Cybercrime Topic.
Research Proposal Guidelines (100 Total Points) Due Sunday Dec. 1st by 11:59pm EST Each student is required to complete a research proposal. This proposal will describe a research study in the student’s topic (cybercrime) of interest. This research proposal is to be organized in sections, similar to a thesis or dissertation, except that it will be much shorter (term paper length, 12-15 pages, excluding title page, abstract, reference page). These sections are outlined below. Although you will not be required to carry out the research for this course, I strongly encourage you to propose a feasible research project. If you plan to do a MA thesis or are or planning to become a doctoral student, you can use this project as a starting point for your thesis or a publication. 1) Introduction a) Statement of the problem or the question/issue the proposed research will address (e.g., What is the effect of parental attachment on delinquency? Does parental attachment vary with social class?) b) Relevance of the proposed question to furthering knowledge in the fields of criminology or criminal justice (i.e., What contribution will it make to theory, empirical literature, and/or policy?) 2) Review of the relevant literature including findings and methodology 3) Hypotheses a) Transformation of the research question into a testable hypothesis/hypotheses b) Development of null hypothesis/hypotheses c) Discussion of meaning of rejection of the null hypothesis for the current research 4) Identification of data/sample a) Discussion of data source or sampling methodology b) Discussion of advantages and limitations of the data or sample 5) Concepts and variables a) Discussion of concepts included in the research question b) Discussion of all variables to be included (i.e., dependent, independent, and relevant control variables) c) Discussion of the advantages and limitations of the measures 6) Research Design a) Discussion of the method proposed b) Justification of method (i.e., why is it appropriate for your research question) c) Discussion of the advantages and limitations of the research design 7) Ethical Concerns (if applicable) Research Designs There are many different types of research designs that can be employed. Below is a description of some of these major methods. This discussion is not exhaustive, but should provide you some direction. The idea isn’t to pick a method, but rather to develop a research question and then to find the method that best answers the research question. Not every method is appropriate for every inquiry. Different designs can be combined to address your research topic. Experimental/Quasi-Experiments Experiments are what most people think about when they hear “research methods.” Experiments are very useful at establishing causality and are desirable when evaluating programs. However, they can be quite difficult to do effectively. In addition, due to the subject matter of criminology, many are not feasible due to ethical concerns. If you propose an experimental or quasi-experimental design, you must think carefully about your design, measures, and ethical concerns. Secondary Data Analysis Many studies use secondary data. This is data that someone else has collected for a certain purpose. There are a great number of sources of secondary data, one of which is ICPSR (International Consortium for Political Science Research — this groups keeps many data sets on file, which researchers can purchase), and from a variety of federal and state agencies. The Bureau of Justice Statistics also contains a number of data sources including the Uniform Crime Reports and the National Crime Victimization Survey. Data from different agencies can be combined to answer a research question using this approach. Secondary data can be extremely useful and provide information on a variety of issues. However, you must be cautious as some data is not collected for research purposes and may not provide all of the information you need to answer your research question (e.g., police records are extremely useful, but often do not contain information on appropriate control variables). If you choose this methodology, you should discuss the appropriateness of the data to address your inquiry as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each dataset. Time Series Data Time series data are data collected to address a problem over a specific, continuous period of time (e.g., 1950-1996). Such studies as typically employed by researchers who have an interest in macro-level explanations of crime and punishment, or the long-term results or impact of specific policies and programs. Time series data is ordinarily made up of what we call secondary data, however, they may also be collected independently. If using secondary data, data from different agencies can be combined to answer a research question using this approach. If you choose to propose this methodology, you should explore the advantages and limitations of not only the use of time series data, but also the specific datasets you propose (if applicable). Surveys/Questionnaires Surveys can be very useful in measuring behaviors and attitudes, however, not all research questions can be answered using survey research. Survey research is a complicated process and we will spend some time discussing how to design and utilize surveys. If you choose to employ this methodology you are to begin with a questionnaire(s) from previous research (beginning researchers should never construct their own surveys). You can either use these questionnaires as is or propose modifications to them to address your inquiry. You are to discuss the appropriateness of surveys, the advantages and limitations of the questionnaires chosen, and any modifications you make to them (if applicable). Comparative Studies There are three different kinds of comparative studies that you might propose: across counties, across states, or across countries. Each kind study is useful for answering a different set of questions. For example, at the level of counties, you could design a study that examines the effect of laws prohibiting/allowing strip clubs on the level of sex-related offenses; the relationships between college aged populations, number of colleges, and fraternities on drinking or sex-offenses in counties. At the level of states, you could examine the effects of three-strike laws, gun control laws, application of the death penalty on levels of crime across states. At the level of nations, you can examine differences in criminal penalties and sanctions, amount or types of crime across developed, developing, and underdeveloped nations. Like the time series option, comparative research can employ data that has already been collected. If you choose to propose this methodology, you should discuss the advantages and limitations of this method and the specific datasets you propose (if applicable). Qualitative Studies Qualitative studies are designed to do two things – give you an in depth look into the social processes of an issue and to allow those being studied the opportunity to express their views in their own words. Although extremely valuable, qualitative studies are difficult and time consuming. Before proposing this type of design, one should think very carefully through the implementation and ethical issues. If you choose to employ a qualitative methodology, I strongly encourage you to consult a qualitative methods textbook to learn more about these methods as we will not spend a large amount of time discussing them in class. Geographic Information System (GIS) Analysis GIS is a special application of a cross-sectional method in which the primary variables are constructed around their geographic distribution. For example, a researcher may be interested in the distance from offenders’ homes to their offending locations. Criminologists use different levels of aggregation to explore geographic distributions and your proposal should discuss the appropriateness of your level. Content Analysis Sometimes researchers are interested in analyzing the products of human behavior and interaction rather than people themselves (i.e., social artifacts). For example, one might be interested in the differential distribution of minorities as perpetrators in popular crime shows. These designs entail all of the considerations of other methodologies and care should be taken to discuss the sampling method and measurement of variables.