In this prospectus, you will present a plan for a research study on a criminal justice topic of your choice, which will include the following sections: introduction, literature review, statement of research question, analytic plan, conclusion, references. You must receive instructor approval for your research question by April 8. Research Project Prospectus is due April 29. There is a 10-point penalty for each 24-hour period the paper is late. Late papers will not be accepted after May 2.
Format – the paper must:
· be double-spaced with font size 12
· have one-inch margins on all sides.
· conform to the American Psychological Association (APA) style
· utilize appropriate grammar and spelling
· include at least 15 scholarly references which may include peer-reviewed journal articles and/or academic books. Blog posts, professor’s lecture material and websites (including “research starter,” dictionary.com, ThoughtCo.,SimplyPsychology, or encyclopedia entries, for ex. Salem Press) do not count as scholarly sources. One of these references may be from the CDC, Census Bureau, FBI, Bureau of Labor Statistics, or other source from a professional organization.
The paper must include the following sections in this order:
1. Introduction (2-3 paragraphs; one source; 10%)
A. Include a brief discussion of the issue. You should include a source presenting official statistics or scholarly research to support your points; not personal opinions!
B. Present the research question that your study will answer.
C. Indicate why your study is important.
2. Literature Review (at least 2 full pages; 40%)
A. Explain and discuss the main concepts important to your study.
B. Discuss the findings of 4-5 empirical studies (at least 2 full pages) published
in academic journal articles within the past ten years that are relevant to your
research question. Your discussion of these studies should lead logically to the
development of your research question or hypotheses.
C. End this section with a restatement of your research question if your research
research is qualitative, or with a list of 3-4 hypotheses if your research is quantitative.
3. Methodology (at least one full page; 30%) This is where you will lay out the
plan that you will follow when you conduct the actual study.
A. Explain what method you will use. Why is it the best choice for your research
question?
1. For quantitative studies –survey or secondary data.
a. If you construct a survey, it must contain 10 substantive questions with
Likert style responses and 3 demographic questions (13 items total).
How many surveys will you need? Include a copy of your survey.
b. If you use secondary data, you must explain where it will come from
and describe the sample. You must use 15 variables.
c. For both survey and secondary data identify:
the independent and dependent variables you will use
how you will operationalize (or measure) these variables
the sampling technique (how you will collect data)
2. For qualitative studies – interviews and field research. A minimum of 8
subjects are required for interview research. Include an interview guide
which includes at least 5 substantive questions and 3 demographic
questions. What is your study population and sampling technique?
Discuss how you will gain access to your subjects.
3. For content analysis– State your research question or hypotheses.
Discuss what materials you will use, how you will access them, and the
Sampling technique. What coding system will you use?
B. Explain how you will analyze your data. What specific statistical tests will you
perform in order to test your hypotheses? How will you interpret qualitative
data?
C. Discuss how you will meet the required ethical obligations.
4. Conclusion (1 full paragraph; 10%). Briefly describe the study and how you will
perform it. Why is it important?
5. References (10%) use APA format. Make sure all references cited in the text of
the prospectus appear in the reference section.
