CJ 501-502 Research Methods and Data Analysis
Mental health courts (MHCs) are being implemented as a means of diverting persons with severe
mental illness who have committed crimes into court-mandated treatment programs instead of
the prison system. You have been asked to conduct a study of the effectiveness of these courts
with regard to recidivism rates.
Design a research study that will address this issue.
Within the context of this assignment:
• State your research question
• Provide your null and alternative (research) hypotheses
• What are your independent and your dependent variables?
• Give an example of how you will measure your key variables. State the level of measurement
(nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio) for both your dependent and your independent variable and
show why they are the level of measurement you state.
• What research design (i.e., cross-sectional, longitudinal, experimental, quasi-experimental) is
most appropriate for this study? Why?
• What is your population of interest?
• Discuss how you will obtain your samples (what type of sampling method will you use and why,
what is your sampling frame). Be as specific as possible, including sample size.
• How will you conceptualize and operationalize your variables?
• What control variables, if any, will you include and why?
• Describe the major ethical issues likely to be associated with this study and how you will resolve
them.
• Provide an explanation of the type of statistical analysis you will use, and why. As you will not
have any actual data to test, no calculations will be required; but you must describe the data set-
up. Determine the degrees of freedom for your test and provide the significance level.
• How will you determine if you have a statistically-significant result?
• Make the argument for why your measurement approach will have both reliability and validity
• Discuss the policy implications
You should aim for at least three pages – and no more than five pages.
Do not include a title page or abstract; if you do so, these (along with your references page)
will not be counted toward your page total.
You are permitted to use any legitimate, citeable materials in writing your answers. You must
reference/cite where you have obtained all information. You should never copy and paste
material, only use it to supplement your answers. You should aim for 3-7 academic sources.
Essay Format
You will present your work with correct spelling, grammar, vocabulary and syntax.
You will use the correct APA formatting style throughout. APA style is defined in The
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association – 7th edition.
If you need guidance on the use of APA style you can refer to one of these free web sites:
• The American Psychological Association (APA) https://apastyle.apa.org/
• OWL Purdue https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/
— or one of many similar free sites.
You should use 12-point Times New Roman font, with lines double spaced, and a 1-inch
margin on all sides. Your work will be graded down for errors in spelling, grammar, APA style,
formatting, etc.
Seven Dimensions: Standard Questions to Ask Yourself
Essays will be evaluated using seven dimensions. The information below outlines those
dimensions, the evaluation standard, and questions you should ask yourself when proofreading your exam prior to submission.
Completeness: Discussed the question/statement with sufficient depth.
Did you answer the questions that were asked, and all parts of each question?
Breadth: Answered the questions with an understanding of the breadth of theories,
concepts, and philosophies of criminology.
Do your answers demonstrate a reasonably broad knowledge of the field?
Depth: Demonstrated knowledge of aspects of concepts in criminal justice.
Do your answers demonstrate an understanding of the applications in criminal justice?
Evidence: Provided appropriate and sufficient citations and references.
Are your answers well documented with specific sources or are they merely reflections of
personal opinion/experience?
Examples: Used appropriate examples to explain the narrative.
Did you provide examples appropriate to the concepts in your essay?
Organization: Organized a logical presentation.
Are your answers logical and well-organized? Is it easy to follow your line of reasoning from
beginning to end?
Style: Used appropriate APA Style (7th ed).
Did you correctly format your essay, including your in-text citations and the reference list?
Academic honesty rules apply to this examination. In particular, you are not permitted to copy from anyone else, commit plagiarism, collaborate, or discuss the exam contents with anyone other than the examination proctor. Using material withour proper citation – including material from AI sources or from paraphrase web sites – is plagiarism. Your exam essays will be passed through AI-detecting software.
