Reference no: EM132169122

Final-Pilot Study

The final is the ultimate product of your research project and will contain a small pilot study. Look in this tab for specifics on what is expected from you for this assignment. It is due by Saturday of Week 14, no exceptions.

PILOT STUDY: Now, you will have the chance to conduct a very small research study, also known as a pilot study. You can choose a survey, one-on-one interview or an observation.

DESIGNS (pick one)

Survey Research

Design a survey with at least 10 questions, but no more than 15. Please submit your survey to your professor before you distribute it. You can survey people about any criminal justice topic. For example, you may want to know how people feel about the death penalty or you may want to know what people think about the police.

Pick your sample. Decide who you want to survey. Make sure your unit of analysis is consistent with your hypothesis. Will you stand in the lobby and ask every 5th student to complete your survey, will you survey students in a particular class, etc. These decisions must be made well ahead of time. You must have 15-20 people in your sample.

Field Research - observer only

Pick a location that you can sit in and observe people without being too obvious. Pick a bench on a busy street or in a public park. Whichever place you pick, make sure it is a public place.

Decide what type of behavior you want to observe and what type of people you want to observe. DO NOT OBSERVE CRIMINAL ACTIVITY - IT IS TOO DANGEROUS, it brings up too many ethical issues, and it is not allowed!!! Perhaps you want to observe how the police interact with the public or the behavior of homeless persons in the park.

Keep a log and report on everything you see - This will serve as your field notes. Your field notes can be handwritten. What do the people look like? What are they wearing?

How are they behaving? Who are they with? What can you interpret from their body language? Include everything and anything and write everything down.

Do at least three observations on three separate days for 15-20 minutes each.

Interview

Pick someone to interview on a one-on-basis. Your unit of analysis should be consistent with your hypothesis. The interview must be done in person. You will interview them on two separate occasions.

Find someone that you are interested in knowing more about. It could be a police officer, a correction counselor, a former inmate, etc.

Write a list of interview questions -this is known as your interview schedule and you cannot deviate from these questions (just like a real researcher).

Show me your questions before you interview your subject. Have at least 15 questions that include both quantitative and qualitative measures.

Make sure you write down everything the subjects say to you. If the subject agrees to be tape recorded, you may tape record the interview and transcribe it later on. You may also describe the subject's behavior, mannerisms, dress, etc.

After the first interview, analyze the responses of your subject. Devise ten additional questions that you would like to ask the subject based on their responses to the first set of questions you asked them. Hence, there should be 25 or more questions in total.