CJ 416 – Methods of Criminal Justice Research – Spring 2014 CJ 416 – Methods of Criminal Justice Research – Spring 2014 Instructor: Lynn M. Greenwood, MCJ Course and Contact Information: Class Location: Class Duration: Class Time: Office: Office Hours: ONLINE January 13 – May 8, 2014 ONLINE Founder’s Hall, Room 217F Tue/Thu 12:00pm-2:00pm; Wed 2:00pm-6:00pm Preferred modes of communication: Phone: Mobile: 512-525-9173 If texting, please identify yourself If leaving voicemail, please identify yourself Email: lgreenwood@ct.tamus.edu Please direct all email communication through this email. Blackboard has an email feature, but I do not check it on a regular basis. When emailing, always identify yourself and what course you are in. In general, when communicating electronically you should use complete sentences and be very clear about what you are asking or saying to avoid miscommunication. Catalog Description: Methods of Criminal Justice Research. (3-0) This course is an introduction to the methods of criminological and criminal justice research, with emphasis on research ethics, research design, and methods of data collection and analysis. Prerequisites: Junior or Senior level standing. Expanded Course Description: This course is intended for junior or senior level students, and is required of all Criminal Justice majors. CJ 416 is intended to assist students in developing basic social science research skills. Students will be required to write a formal research proposal. Subsequent data collection and analysis will give special attention to theory and hypothesis testing, and adherence to research ethics, culminating in a presentation of applied data results. CJ 416 students will be required to demonstrate oral and written competencies appropriate to upper level standing. 1 CJ 416 – Methods of Criminal Justice Research – Spring 2014 Course Objectives: 1. Students will demonstrate writing skills appropriate to the discipline of Criminal Justice. 2. Students will demonstrate discipline specific use of technology. 3. Students will understand and value the ethics of Criminal Justice. a. Students will understand, value, and practice ethical behaviors associated with social science research. 4. Students will understand key concepts of Criminal Justice. a. Students will understand basic social science research methodologies as applied to research in Criminal Justice and Criminology. 5. Students will apply key concepts to Criminal Justice create operational strategies and formulate justice policy. a. Students will utilize theoretical hypothesis testing in applied research projects. Required Textbooks: Withrow, B.L. (2014). Research Methods in Crime and Justice. New York: Routledge. ISBN: 978-0-415-88443-3 Supplementary Materials: Supplementary material may take the form of handouts, oral presentations and references from your instructor, presentations by students, power point presentations, and online activities. This supplementary material is designed to broaden the educational experience and create more variety to the usual lecture/discussion format of class presentations. Mode of Instruction and Course Access: This course is web-enhanced and uses the TAMUCT Blackboard system. To be able to successfully complete this course, the student must be able to access Blackboard. Accessing Blackboard: Access Blackboard at the following link: https://tamuct.blackboard.com/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp Login using your MyCT Username and Password. To set up your MyCT account, follow the instructions in the following link: http://www.tamuct.edu/departments/informationtechnology/myct.php Select Criminal Justice Ethics from the course list: 201401_F_1_CJK_416_110: 21947-CJK-416-110-Methods Crim Justice Reserch Student-Instructor Interaction: Since this is an online class, most communication between the instructor and students will be electronic in nature; however, all students are welcome and encouraged to attend office hours or make an appointment for an office visit. I will be checking and replying to student emails on a daily basis - students should expect a response within 24 hours. Any deviations from this will be announced on Blackboard. During 2 CJ 416 – Methods of Criminal Justice Research – Spring 2014 office hours, emails will be responded to more quickly, and Blackboard chat, Skype, Facetime, or some other method of communication can also be utilized if pre-arranged. There will be a discussion board available for students to post general questions that will be checked and responded to on a regular basis – students should expect a response within 48 hours. This is highly recommended for general questions (for example, what chapters will be covered on an exam), so that all students in the class may benefit from the answers. ______________________________________________________________________________ Required Course Work: 1. Article Critiques (350): Students will be required to critique seven (7) articles over the course of the semester. Each critique will be worth 50 points of the total course grade. These assignments will help students understand and critically evaluate the methods used by actual researchers who have published research articles in peer-reviewed journals. The articles and review questions will be provided in Blackboard in the tab labeled Article Critiques. Your reply to the questions provided should be typed (or copied and pasted) into the textbox in Blackboard. 2. Proposal Assignments (600 points): Students will be responsible for completing six (6) writing assignments regarding their research proposals. Each writing assignment is worth 100 points of the final course grade. The assignment due dates are listed on the course calendar. Details on the writing assignments will be provided in class and on Blackboard. 3. Exams (400 points): There will be four (4) non-cumulative exams in this course. Each exam is worth 100 points of the total course grade. The format of the exams may include a variety of question types, including multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and short essay. 4. Wiki Presentation (50 points): Students will be responsible for presenting their final proposal in the course wiki. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wiki), a wiki is “a web site that allows visitors to make changes, contributions, or corrections”. Each student will make a contribution to the class wiki in Blackboard. The information included in the wiki should include: An introduction The research question A brief summary of the literature A breakdown of the chosen methodology Most of the wiki content will come from the proposal assignments, and students can make changes to their wiki entry until the due date. 3 CJ 416 – Methods of Criminal Justice Research – Spring 2014 Your Wiki entry should be written so that individuals outside of our classroom and the criminal justice discipline can read, understand, and utilize the information provided. Plagiarism applies to this assignment. Make sure to provide citations for your sources of material. Grading criteria for Wiki Presentation assignment: 30 points – Content o All required information is included; clarity of entry; Are the main points clear and organized effectively 20 points – Mechanics o Grammar; spelling; word usage; citations Late assignments: Late writing assignments will not be accepted. Grading Criteria Rubric and Conversion: Final course grades will be assessed on the following scale: Assignment Exam 1 Exam 2 Exam 3 Exam 4 Proposal Assignment 1 Proposal Assignment 2 Proposal Assignment 3 Proposal Assignment 4 Proposal Assignment 5 Proposal Assignment 6 Article Critique 1 Article Critique 2 Article Critique 3 Article Critique 4 Article Critique 5 Article Critique 6 Article Critique 7 Wiki Presentation Total 1253 - 1400 points 1113 - 1252 points 973 - 1112 points 833 - 972 points 0 - 832 points Points My Grade 100 points 100 points 100 points 100 points 100 points 100 points 100 points 100 points 100 points 100 points 50 points 50 points 50 points 50 points 50 points 50 points 50 points 50 points 1400 points A B C D F 4 CJ 416 – Methods of Criminal Justice Research – Spring 2014 Mastery, understanding, and familiarity with course content will be demonstrated through exams, written assignments, and online Blackboard discussions. Academic Integrity: Texas A&M University - Central Texas expects all students to maintain high standards of personal and scholarly conduct. Students found responsible of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary action. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on an examination or other academic work, plagiarism, collusion, and the abuse of resource materials. The faculty member is responsible for initiating action for each case of academic dishonesty and report the incident to the Associate Director of Student Conduct. More information can be found at http://www.tamuct.edu/departments/studentconduct/facultyresources.php. Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty. Plagiarism, most simply defined, is not properly crediting your sources of information through the use of textual citations and the provision of a works cited list. If something is not your own original idea, thought, words, or the product of your original data collection and analysis, you need to cite your source in the text. You must also include a works cited list. Failure to do so is cheating and will be dealt with as such. Submitting the same, or essentially the same work, from another class may also be a form of academic dishonesty, unless I approve it in advance. Work handed in should be your own, not that of a friend, relative, Internet site, published article, or anyone else. Disability Support Services: If you have or believe you have a disability and wish to self-identify, you can do so by providing documentation to the Disability Support Coordinator. Students are encouraged to seek information about accommodations to help assure success in their courses. Please contact Vanessa Snyder at (254) 501-5836 or visit Founder's Hall 114. Additional information can be found at http://www.tamuct.edu/departments/disabilitysupport/index.php. Tutoring: Tutoring is available to all TAMUCT students, both on-campus and online. Subjects tutored include Accounting, Finance, Statistics, Mathematics, and Writing (APA). Tutors are available at the Tutoring Center in Founder's Hall, Room 204, and also in the Library in the North Building. Visit www.ct.tamus.edu/AcademicSupport and click "Tutoring Support" for tutor schedules and contact info. If you have questions, need to schedule a tutoring session, or if you're interested in becoming a tutor, contact Academic Support Programs at 254-501-5830 or by emailing cecilia.morales@ct.tamus.edu. Chat live with a tutor 24/7 for almost any subject on your computer! Tutor.com is an online tutoring platform that enables TAMU-CT students to log-in and receive FREE online tutoring and writing support. This tool provides tutoring in Mathematics, Writing, Career Writing, Chemistry, 5 CJ 416 – Methods of Criminal Justice Research – Spring 2014 Physics, Biology, Spanish, Calculus, and Statistics. To access Tutor.com, click on www.tutor.com/tamuct. Library Services: INFORMATION LITERACY focuses on research skills which prepare individuals to live and work in an information-centered society. Librarians will work with students in the development of critical reasoning, ethical use of information, and the appropriate use of secondary research techniques. Help may include, yet is not limited to: exploration of information resources such as library collections and services, identification of subject databases and scholarly journals, and execution of effective search strategies. Library resources are outlined and accessed at http://www.tarleton.edu/centraltexas/departments/library/ Drop Policy: If you discover that you need to drop this class, you must go to the Records Office and ask for the necessary paperwork. Professors cannot drop students; this is always the responsibility of the student. The record’s office will give a deadline for which the form must be returned, completed, and signed. Once you return the signed form to the records office and wait 24 hours, you must go into DuckTrax and confirm that you are no longer enrolled. If you are still enrolled, you must FOLLOW-UP with the records office immediately. Should you miss the deadline or fail to follow the procedure, you will receive an F in the course. Extra Credit: Extra credit is not available in this class. Conduct: Mastery of course content is greatly enhanced through professional conduct in the classroom. Although this is an online class, professional conduct must still be observed in your written communication. You will be expected to conduct yourself in a professional manner at all times in this class. Netiquette – Communication Courtesy Code: All members of the class are expected to follow rules of common courtesy in all email messages, threaded discussions and chats. If I deem any of them to be inappropriate or offensive, I will forward the message to the Chair of the department and the online administrators and appropriate action will be taken, not excluding expulsion from the course. In addition, all students should refer to the TSUCT Student Handbook for classroom conduct policies, as it applies equally to online students as well as to students in traditional face-to-face courses. The TSUCT Student Handbook is available online at the TSUCT website. Note: as in many criminal justice and social science courses, the issues of racial and ethnic diversity must be considered part of the course content. In addition, topics may come up in class that not everyone will be comfortable with or agree upon. Civility and courtesy to everyone in the class, including the instructor, is expected. Incivility or discourtesy to anyone in the class will not be tolerated and may result in your expulsion from the course. 6 CJ 416 – Methods of Criminal Justice Research – Spring 2014 Calendar: Subject to revision, if necessary, during the semester. Week of Jan 13 Description Course expectations Syllabus Personal introductions Plagiarism Jan 20 The Research Practice Jan 27 The Research Process Feb 3 The Ethical Principles that Guide Researchers Feb 10 Classifying Research Feb 17 Causality Feb 24 Measurement Mar 3 Variables and the Structure of Research Reading/Assignments Reading: Course Syllabus Assignments: Plagiarism Assignment submitted by midnight on Jan 19 via Blackboard Introduction discussion completed by midnight on Jan 19 via Blackboard Reading: Chapter 1 – Withrow Assignments: Article Review 1 due by midnight on Jan 26 via Blackboard Reading: Chapter 2 – Withrow Assignments: Proposal Assignment 1 due by midnight on Feb 2 via Blackboard Reading: Chapter 3 – Withrow Assignments: Article Review 2 due by midnight on Feb 9 via Blackboard Reading: Chapter 4 – Withrow Assignments: Proposal Assignment 2 due by midnight on Feb 16 via Blackboard Exam 1 – Chapters 1-3 – due by midnight on Feb 16 via Blackboard Reading: Chapter 5 – Withrow Assignments: Article Review 3 due by midnight on Feb 23 via Blackboard Reading: Chapter 6 – Withrow Assignments: Proposal Assignment 3 due by midnight on Mar 2 via Blackboard Reading: Chapter 7 – Withrow Assignments: Article Review 4 due by midnight on Mar 9 via 7 CJ 416 – Methods of Criminal Justice Research – Spring 2014 Mar 10 Mar 17 Spring Break Sampling Mar 24 Experimental Design Research Methods Mar 31 Survey/Interview Research Methods Apr 7 Non-Reactive Research Methods Apr 14 Qualitative Research Methods Apr 21 Evaluation Research Methods Apr 28 Wrap it up! May 5 Blackboard Exam 2 – Chapters 4-6 – due by midnight on Mar 9 via Blackboard No Class Reading: Chapter 8 – Withrow Assignments: Proposal Assignment 4 due by midnight on Mar 23 via Blackboard Reading: Chapter 9 – Withrow Assignments: Article Review 5 due by midnight on Mar 30 via Blackboard Reading: Chapter 10 – Withrow Assignments: Proposal Assignment 5 due by midnight on Apr 6 via Blackboard Exam 3 – Chapters 7-9 Reading: Chapter 11 – Withrow Assignments: Article Review 6 due by midnight on Apr 6 via Blackboard Reading: Chapter 12 – Withrow Assignments: Proposal Assignment 6 due by midnight on Apr 20 via Blackboard Reading: Chapter 13 – Withrow Assignments: Article Review 7 due by midnight on Apr 27 via Blackboard Assignments: Wiki Presentation due by midnight on Apr 29 via Blackboard Assignments: Exam 4 – Chapters 10-13 – due by midnight on May 8 via Blackboard 8