You will be required to write a research proposal that must include the following sections: 1) An introduction of the issues at hand; 2) a review of relevant literature: 3) a discussion of potential sources of data: 4) a plan for sampling and collecting the necessary data: 5) a plan to analyze the data, and; 6) a discussion of the policy implications of this research proposal. (1) Introduction(lPage:15points) What is the issue or problem and why is the issue important? Is there any Criminal Justice policy regarding the issue? What are the purpose and importance of your proposal? (2) Literature Review (2-3 Pages; 20 points) How have other researchers in criminal justice and criminology approached the issue? What kind of research methods did they use and what did they find? What does the existing literature suggest to you in shaping your question? (3) A Discussion of potential sources of data (1-2 pages; 20 points) Based on what you found in the literature, what is your hypothesis? What is your independent and dependent variable? How are they defined conceptually and operationally? What method will you use (experiment, survey, field, agency records?) Explain in detail. (4) A plan for sampling and collecting the necessary data (1-2 page: 15 points) (Methodology) What is your population? How will you sample? What is your unit of analysis? (5) A plan to analyze the data (1 page: 10 point) How will you analyze the information you collected? What do you think you will find and why?
(6) A discussion of the policy implications of this research proposal (1 page: 20 points) Thinking about your expected results, if criminal justice agencies decided to take your research and implement it, what implication would there be? What might happen to crime, criminals, victims, and communities? What are some of the legal or economic consequences which may occur? Might the program result in something that is effective and efficient? What are some of the limitations from your research proposal?
