: Visible, surface content—similar to using closed-ended survey questions – Latent content: Underlying meaning 16 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Coding in Content Analysis, cont. • Reminders: – Remember operational definition of variables, and their mutually exclusive and exhaustive attributes – Pretest coding scheme – Assess coding reliability via inter-coder reliability method and test-retest method 17 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Global Terrorism Database (GTD) • Broad screening criteria result in 400,000 possible articles per month • Content analysis software winnows them down to 16,000 monthly articles • Six teams of coders review for further screening and coding 18 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Violence in Video Games • Thompson and Haninger (2001) sampled 55 of over 600 E-rated games – Experienced undergrad gamer played for 90 minutes or until game reached natural conclusion – Experienced gamer/researcher and undergrad gamer reviewed videotape of videogaming session – Coded: # of violent incidents, # of deaths, drugs/alcohol/tobacco, profanity, sexual behavior, weapon use, explicit music – Measured duration of violent acts and # of deaths to length of game playing for standardized measures 19 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Classifying Gang-Related Homicides • Rosenfeld, Bray, and Egley (1999): how gang membership might facilitate homicide in different ways – Content analysis of police case files for homicides in St. Louis over a 10-year period – Gang-motivated killings: Resulted from gang behavior or relationships, such as an initiation ritual, the “throwing” of gang signs, or a gang fight – Gang-affiliated homicides: Involves a gang member as victim or offender, but with no indication of specific gang activity 20 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Secondary Analysis • Data collected by other researchers are often used to address new research questions • Sources: websites (BJS, NCVS, ICPSR, NACJD), libraries • Advantages: cheaper, faster, benefit from work of skilled researchers • Disadvantages: data may not be appropriate to your research question; least useful for evaluation studies (which are designed to answer specific questions about specific programs), validity 21 © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Discussion Question 3 Have you ever worked with secondary data? Explain your experience? 22 CJUS 740 Discussion Assignment Instructions # 5 The student will post one thread of at least 750–850 words by 10:59 a.m. (ET) on Friday, September 24, 2021. For each thread, students must support their assertions with at least 4 scholarly citations in APA format. Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years. The original thread must incorporate ideas and several scholarly citations from all of the Learn materials for that Module: Week. The reply posts can integrate ideas and citations from the Learn materials for other Modules: Weeks. Integrate Biblical principles in your personal thread and in all replies to peers. Due by Friday 10:59 a.m (Eastern Time) September 24,2021. NO LATE WORK! Discussion Board Question #5 What if you were asked to pick a research topic that dealt with all of the following: communication, perceptions of crime problems, individual behavior, and criminal justice policy? Can you think of a clear research idea that would implicate all four? References King James Bible. (1970). The Holy Bible. Camden, New Jersey. Thomas Nelson, Inc. Maxfield, M. G., & Babbie, E. R. (2018). Research methods for criminal justice and criminology (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.