Course Syllabus – CCJ3701 Fall 2014
Instructor: Lisa Hasel, Ph.D.,
Virtual Office Hours: Mondays, 3-5pm EST via Skype lhasel1 or via Big Blue Button
Teaching Assistant: Andrea Davis, M.A.
In-person and Virtual Office Hours: Wednesdays 12-2pm EST in Turlington 3349 or via Big Blue Button
It is preferred that all communications and discussions occur within the Canvas course website.
This will streamline communications between students, instructor, and TAs.
Emails sent during regular business hours will typically receive a response within 24 hours. Emails sent
on Holidays or weekends will normally be responded to within 48 hours.
Attending our online office hours or making individual appointments with us is encouraged! If you
are not available during our office hours, please make an appointment with either of us through
email to take advantage of this resource. Please watch this short video tutorial on using Big Blue
Button (Conferences) prior to scheduling an appointment with us.
Course Description and Objectives
The primary purpose of this course is to give you experience evaluating and conducting research in the
fields of criminology and criminal justice. A basic understanding of statistics and research methodology is
extremely important for all individuals who wish to be effective consumers of information, especially
because diverse information about many topics is readily available online. It is particularly important for
criminologists to be able to search for, read, and critically evaluate research. Additionally, an
understanding of the process of conducting research is essential for criminal justice practitioners in order
for them to appreciate the scope of what we know (and do not know) about phenomena in criminology
and criminal justice. Therefore, this course mainly focuses on principles of research design and methods
of data analysis. The classroom portion of the class will mostly cover major concepts in research design,
and the laboratory portion of the class will cover basic statistics and allow you to apply your knowledge
from class and lab to a unique research question.
By the end of this course, students should be able to

Be an informed consumer of social science research

Formulate research questions and design studies to test those questions


Perform and interpret basic statistical analyses using SPSS
Communicate research findings to the general public and other social scientists
Course Readings
Maxfield, M. B. & Babbie, E. (2008 OR 2011). Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology,
5th OR 6th Edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

You can buy the hard copy version or purchase it online at www.coursesmart.com (also available as
an app in Google Play and iTunes App Store)

There are helpful study resources online at http://www.cengagebrain.com/cgiwadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=9780495811695&token=
Course Requirements
Start Page/Syllabus Quiz
You must take the start page/syllabus quiz. It is open book/open note, and worth 5 points toward your
final grade. It will be open or 24 hours, ending at 11:55 PM Eastern Time on the due date. There will be
10 questions on the quiz; each question is worth a half of a point. You will have an unlimited amount of
time to finish this quiz. However, you must finish it once you start, and you must submit your answers by
11:55 pm at the latest.
Quizzes
Six substantive quizzes will be administered. You are responsible for completing your quizzes by 11:55
pm on the due date. Quizzes will be open for 24 hours, ending at 11:55 PM Eastern Time on the due
date; therefore the latest start time for a quiz is 11:35 pm on the quiz night. Quizzes are non-cumulative
(but you should keep in mind that class material builds on earlier concepts).
Quizzes will cover two modules worth of material, so they will take place at the end of modules 2, 4, 6, 8,
10, and 12. You will have exactly 20 minutes to complete your 20 question quiz. 5 of the 6 substantive
quizzes will count toward your final grade, so your lowest substantive quiz score will be dropped from
your final grade. Note that even though the readings from the text may not be covered in lecture, you are
still responsible for knowing this material! Your substantive quizzes are worth a total of 100 points
toward your final grade.
Once you have completed the readings viewed the lectures for that week, make sure you study this
material thoroughly. After you've studied the material, you should be ready to take the quiz. The quiz is
timed, so it is necessary for you to know all the material prior to starting the quiz (i.e., there will not be
enough time to look up each answer in your notes, so you should prepare as if your notes were
not available to you). You will have 20 minutes to complete each quiz.
If you are still taking the quiz when the time the quiz is due passes, you will not be allowed to submit your
quiz. Thus, the latest start time for each quiz is 11:35 pm Eastern Time on quiz days. You MUST take the
quiz BEFORE the deadline listed. Make up quizzes will be given according to the makeup policy (see
below) and will be scheduled at the discretion of the instructor.
If you have any trouble with your quiz, you must contact the UF Computing Help Desk immediately
at
352-392-4357 option 2. Once you have done so, email us immediately with the details of your
problem along with your HelpDesk ticket number.
Before taking your first quiz, view the Canvas video tutorial on taking quizzes.
Discussions
Regular participation in the discussion component of the course is required. There are 8 content-based
discussions throughout the semester. To earn the full points, make sure to follow the directions
associated with each discussion. Each discussion is worth a total of 15 points. Discussion posts consist of
an initial discussion post (10 points) and a follow up assignment (5 points). 7 of the 8 discussions will
count toward your final grade, so your lowest discussion score will be dropped from your final
grade. Thus, there are a total of 105 discussion points that will count toward your final grade. If you
miss a discussion, you will need documentation to make up the discussion (see makeup policy below).
The Introductory Discussion is extra credit toward your final grade. It is worth 5 points for the initial
post and 2 points for follow-up comments.
Lab Assignments
Throughout the semester, there will be 8 lab assignments that will assist you in learning the statistical
analysis skills necessary for your final paper. There are 8 assignments worth 10 points each. Thus, there
are a total of 80 lab assignment points that will count toward your final grade.
Research Paper Drafts
There will be a research paper for this class that you complete in two parts. Each research paper draft
part is worth 25 points. It will NOT be graded for substance by your instructors, but rather it will be graded
for completeness. We will look to see if you completed the required parts or not but we will not assign
points for quality of work yet because you will have time to revise it after receiving peer reviews of your
work. There are a total of 50 research paper draft points that will count toward your final grade. If
you miss a research paper draft due date, you will not be able to complete your peer reviews. Therefore,
if you submit your research paper draft late, you will be penalized by receiving a 0 on the peer reviews.
There will be NO exceptions because your fellow students are counting on you.
Peer Review
You will be asked to review the research paper draft submissions of three of your peers. You will do this
for both parts of the research paper. Evey peer review is worth 10 points. Thus, there are a total of 60
peer review points that will count toward your final grade.
Research Paper
You will write a research paper that will be submitted in two parts during the semester. Each paper part is
worth 50 points Thus, there are a total of 100 research paper points that will count toward your final
grade.
Course Survey
At the middle and end of the semester, you will be sent a link to an online survey about this course.
Completing these surveys are worth 5 extra credit points toward your final grade for a total of 10 possible
extra credit points.
Grading
Grades will be determined from your scores on a combination of exams and assignments:
Start page/Syllabus quiz 5 points
Quizzes
100 points
Discussions
105 points
Lab assignments
80 points
Research Paper drafts 50 points
Peer Reviews
60 points
Research Papers
100 points
Total Possible Points 500
Final grades will be determined according to the following structure. GPA assignments are also noted
below:
Points Earned Grade Corresponding Grade Points
463-500
A
4.00
448-462
A3.67
433-447
B+
3.33
413-432
B
3.00
398-412
B2.67
383-397
C+
2.33
363-382
C
2.00
348-362
C1.67
333-347
D+
1.33
313-332
D
1.00
298-312
D.67
297 and below E
0.00
Note: I do not round up, curve, or add extra points at the end of the semester, so please do not ask.
However, you are given the opportunity to earn 10 FREE EXTRA CREDIT POINTS by completing the
surveys at the middle and at the end of the course (each survey is worth 5 extra credit points toward your
final grade). We encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity! If your grade is 'borderline', this will
bump you to the next highest grade!
Questions
In order to efficiently handle questions from such a large number of students in an online environment, we
have created the following system. When you have a question, follow this hierarchy to find the answer:
1. Check the Course Syllabus and the Start Here pages
2. Check the Course Logistics discussion board for questions about course logistics. These might be,
for example, questions about how to complete a particular assignment or requests for help with a
technology issue.
3. Check the Course Content discussion board for questions about the material. These might be, for
example, requests for clarification about a particular concept or questions about the best way to
interpret data.
4. If the question is NOT about grades or a private matter, you may post your question to the Course
Logistics or Course Content discussion board. This is the fastest way to get an answer to your
question, particularly from other students. Be sure to give it a meaningful heading! Do not post
personal grade questions on the Course Questions discussion board.
5. All other questions can be sent to the course instructor OR the teaching assistant--not both. If the
person who receives your question is not in charge of whatever it is you are asking about, they will
forward it to the other person.
It is preferred that all communications and discussions occur within the Canvas course website.
This will streamline communications between students, instructor, and TAs.
Emails sent during regular business hours will typically receive a response within 24 hours. Emails sent
on Holidays or weekends will normally be responded to within 48 hours.
Makeup Policy
I understand that sometimes one's personal life interferes with one's ability to take an quiz, turn in a
paper, participate in a discussion, etc. If you have a legitimate reason for missing a class assignment
(e.g., documented illness, religious holiday, death in the family), and can provide documentation, you
will be allowed to make up what you missed IF you contact Dr. Hasel immediately before/after the missed
assignment (i.e., don't come to us two weeks later and ask for a makeup unless you have been in a coma
for the intervening two weeks). Your makeup will be scheduled at the instructor's discretion.
Making up quizzes. Your lowest quiz grade in this class is dropped at the end of the semester.
Therefore, if you miss one quiz, you do not need to provide documentation for me. However, if you miss
more than one quiz, you need to provide documentation for ALL missed quizzes (including the dropped
quiz) to make up any quizzes. So, if you miss one quiz, keep the documentation just in case you need to
miss another one and would like to make up the quiz that will count toward your final grade.
Making up discussions. Your lowest discussion grade in this class is dropped at the end of the
semester. Therefore, if you miss one discussion, you do not need to provide documentation for me.
However, if you miss more than one discussion, you need to provide documentation for ALL missed
discussion (including the dropped discussion) to make up any discussions. So, if you miss one
discussion, keep the documentation just in case you need to miss another one and would like to make up
the quiz that will count toward your final grade.
Lab Assignment, Research Paper Draft, Peer Review, and Research Paper late penalties. If you
submit these assignments late, you will receive a 10% penalty for every day that these are late. If you
provide documentation of a legitimate reason for turning in one of these assignments late, you will not
receive a late penalty. This decision will be made at the instructor's discretion.
Students with Disabilities
Students requesting classroom accommodations must first register with the Dean of Students Office. The
DOS will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the course
coordinator, when requesting accommodation. http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/. You should contact us and the
Disability Resource Center as early in the semester as possible. The Disability Resource Center is
located in 001 Building 0020 (Reid Hall). Their phone number is 392-8565.
Honesty
Academic dishonesty is not acceptable or tolerated in this course or at the University of Florida. You can
review the policy at:http://regulations.ufl.edu/chapter4/4017.pdf. For more on Academic Honesty
guidelines please see the Student Guide at www.dso.ufl.edu/stg/
If it has been found that you have engaged in any form of academic misconduct, you will receive a grade
penalty for that assignment. Instances of cheating, plagiarism and any other form of academic
misconduct will be pursued according to the procedures adopted by the University of Florida. You are in
college, and you all should know by now that cheating and plagiarism are wrong. If you have questions
about whether what you are doing for your exam id cheating or for your paper is plagiarism, ASK. We will
discuss the concepts of citing and paraphrasing in class, but if you have any confusion about it, it is better
for you to ask before your paper is submitted for grading. I will not accept as an excuse that you were
unaware that your behavior constituted academic dishonesty.
Administrative Information
This syllabus is provided for your information and may change as deemed necessary. You are
responsible for learning all the material contained in the syllabus as well as any modifications that are
made to the syllabus during class time. All changes to the syllabus will be announced and emailed to you.
If you have any questions about the syllabus or course requirements, please feel free to contact us. A
proposed semester schedule appears below, and we will stick to this schedule barring any unforeseen
circumstances.
Semester Schedule
For all course deadlines, please see the table below.
Date
Day
Details
Fri, Aug 29
Fri
Mon, Sep 1
Mon
Fri, Sep 5
Fri
Unit 1 Discussion
Fri, Sep 12
Fri
Quiz 1 - Chapters 1 and 2
Unit 2 Discussion
Fri, Sep 19
Fri
Unit 3 Discussion
Mon, Sep 22
Mon
Fri, Sep 26
Fri
Mon, Oct 6
Mon
Lab: Paper Topic Choice and References
Mon, Oct 13
Mon
Part 1
Fri, Oct 17
Fri
Quiz 3 - Chapters 5 and 6
Mon, Oct 20
Mon
Lab: Descriptive Statistics
Peer Reviews 1
Mon, Oct 27
Mon
Final Part 1 of Paper
Lab: Inferential Statistics with Nominal Data
Fri, Oct 31
Fri
Mon, Nov 3
Mon
Fri, Nov 7
Fri
Mon, Nov 10
Mon
Fri, Nov 14
Fri
Syllabus Quiz
Introductory Discussion
Lab: Obtaining Scientific Literature
Quiz 2 - Chapters 3 and 4
Unit 4 Discussion
Unit 7 Discussion
Lab: Inferential Statistics with Continuous Data (Part 1)
Quiz 4 - Chapter 7 and 8
Unit 8 Discussion
Lab: Inferential Statistics with Continuous Data (Part 2)
Unit 9 Discussion
Date
Day
Details
Mon, Nov 17
Mon
Fri, Nov 21
Fri
Unit 10 Discussion
Quiz 5 - Chapters 9 and 10
Mon, Nov 24
Mon
Results for Research Paper
Mon, Dec 1
Mon
Part 2
Mon, Dec 8
Mon
Peer Reviews 2
Wed, Dec 10
Wed
Quiz 6 - Chapters 11 and 12
Mon, Dec 15
Mon
Final Part 2 of Paper
Lab: Inferential Statistics with Continuous Data (Part 3)