Author: admin

You have now learned about the qualitative study by Madfis
(2014) that investigated schools that had averted mass shootings in school
shooting incidents. We think it provided important information for policymakers
about the social dynamics that may help prevent these tragedies. But what would
you do if you were conducting a similar study in a high school, and you learned
that a student was planning to bring a gun to school to kill some other
students? What if he was only thinking about it? Or talking with his friends
about how neat it would be? Can you suggest some guidelines for researchers?

State a problem for research related to a criminological
topic or issue of interest to you. Write down as many questions as you can
about this topic.
1. Considering your interest, your opportunities, and the
work of others, which of your research questions does not seem feasible or
interesting?
2. Pick out one question that seems feasible and that your
other coursework suggests has been the focus of prior research or theorizing.
Write this research question in one sentence. Elaborate on your question in a
single paragraph. List at least three reasons why it is a good research question
to investigate.

Sherman and Berk (1984) and those who replicated their
research on the police response to domestic violence assigned persons accused
of domestic violence by chance (randomly) to be arrested or not. The
researchers’ goal was to ensure that the people who were arrested were similar
to those who were not arrested. Based on what you now know, do you feel that
this random assignment procedure was ethical? Why or why not?

Concern with how research results are used is one of the
hallmarks of ethical researchers, but deciding what form that concern should
take is often difficult. You learned in this chapter about the controversy that
occurred after Sherman and Berk (1984) encouraged police departments to adopt
an arrest policy in domestic abuse cases, based on findings from their
Minneapolis study. Do you agree with the researchers’ decision to suggest
policy changes to police departments based on their study, in an effort to
minimize domestic abuse? Several replication studies failed to confirm the
Minneapolis findings. Does this influence your evaluation of what the
researchers should have done after the Minneapolis study was completed? What
about Larry Sherman’s argument that failure to publicize the Omaha study
finding of the effectiveness of arrest warrants resulted in some cases of abuse
that could have been prevented? In one paragraph, propose a policy that
researchers should follow about how much publicity is warranted and at what
point in the research it should occur.
SPSS or Excel Exercises

1. Consider the following pairs of variables:
1. Delinquent behavior and parental supervision
2. Hours watching TV per week and hours studying per week
3. Gender and how wrong one’s friends think it is to drink
Do the following for each pair of variables:
1. Articulate a research question involving the two
variables.
2. Hypothesize a relationship between the two variables or
a lack thereof. Explain why you think the variables will be related in this
fashion.
3. Identify the independent variable and the dependent
variable.
4. State the direction of the association that is expected.

With these hypotheses in hand, let’s see how they hold up
using real data! For these tests, you’ll be constructing basic cross-tabulations,
which allow you to compare two binary variables easily. Start by clicking
analyze->descriptives->cross-tabs. Then, type the name of your
independent variable in the “columns” box and your dependent variable in the
“rows” box. Last, select the “cells” option and make sure that “column” is
selected under the percentages window. The output that you get will allow you
to see, for instance, if people with a high score on the independent variable
also are more likely to have a high score on the dependent variable.
1. Start by cross-tabulating variables D1 and supervision.
1. How do these results line up with your hypothesis?
2. What is the direction of the association, if any?
2. Then, compare the variables heavytvwatcher and studyhard.
1. Do these results support your hypothesis?
2. What is the direction of the association, if any?
3. Compare the variables gender and drinkingnotbad.
1. How do these results compare with your hypothesis
2.  What is the direction of the association, if any? Test
your understanding of the chapter content. Take the practice quiz.

Should criminologists be permitted to conduct replications
of Zimbardo’s prison simulation? Of Milgram’s obedience experiments? Can you
justify such research as permissible within the current ACJS ethical standards?
If not, do you believe that these standards should be altered so as to permit
this type of research?