Overview
For your final course in the Criminal Justice program, you will be expected to create and investigate a research question. To help you prepare for that task, each course in the program will include an assignment in which you will review various research topics and submit at least one research question to your instructor for feedback. You will record your questions from each course in an ePortfolio so that you can easily access them to develop your final research question.
Prompt
Using the topics listed below (or others covered in this course), create one to three research questions and submit them to your instructor. This assignment is graded on the basis of completion, and instructor feedback should help you strengthen your questions for future use.
After you have submitted these questions to your instructor, upload the questions (and the list of potential topics below, if you wish) to your ePortfolio PDF.
To view some sample research questions, refer to this research resource from the Shapiro Library. There is also a helpful page that addresses research question creation and expectations that you may want to explore.
Note: If this is the first time you are submitting a research question to support your work in the final course, you should create a folder within your ePortfolio with the title “Research Questions,” because you will be adding questions to this folder throughout the program. Follow these ePortfolio instructions PDF on creating a folder within your ePortfolio.
Note: To best prepare yourself for the culminating course in the Criminal Justice program, CJ 485: Problem Solving for Criminal Justice Professionals, revisit your research questions in your ePortfolio, and try to narrow them down to the one or two questions you find most compelling and feel would make strong research topics. Then, begin to compile a list of scholarly resources related to the research question or questions you’ve chosen. It would be good to have a list of 15 to 30 scholarly resources for each research question. Ultimately, you will choose one research question for your CJ 485 research project, and having a list of possible resources ahead of time will be most beneficial. Your CJ 485 instructor will be expecting to see a working list of scholarly, peer-reviewed articles shortly after the course begins, and it is recommended that you save working article APA citations in a living reference list and save the PDF files of the articles for future use.
Topics:
Ways that police build rapport and improve community relations
The increasing use of technology in criminal justice
Stress factors that are specific to criminal justice professionals
How the criminal justice system has adapted to the drug addiction paradigm shift from an individual’s choice to the disease model
Media bias and the role it may play in society’s perception of police
Mortality rates among criminal justice professionals
How bail reform impacts the criminal justice system and the community
Sources and habits that can promote a positive work–life balance and reduce stress for criminal justice professionals
How management, peers, and the mental health community can reduce the reluctance of criminal justice professionals to seek assistance for stress
The role the media plays in court proceedings
How the decisions and actions of the parole board are portrayed in the media
