Category: Writing

1. Do you think researchers using cross-national data should
be sensitive to the cultural ideals of the societies they are studying? Should advisory
groups of local residents or researchers be constructed to advise
cross-national research? What other protections should be taken?
2. Should any requirements be imposed on researchers who
seek to study other cultures in order to ensure that procedures are appropriate
and interpretations are culturally sensitive? What practices would you suggest
for cross-cultural researchers in order to ensure that ethical guidelines are
followed? (Consider the wording of consent forms and the procedures for gaining
voluntary cooperation.)

What historical events have had a major influence on social
patterns in the nation? The possible answers are too numerous to list, ranging
from any of its wars to major internal political conflicts, economic booms and
busts, scientific discoveries, and legal changes. Pick one such event in your
own nation for this exercise. Find one historical book on this event, and list
the sources of evidence it used. What additional evidence would you suggest for
a social science investigation of the event?

1.  If the individual has engaged in delinquency, consider
drawing a diagram to help visualize the relationships you expect to find among
variables, paying close attention to the causal ordering you might expect.
Recall that it is conceptually very possible for causes and effects to
reinforce one another over time, as in the case of a vicious circle.
2.Is this set of research questions and hypotheses better
answered by quantitative or qualitative methods? Why?

Thinking inductively, write several research questions and
hypotheses about how you think these variables will be related to one another:
1. Friends’ attitudes about drinking and stealing (V79 and
V77)
2. Respondent views on the consequences of delinquency

Should any requirements be imposed on researchers who seek
to study other cultures to ensure that procedures are appropriate and
interpretations are culturally sensitive? What practices would you suggest for
cross-cultural researchers to ensure that ethical guidelines are followed?
(Consider the wording of consent forms and the procedures for gaining voluntary
cooperation.)
SPSS or Excel  Exercises

Search the web for information on focus groups (previous,
upcoming, or ongoing) involving victims, offenders, fear of crime, crime
prevention, or another criminological topic. List the websites you found, and
write a paragraph about the purpose of each focus group and the sample
involved. How might these focus groups be used to influence public policy?

The April 1992 issue of the Journal of Contemporary
Ethnography is devoted to a series of essays reevaluating Whyte’s (1943)
classic field study, Street Corner Society. A social scientist interviewed some
of the people described in Whyte’s book and concluded that the researcher had
made methodological and ethical errors. Whyte and others offer rejoinders and
further commentary. Reading the entire issue of this journal will improve your
appreciation of the issues that field researchers confront.

Let’s take a look at the structure of the GSS survey first.
1. First, run frequencies for the variables race, educcat,
and polhitok.
2. Look carefully at the number of cases for each of these
measures. Why do you think the figure is so much smaller for one measure than
for the other two? Recall the discussion of the GSS in this chapter.