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Research Paper
Use the Kaplan Library to obtain academic journal articles (studies)
• My studies• Library• Kaplan Online Library• Electronic Articles• Academic Search Premier• Click on box: Scholarly (peer reviewed) journal
Summarizing and Article (Study)
• What is the research question?• How was the study set up?• What were the findings?• It should take a minimum of one page to
summarize an article or study.
Let’s look at some examples
M-Rated Video Games and Aggressive Behavior
• Does playing M-rated video games increase aggression in children?
• Survey data were collected from 1,254 7th and 8th graders in tow states.
• Independent Variable?• Dependent variables = attitude towards aggression
and bullying• Findings: Time spent playing M-rated video games was
positively related to attitude toward aggression and bullying
• Weaknesses?
The Effects of Community Policing on Complaints Against Citizens
• Research Question?• Experiment: examined different neighborhoods• Control group = neighborhoods with no community policing• Experimental group = neighborhoods with community policing• Dependent variable?• Independent variable?• Findings: The results show that officers working in areas where
community policing had been implemented had fewer complaints than officers working in other areas.
• Weaknesses?
Review: Variables
• Dependent variable• Independent variable• What are the dependent and independent
variables is the following studies?
Use of Tasers
• Dependent variable = police shootings• Dependent variable = custody deaths• Independent variable = use of tasers• Time is a major in issue in this study.
Do have school programs reduce juvenile crime?
• Dependent variable = victimization• Independent variable = after school program• Control group and experimental group• Survey
Is DARE effective?
• Dependent variable?• Independent variable?• Control and experimental groups• Survey research: 8th and 10th grade
Child Abuse
• Research Question: What are the consequences of child abuse.
• Survey• Dependent variable – choose one consequence• Independent variable = measure of child abuse
Domestic Violence and Mandatory Arrest
• Research Question: Do mandatory arrest laws reduce future violence?
• Dependent variable• Independent variable• Experiment• Control group?• Experimental group?
Cyber-Bullying
• Can be a descriptive study = Survey• Research Question: Does the use of face-book increase
one’s likelihood of being a victim of cyber-bullying?• Dependent variable = cyber bullying• Independent variable = number of hours on face-book
per week.
Community Policing
• Research Questions• Does race matter?• Does region or location matter?• Officer attitude toward community policing?• Fear of crime and community policing.
Unit 3Chapter 4: Conceptualization,
Operationalization and Measurement
1. Conceptualization
• Clarifying or defining a concept• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDuRbHd9Jcc
Symptoms of OCD
• Checking• Need for cleanliness• Counting• Need for symmetry• Rituals centered around superstition• Dislike of certain numbers.• Hoarding
2. Operationalization
• Describing how a concept will be measured.• Creating a measure for a concept.
How OCD are you?
• 1. I often worry about dirt and/or contamination.• 2. I like things in order or place “just right.”• 3. I often find myself counting things, such as stairs.• 4. I often check and recheck things, such as my alarm
clock• 5. I often find my self disliking certain numbers, for
example the volume on my TV always has to be on an even or odd number.
• 6. I am fairly superstitious person, for example I try to step on crack in the side walk.
• 7. I have a certain way I like to eat my food.• 8. I tend to make a lot of lists.• 9. I find myself keeping, collecting, hoarding certain
items.• 10. I carry out a lot of tasks slowly and carefully, with
a great attention to detail.
Now that we have a measure of OCD we can design a research study.
• Purpose of Study: This study will examine the relationship between OCD and marijuana use
• Hypothesis: There is a negative correlation between OCD and binge
• Independent Variable: OCD• Dependent Variable: marijuana use• Measure of Marijuana Use: How many times in the
last 6 months have you use marijuana?
Religiousness
• Commitment to one’s religion (Christianity)• How would you measure or operationalize the
concept: religiousness?
Composite Measures: combining several survey questions often results in a better (more valid)
measure
• Combining several questions to measure a variable is called an index (scale)
• 1. How often do you go to church?• 2. How often do you pray?• 3. How often do you read the Bible?• 4. How often do you give money to a church?• 5. How often do you attend other church
affairs, such as Bible Study or meetings• Answer Categories: 1 = never, 2 = less than
once a month, 3 = monthly, 4 = at least once a week
• Measuring variables on an index usually makes measures much more valid.
• Example: Prejudice or Racism
• How would it make you feel if a close relative of yours was planning to marry a minority. Would you be uneasy, somewhat uneasy, or not uneasy at all?– Uneasy– Somewhat Uneasy– Not uneasy at all
• How would it make you feel of your supervisor at work was a minority?
• How would it make you feel if a minority moved into a house next to yours?
Reliability
• Reliability is a matter of whether a particular measurement technique, applied repeatedly to the same thing, will yield the same result each time.
• Reliability is often concerned with the issue of timing.
• Example: A survey concerning drug and alcohol use is distributed to students during the first week of class.
• Example: A survey concerning drug and alcohol use is distributed to students in every 9:00 AM class at USC.
Researcher Reliability
• Different research can obtain different results• Purpose of Research: To determine common
MO’s among incarcerated child molesters.• A team of two researchers.• Dr. Suzanne Smith• Dr. John Petersen
Validity
• Are your measuring a variable or concept correctly?
• Is your measure a “good” measure?
Example: Harvard’s Measure of Binge Drinking
• In the last two weeks, how many time have you drank 5 alcoholic drinks or beers or more in one sitting.
Better measure of binge drinking?
• How many times in the last two weeks have you had five or more alcoholic drinks (including beer) in less than an hour?
• Let’s practice
Problem with reliability or validity?
• A researcher measures athletic ability by having subjects of the study see how much they can bench press.
Problem with reliability or validity?
• A researcher want to determine on much Americans charge on their credit cards (on average). He distributes a survey to 5,000 U.S. citizens on December 20th.
Problem with reliability or validity?
• ADHD is measured by the following question.• Are you currently on a medication for ADHD,
such as Ritalin?
Problem with reliability or validity?
• Two professors, Smith and Jones, had out a survey to their class to assess their teaching ability. Before the survey his handed out to his class, Dr. Jones gives his students freshly baked cookies.
Measurement Issues: Exhaustiveness and Mutually
Exclusiveness
Survey Questions should be exhaustive
• What was the last illicit drug that you used• Marijuana• Cocaine• Heroin
Answer categories should also be mutually exclusive.
• What type of alcoholic beverage did you consume the last time you went to out to dinner?
• Distilled alcohol (a mixed drink)• Beer• wine
Levels of Measurement
• Nominal• Ordinal• Interval• ratio
The Time Dimension
• There are two types of studies in regard to time.
• 1. Cross-sectional• 2. Longitudinal
Types of Longitudinal Research
• Trend Studies• Example - MTFS
• Cohort Studies• Example: College class
• Panel Studies• studies with small samples• Example: medical study with 100 subjects