Racism in the U.S. Criminal Justice system

Racism in the U.S. Criminal Justice system

Chapter One – Introduction In this section you will provide the reader with an introduction to your topic, including a brief introduction to the basics of the topic. It is here that you will provide the reader with background information about your selected topic, to include: The purpose of your study, the justification of your study, and any definitions important for your reader to understand. The subheadings for this chapter are as follows: Statement of the Problem – This is where you will introduce the problem or area that you are to study. This is the longest section of chapter one and will require that you introduce your topic and explain the various dynamics of the topic – Length – 1.5 to 2 pages. Purpose of the Study – It is here that you will explain the purpose of your study. What exactly do you intend to study. More specifically, what answers will your study seek to address (Note: Be careful of allowing bias into your proposal at this stage. For example, you can state that you seek to discover the impact education has on criminality, but do not state that you will show that education will reduce criminality – until you complete the study you cannot know this). Length – .5 to 1.5 pages. Research Hypotheses – These are your research statements concerning what you will examine and will be based upon previous experiences, studies, and an in-depth examination of the literature. Example – H1: Early developmental chronic exposure to and regular use of violent pornography (and/or Internet pornography) exacerbates other forms of psychopathology. Example of a Bad Hypothesis: People who use pornography are crazy and should be incarcerated (actual example from past course) Length – .5 pages and should be in the H1 format as provided in the example(s). Justification of the Study – Here you will explain why your study should be completed and the impact the results will have on the field of criminal justice or criminology. When you write this section pretend that you have to justify someone providing you with money to complete your study – in reality this is many times what you will be doing. Your justification for the study should include any arguments for how the results (positive or negative) will improve criminal justice or the understanding of an area of criminal justice or criminology. Length – .5 to 1 page. Limitations of the Study – In this section of the proposal you will explain any pre-determined limitations to your study. For example if you predict that one of your concepts may be difficult to fully explain, then it is here that you will explain why this particular concept may be difficult to study. Other limitations may address your sampling group and the limitations afforded you during your study. For example you may only be sampling individuals from one region of the United States. Length – .5 pages. Assumptions of the Study – These are assumptions that a researcher makes to address possible problems of the study. For example in a sex offender research program an assumption may be as follows: Selected sex-offender research participants from the Natchitoches Correctional Facility are representative of sex offenders in other parts of Louisiana. Example of Bad Assumption: All sex offenders have a history of childhood abuse (not true and assumptions here means assumptions for the study not assumptions for the phenomenon) Length – .5 pages. Terminology – In this section you will define any relevant terms related to your research. Include any terms that may not be clearly understood by the general population. Length – 1 to 2 pages. Total Page Count for Chapter One – 6 to 8 pages minimum The Introduction will be worth a total of 15 points toward the student’s final grade. At the end of this section you should include a reference page in APA format (the format the entire proposal should be in when submitted) and you should have a minimum of five (5) to ten (10) academic resources – meaning no websites or electronic sources that are not academic in nature or peer-reviewed.