Research Methods In Criminal Justice – Chapter 9.

Required Textbook: Hagan, Frank E., Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology, Pearson Education,Inc., 2014. ISBN: 978-0-13-300861-6.

Answer the Review Questions at the end of Chapter 9: APA Formatting, no plagiarism, answer in an essay format and like teaching others.

1. Why has there been a lack of validation studies in criminal justice? What is the importance of developing a tradition of such studies in the field?

2. Discuss the various ways of determining the validity of a particular measure. Of what importance is triangulation in resolving the issue of validity?

3. Discuss the three means of demonstrating reliability of measurement.

4. What is the “mark-recapture technique” and how might it raise problems in being employed to measure hidden human populations such as the addict population?

5. Using various examples from this chapter, describe how researchers attempt to approach the issues of reliability and validity in their studies.

6. Discuss the methodology of the DUF program. How does this program benefit criminal justice research?

Sampling And Collecting Quantitative And Qualitative Data

Specific methods of data collection (e.g., surveys, interviews, observations) produce specific types of data that will answer particular research questions, but not others; so here too, as covered in previous weeks, the research questions inform how the data will be obtained.  Furthermore, the method used to collect the data may impact the reliability and the validity of that data.

For this Discussion, you will first consider sampling strategies. Then, you will turn your attention to data collection methods, including their strengths, limitations, and ethical implications. Last, you will consider measurement reliability and validity in the context of your discipline.

 Position A: Probability sampling represents the best strategy for selecting research participants. 

ASSIGNMENT:

a restatement of your assigned position on sampling strategies. Explain why this position is the best strategy for selecting research participants. Support your explanation with an example and support from the scholarly literature. Next, select a data collection method (e.g., surveys, interviews, observations) and briefly explain at least one strength and at least one limitation. Then, identify a potential ethical issue with this method and describe a strategy to address it. Last, explain the relationship between measurement reliability and measurement validity using an example from your discipline.

Be sure to support your Main Issue Post and Response Post with reference to the week’s Learning Resources and other scholarly evidence in APA Style.

 

Required Readings

Teddlie, C., & Yu, F. (2007). Mixed methods sampling: A typology with examples. Journal of Mixed Methods Research1(1), 77–100. 

Mixed Methods Sampling: A Typology with Examples by Teddlie, C., & Yu, F., in Journal of Mixed Methods Research, Vol. 1/Issue 1. Copyright 2007 by Sage Publications Inc. Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc. via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Collins, K. M. (2007). A typology of mixed methods sampling designs in social science research. The Qualitative Report, 12(2), 281–316. Retrieved from http://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol12/iss2/9

Drost, E. A. (2011). Validity and reliability in social science research. Education Research and Perspectives38(1), 105–124.

Walden University: Center for Research Quality. (2015a). Data resources & support: Home. Retrieved from http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/researchcenter/dataresources

Download the “Sources of Data for Research: A Research Primer” document.

Walden University: Center for Research Quality. (2015d). Research resources: Walden University participant pool. Retrieved from http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/researchcenter/resources/participantpool 

Walden University. (2015a). How do I find an article that reports on research that uses a specific methodology? Retrieved from http://academicanswers.waldenu.edu/faq/72633

Walden University: Writing Center. (2015). Common course assignments: Annotated bibliographies. Retrieved from http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/assignments/annotatedbibliographies 

Juvenile Justice/Criminal Justice

Juvenile Justice1. You are a juvenile probation officer who is assigned to the intake unit. On Friday afternoon, a 15-year-old juvenile is brought to the intake unit by a police officer for stealing clothing worth $250 from a local department store. The officer states the juvenile has been cooperative since the arrest, and the officer has never arrested this juvenile before. You check the county records to obtain the delinquency history of this juvenile. You discover that two years ago the juvenile was taken into custody for running away from home and was released to the custody of his parents. After looking at the juvenile’s prior history, you contact the juvenile’s parents. The parents do not seem concerned that their son has been taken into custody and make the remark that they expected this to occur sooner or later. The parents also tell you that the juvenile has begun to skip school but has not been arrested for this behavior. What do you do with the case? Do you petition the case to juvenile court, handle the matter informally by placing the juvenile on informal probation, or dismiss the case altogether? What factors led you to make your decision?

2. Review the concept of parens patriae and explain why some states deny juvenile offenders the qualified right to post bail. Give your own opinion about the qualified right to post bail.

3. Joseph has been taken into custody for robbery of a convenience store. He was 14 years old at the time he allegedly committed the offense. During the robbery, Joseph displayed a handgun, but the store attendant was not physically injured. Joseph committed this offense with his 18-year-old brother. Joseph has been taken into custody on three prior occasions. Two involved auto theft and the other involved possession of marijuana. Joseph was on probation when he was taken into custody on the robbery charge. He has not been sent to a boot camp or other intermediate sanction program. Using the Kent criteria for guidance, would you waive Joseph to adult court for prosecution or retain the case in juvenile court? What factors led you to waive or retain the case? What sentence do you think Joseph should receive?

4. You are a juvenile court judge in a suburban county. A case involves a 16-year-old juvenile female accused of murder in the stabbing death of her mother during an argument over curfew time. The juvenile has had one prior contact with the juvenile justice system in which she was accused of assault and received one-year probation. She completed her probation term more than a year before her arrest for murder. On the basis of the evidence you hear during the adjudication hearing, you find the juvenile guilty of murder. On the basis of the offense committed, you are allowed by law to sentence the juvenile to either a juvenile institution or an adult prison. Would you sentence the juvenile to prison or an institution? What factors most strongly affected your decision? What impact do you think the institution or prison will have on the juvenile?

Criminal Law

  1. What is vagrancy? Why have traditional laws against vagrancy been held to be unconstitutional?
  2. Consider a state law that reads as follows:
    Breach of Peace— Incitement

    • Any person who utters a statement in the presence of another person that a reasonable person would find offensive is guilty of breach of peace, a class B misdemeanor.
    • Any person who utters a statement to another person that would be found to be threatening to life or limb by a reasonable person and that would likely provoke a reasonable person to respond with violence is guilty of breach of peace, a Class A misdemeanor.
  • Does Section a violate the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause? Explain your answer.
  • Does Section b violate the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause? Explain your answer.
  • Bob buys a house that turns out to be a financial drain. If he decides to burn it down one day, and has no intention of filing an insurance claim, is he guilty of any crime? Why or why not?
  • Consider the following scenario: Rita Zenlo is a 34-year-old woman who is undergoing emotional counseling for sexual abuse she suffered as a child. Her counselor advised her to keep a personal journal, and to write about her memories and feelings. Rita found the exercise to be cathartic and wrote hundreds of pages describing in graphic detail the abuse she experienced at the hands of male relatives in the 9th, 10th, and 11th years of her life. Believing that her writings may be helpful to others who have been raped and sexually molested, Rita created a website where she posted her writings. She named the website “A Victim’s Reflection.”

    A local police officer discovered the URL for Rita’s website on a computer that had been seized during the search of the home of a man suspected of possessing child pornography. When the police checked the browsing history of the suspect, it was discovered that he had visited Rita’s site 88 times. The police reviewed her site and discovered that it contained graphic accounts of rape and sexual assault of Rita when she was a child. The police contacted Rita and demanded that she remove the material describing her rape and molestation. She refused and has been charged with violating the state’s obscenity law, which is identical to the Model Penal Code obscenity provision. Rita’s defense is that her postings are protected speech under the First Amendment.

    Discuss Rita’s defense in detail. Are her postings protected speech? Explain your answer. Include a discussion of applicable Supreme Court case(s) in your answer.

Fake Gucci and Organized Crime

You get a choice this week! Please respond to one of the following:

Option 1: “Fake Gucci and Organized Crime”
So what’s the big deal about purchasing a fake designer handbag?!? Research and analyze the primary manner in which the purchase of counterfeit merchandise such as fake handbags may impact all areas in our lives. Next, based on the text, provide your opinion of whether or not the government can use the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) or the Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute (CCE) to combat global organized financial crimes like the sale of counterfeit merchandise.

Option 2: Government Officials Behaving Badly
The Supreme Court of the United States once opined, “…nothing can destroy the government more quickly than its failure to observe its own laws, or worse, its disregard of the charter of its own existence.”
What does the Court mean by this?
Research a recent case where a public official engaged in one of the crimes identified in Chapter 19 of the textbook.
Provide the facts of the case, who was involved, crimes committed, and the conviction and sentencing.
Why does the public hold public officials to a higher standard?
Should sentencing be enhanced? Why or why not?

Provide a rationale to support your response and respond to no less than one of your peers