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Research Paper Instructions
Research Paper Instructions
You will prepare an 8-12 page research paper that provides you with an opportunity to more fully explore course issues, examining a narrow aspect of the course material in an in-depth and focused way. For the paper, you will identify a potential research problem of interest in criminal justice and write a research paper proposal. You will not conduct actual research, but you will write the paper in a way that is similar to what would be written if actual research were conducted. Instead of reporting actual results from actual research, in your paper, you will identify for the reader results you would expect to see were the actual research conducted. Offering an anticipation of results is analysis and in this case, it is in part what makes your paper a research proposal.
To do this assignment, you will find at least three journal articles dealing with a criminal justice research problem that you identify. The most logical place to look for quality supporting articles that are scholarly is in the journal article area of the online university library. You will likely need more sources than that overall, but that is the starting point for identifying the paper topic. In addition, you will need to find and use at least one descriptive statistics table, obtained from one of five sources of secondary data (listed below) commonly used in criminal justice research. The websites may be found doing a Google search using the following key terms: Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, ICPSR, Bureau of Justice Statistics, FBI UCR, and General Social Survey. No other sources for descriptive statistics is acceptable for this research paper. If you are unable to find descriptive statistics at one of these five websites to use in your research paper, than your topic selection is not acceptable and an adjustment in the topic is needed.
The paper must follow the APA Publication Manual 6th Edition in respect to double-spacing and 12-point font, as well as inclusion of title page, abstract, level one, two, and three headings, in-text citations, and a reference section. The paper must contain a minimum of 8 pages of content, which does not include front matter (Title Page and Abstract) or back matter (Reference section or appendices). The paper should not exceed 12 pages, as the idea is to present your deep understanding of the material in an efficient manner. Papers that do not meet the minimum 8 page count will not meet minimum standards for this assignment. In order to meet the minimum 8 page count, content that starts on page 1, is double-spaced with 12-point font, will end somewhere on page 9 or later. A paper that ends on page 8 of content is a 7+ page paper, not an 8+ page paper. Papers that exceed 12 pages of content may be penalized. A Table of Contents is not appropriate for this assignment. There are many ways to approach the idea of level one, two, and three headings, which will vary from paper to paper. As a general scheme, it is common to think of the level one headings as Abstract, Introduction, Literature Review, Discussion, Conclusion, and References. Level two headings within those sections will be derived from the content you are presenting, usually representing the main idea of your subsection. Level three headings are not always needed. When they are used, level three headings divide level two headed material into smaller, more digestible areas of focus. The paper must be submitted as a Word document. Please double check that what you intended to attach is indeed attached, and that it is in the required format. If an extension reads anything other than .doc or .docx, I may not be able to open it. A submission that is not attached or not capable of being opened is the same as not being submitted. Please see the course section for further information regarding the course Late Work policy.
The following format should serve as the umbrella format for your paper: Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Literature Review, Research Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion, and References.
Title Page
This is front matter and not part of the page count. Please include the title of your paper, the course information, and your name.
Abstract
This is front matter and not part of the page count.
Title of Paper
(Introduction)
(1-2 paragraphs)
_____The opening paragraph should start by describing the broad topic of criminological interest that you are researching (e.g., gangs, school shootings, etc.).
_____Include relevant statistics to provide an overview of the topic and describe the scope of the problem/issue and why it is important to study.
(1-2 paragraphs)
_____Transition sentence that links the broad idea described in the first paragraph(s) to the narrower ideas that will be examined in your study.
_____Discuss the main outcome(s) of interest for your study. You are really discussing your dependent variable here, but do not call it your dependent variable. You won’t use the terms dependent/independent variables until the Methods section.
(1-2 paragraphs)
_____Transition sentence that links the paragraphs describing the outcome of interest to paragraphs about factors that may affect that outcome.
_____Discuss some of the factors that you propose to examine as having an effect on the main outcome(s) of interest for your study. Here you are really talking about the independent variables. Again, don’t use the terms dependent/independent variables until the Methods section, just discuss the factors you think you will find have an effect and briefly state why you conclude they will affect your dependent variable.
(1 paragraph)
_____State your research question. For example: The primary research question addressed in this study is, what factors influence the delinquent behavior of adopted youth?
_____Identify the overall purpose of your proposed research (e.g., exploration, description, explanation, or application), and explain why that’s the purpose.
_____Provide a little information about how you propose carrying out the research (e.g., quantitative or qualitative; who will the subjects be; units of analysis).
Literature Review
_____This section will roughly be about 3-4 pages.
_____Re-state the purpose of your research at the beginning of this section
Example: The purpose of this research is to determine the effects of prevention activities on gang-related homicides. This section will review the literature on gang violence and prevention activities.
_____At least 3 journal articles are discussed.
Do not start any sentence or paragraph by saying “The first article found… The second article stated…” That approach is called an article by article explication, and it is not traditionally accepted in scientific research. The preferred approach is instead a thematic literature review.
_____Insert a subheading (clearly distinguished from your major heading): Theoretical Perspective
_____Identify a criminological theory or theories that you think applies to your study, and discuss it in 1-2 paragraphs under the subheading. Be sure to cite the theorist and/or authors who used the theoretical perspective to research your topic.
_____Follow the formatting guidelines
Example:
Several studies have examined gang violence (Author, year; Author, year; Author, year). One study of 123 police departments used ordinary least squares regression analysis and determined that departments’ use of gang violence prevention methods such as working with local churches negatively affected the level of gang-related homicides (Author, year). Similarly, Author (year) found that gang violence is reduced when community organizations involve local citizens in violence reduction activities. *note, the aforementioned studies aren’t real*
-Or-
Few studies examine school shootings systematically, although the Secret Service has examined several shooting incidents as case studies and determined there is no psychological profile for a typical school shooter (Vossekuil et al., 2002).
Research Methods
_____Re-state the research question for your project at the beginning of this section.
_____Subheadings: Data and Sample, Dependent Variable, Independent Variables, Hypotheses, Analytic Strategy
Data and Sample
_____Summarize in 1 paragraph how the data you will be analyzing will be obtained. (e.g., who will be sampled, how will the questionnaire be administered, how long is the survey, what is the anticipated response rate, if conducting a survey.
Dependent Variable
_____Identify the dependent variable for your study. There should be just one.
_____Include the exact wording of the survey question from which your dependent variable is derived. For example: The dependent variable that will be examined in this study is gangs financing themselves through street-level drug sales. Respondents had to answer yes or no to a question asking, “Do your gangs finance themselves through any of the following sources?” and street-level drug sales was one of the options.
Note: If your variable(s) are derived from a database rather than a survey, simply explain how data for the dependent variable(s) were collected and defined.
_____Explain how the dependent variable(s) are coded. (For example: Responses to this survey item were coded as 0=No, 1=Yes).
Note: Look at the codebook
_____State the level of measurement for the dependent variable.
Independent Variables
_____Identify the independent variables that will be included in your study. You must include at least 3 independent variables. You can include more.
_____Do not use the survey question number, or variable number in your descriptions
_____Include the exact wording of the survey question or explain the sources of data from which your independent variables are derived, and how they are defined.
_____Describe how each variable will be coded. What numbers correspond with the response categories?
_____ State the level of measurement for each independent variable.
_____Include a transition sentence explaining that your research will examine whether the independent variables you identified affect the dependent variable.
Hypotheses
_____Begin with a transition sentence explaining that in this section hypotheses are identified that will be tested in the study.
_____Include a hypothesis for each independent variable, indicating what you think its relationship to the dependent variable will be.
_____After each hypothesis is stated, add a sentence or two explaining why you think that relationship will hold true. Provide citations for all statements that are not common knowledge.
_____Do not state opinions.
Analytic Strategy
_____Determine what strategy involving bivariate and/or multivariate analysis you propose using to analyze the data.
_____You are required to identify a bivariate analysis (e.g. cross-tabs with chi-square, t-test, correlations). Each IV must be analyzed in relation to the DV.
_____Proposed multivariate analysis (e.g., regression) is optional.
Results
_____About 1-2 pages.
_____Provide a brief conclusion of what you expect to find as results if you were to actually conduct the research. You won’t actually know, for sure, as that is why we do research, but please at least identify what your initial tentative expectations are.
Discussion and Conclusion
These instructions are more general, and less specific than previous sections. You have some leeway to write in the way that you want to discuss your anticipated findings, and the importance of your research.
_____Discuss your expected findings.
_____What other factors might be affect the dependent variable that is not included in your proposed research?
_____What were the expected limitations of the data? What kinds of data would be more ideal to test your hypotheses?
_____What are the expected implications of your findings? (Think about practical implications for policymakers, law enforcement, teachers, doctors, etc.)
_____What should future research examine based on your expected findings? In other words, why is the topic still important? What other variables/relationships should be examined?
_____Provide a clear conclusion
References
This is back matter and not part of the page count. Please follow the examples in the APA Publication Manual.
Research Paper III
Research Paper III
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
Research Paper III
Introduction
Parent-professional collaboration is a cooperative relationship between a parent of a child with an underlying condition and the professional tasked with helping that child (Dunn, 2021). Usually, effective collaborations are considered vital for providing optimal care (Smith, 2015). According to Smith and Kendal (2018), this is achieved by valuing and incorporating the experiences and expertise of parents and caregivers into care and care decisions. This research paper presents an intervention that can be used to support collaboration approaches for parents and professionals. It begins by identifying the method and further describes the specific steps that are carried out as part of the identified method. Lastly, examples and descriptions that would provide a framework to support others are provided.
Intervention to Support Collaboration Approaches For Parents and Professionals
Collaboration approaches for parents and professionals can be supported by using the family-professional model. A family-professional collaboration is a set of mutually beneficial exchanges in which knowledge and skills are exchanged, misunderstandings are cleared up, and shared decisions are made (An et al., 2016). Family-professional collaboration model can support the collaboration approaches for parents and professionals since it allows families and experts to share information and knowledge and participate in discussions to define goals and intervention plans that address family needs and priorities (An et al., 2019). Through engaging in open discussions, family-profession collaboration can allow parents and practitioners to build healthy relationships and actively participate in achieving mutually agreed-upon goals. Also, the collaborative efforts can establish and strengthen the capacity of parents and professionals to provide and mediate the provision of support, resources, and service for children who require professional help.
Steps Carried Out as Part of the Intervention
The family-professional model involves four steps. The first step entails determining jointly agreed-upon intervention goals. Usually, this step is directed by a discussion of family preferences and concerns as well as the interests and daily routine of the child (An et al., 2016). This step also involves examining the current performance of the child as well as the parent’s satisfaction. When parents and professionals engage in setting-up mutually agreed-upon goals, this helps in supporting the collaboration approaches for parents and professionals. As parents and the therapist engage in discussions to set up mutually agreed-upon goals, this helps to foster collaboration between two parties.
The second step of the family-professional model involves the family and the professional developing an intervention plan to be executed as part of the family’s everyday routine. During this stage, the healthcare professional foresees the shared planning by the use of three strategies, including scaling questions, visualizing a preferred future, and family daily routine and activity matrix. Visualizing a preferred future and scaling questions techniques are aimed at helping the families look into their concerns and needs, figure out meaningful and appropriate goals, and establish means to accomplish the set goals based on the strength of the family. On the other hand, the family routine and activity matrix technique offers a framework for identifying how to integrate interventions into family routines. This may include identifying the various activities to put into practice, identifying the best time to implement activities, and identifying professionals’ and parents’ roles (An et al., 2016).
The third step of the family-professional model involves the family and the professional working collaboratively to implement and progress an individualized intervention plan. During this stage, parents are required to provide their reflections on the implemented intervention. The last step involves the evaluation of the implemented plan. During this stage, the family and the professional do discuss the challenges and success of the plan and evaluate whether or not the set goals were achieved. Based on the evaluation results, the healthcare professional and the family define new goals and objectives or come up with a discharge plan if the professional’s services are no longer required (An et al., 2016). Since the healthcare professional and parents work together through the four steps, this helps in supporting the collaboration approaches for the two parties. The family-professional model is shown in Figure 1 below.
Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 1:A Family-Professional Collaboration Model (An et al., 2016, p.1845).
Examples and Descriptions that Would Provide a Framework to Support Others
Rapport building technique can provide a framework for supporting others (Smith, 2015). According to Smith (2015), even though relationship-focused relations are the primary goal for the health professionals, effective communication and rapport building are important techniques for improving parents’ perceptions that their needs are met. A rapport is a relationship characterized by conformity, harmony, or affinity (Khatoon, 2016). Building a rapport entails entering into someone’s world, making them feel understood, and creating a strong common bond with them. Building a rapport would provide a framework for supporting others since it improves interpersonal relationships and establishes mutual trust between individuals. Also, building a rapport helps to enhance communication which makes it easy to support others. Without effective communication, support cannot be accorded to other people.
Conclusion
Overall, this research paper sought to explore an intervention that can be utilized to support collaboration approaches for parents and professionals. The identified intervention was the use of a family-professional model. A family-professional collaboration is a set of mutually beneficial exchanges between a family and a medical professional in which knowledge and skills are exchanged, misunderstandings are cleared up, and shared decisions are made. The model involves four steps, with the first step involving setting mutually agreed-upon goals. The second step entails shared planning, while the third step involves shared implementation. The last step involves a shared evaluation of the implemented plan. Building rapport can help in providing a framework to support others.
References
An, M., Palisano, R. J., Dunst, C. J., Chiarello, L. A., Yi, C. H., & Gracely, E. J. (2016). Strategies to promote family–professional collaboration: two case reports. Disability and Rehabilitation, 38(18), 1844-1858. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2015.1107763An, M., Palisano, R. J., Yi, C. H., Chiarello, L. A., Dunst, C. J., & Gracely, E. J. (2019). Effects of a collaborative intervention process on parent empowerment and child performance: A randomized controlled trial. Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 39(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/01942638.2018.1496965Dunn, D. (2021). Parent-professional partnership. Encyclopedia of autism spectrum disorders, 3328-3329.
Khatoon, S. (2016). Importance of establishing rapport. Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL), 4(4),263-265.
Smith, J. (2015). Parent-professional collaboration when a child presents with potential shunt malfunction. Nursing Children and Young People, 27(1), 22-27. https://doi.org/10.7748/ncyp.27.1.22.e519Smith, J., & Kendal, S. (2018). Parents’ and health professionals’ views of collaboration in the management of childhood long-term conditions. Journal of pediatric nursing, 43, 36-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2018.08.011
Research Paper Assignment
Research Paper Assignment
I.RESEARCH PAPER GUIDELINES
All written assignments MUST be submitted through the class website. Written assignments MUST be YOUR work in YOUR words. If you use materials prepared by others in your paper, you MUST provide appropriate references (footnotes). Failure to do so is considered plagiarism and is subject to the penalties described later in this syllabus. Papers will be submitted to Turnit-in to check for plagiarism. IF YOU DO NOT CITE IT IS AN AUTOMATIC ZERO!!! NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
* All works submitted are required to be original works.
* Papers written for, or modified from, works for other classes will not be accepted.
* Any paper that is, in the instructor’s judgment, substantially similar to that of another student’s will result in BOTH students being subject to plagiarism penalties.
Short and Late Papers
* Required papers that fail to meet the required length will lose at least1/2 point for every word short of the requirement.
* Optional papers that fail to meet the required length will not be accepted.
* No late papers will be accepted.
II. PAPER GUIDELINES”Half of success is simply following the rules.”
All papers must conform to the following:
* an electronic copy must be submitted through Eagle Online. A printed copy is welcome, especially if you would like written feedback on your writing, but no grade will be posted until the electronic copy is received. I will post comments on your papers through Eagle Online as time permits.
* your name, date, and course number on top right of first page.
* number all pages: Last name / page number.
* footnote (not endnote) all quoted material. Footnoting of source material is a critical component of your paper. Failure to footnote–i.e., giving due credit to other people’s work–is considered plagiarism. See the section on plagiarism for penalties.
* a Bibliography is required for all major (1800 words or more) papers. Required papers not having a bibliography will face significant loss of points; optional papers that do not have a required bibliography will not be accepted.
* WORD COUNT: (3000 Words) the actual body of the paper will determine the word count. Your name, class info, titles or headings, date, page numbers are not counted. Footnotes and bibliographies are also not counted – these have their own requirements.
* 5 books and 5 journals articles MUST be in your bibliography. That is the minimum requirement.
* significant points may be deducted if the above formatting requirements are not followed!
Footnoting and Bibliographies
Perhaps one of the most difficult things to master when writing research papers is footnoting and creating a bibliography. Both are necessary components for any major paper you will write during your academic career, whether in History or any other subject.
The good news is that it really isn’t all that difficult, once you know what you are doing. Even better, there are a number of websites available to help you.
WHEN TO FOOTNOTE
Knowing when to footnote something is actually quite simple: whenever you are using or referring to somebody else’s work in your own! Failing to give someone else credit for their work–or claiming it as your own is plagiarism, which is to say: cheating. Don’t do it. It is always found out, often with embarrassing consequences.
Yet in History, as with virtually every other subject, you will often have to refer to other people’s work in order to complete your own. This is fine. In fact, judicious use of others’ authoritative work adds to your work’s credibility. The only requirement is to give credit where credit is due.
HOW TO FOOTNOTE
So, you have to footnote. How do you do it? First, there is a specific format to follow to footnote correctly. Once you know that, it’s only a matter of adding it to your paper. Using a word processor such as MS Word makes it relatively easy.
Format
While there are several possible styles to footnoting, the CHICAGO STYLE OF WRITING will be usedally used for History papers. This is the format I expect you to use for your papers in this class. There are many websites where you can get information on the Chicago Style of Writing. I have listed three below:
(1) The Long Island University web page on Chicago Style is simple, straightforward, colorful, and easy to use. The component parts of a footnote are color coded so you can see the difference in footnoting between books, articles, etc. You can access it through this link: http://www2.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/cittur.htm(2) The University of Southern Mississippi website offers more detail on Chicago Style footnoting. This site provides more in-depth examples of footnotes, including how to footnote web pages, online media, databases, and so on. You can access it through this link: http://www.lib.usm.edu/help/style_guides.html(3) The University of Wisconsin website offers everything you ever wanted to know about footnoting. You can access it through this link: U. Wisc. Turabian HandbookInserting a Footnote in your paper
For purposes of illustration, this example covers how you would insert a footnote in a document using Microsoft Word. Wordperfect and other advanced word processing software also include this feature, and while the actual steps involved are different, the end result should be the same.
1. To insert a footnote in Word, the first step is to place your cursor at the place in the document where you want the numeric reference (that’s the little number that tells you to look for a footnote). This will usually be at the end of a sentence, following the period.
2. Next, using your mouse, click on ‘Insert’in the tool bar at the top of your screen. A drop-down box will open with all of the options for ‘Insert’.
3. Click on the ‘Footnote’ option in the ‘Insert’ drop-down box. This will open the ‘Footnote and Endnote’ pop-up window. Select ‘Footnote’, not ‘Endnote’ – choosing endnote puts all of your footnotes at the end of the paper instead of at the bottom of the page.
4. Click ‘OK’. You will note that your screen divided in half. The top half contains the document you were working on. Note the small number where your cursor was.
Also note that your cursor is now in the bottom half of your screen, to the right of the corresponding footnote number. This is where you will enter the footnote. It could be a comment or a Turabian-style reference to work you are using in this paper.
5. To continue, you can close the bottom half of your screen, OR you can simply return to where you were working in the top half and continue.
…and that’s all there is to it!
CREATING A BIBLIOGRAPHY
The second thing you must have for any research paper is a Bibliography, also known as a ‘Works Cited’ page. This is a summary of all the materials by author that you referred to in your paper, and follows the end of your paper.
As you will see, the format of the entries in a Bibliography are nearly identical to the format of footnotes. In addition to links on the three websites listed above, I have listed two other websites that can specifically help you with creating a bibliography:
(1) The Encarta website gives a geneal overview of what you’ll need. It’s simple and straightforward, and covers most of the sources you’re likely to use for papers in this class. You can access it through this link: Encarta Bibliography Info(2) The Concordia website is more comprehensive and shows you an example of entries in a Bibliography. It is a .pdf file, so you will need an Adobe Acrobat reader to access it. If you don’t have one installed, you will probably get a pop-up window along with a link which will allow you to download and install the software. It is free and something you will use quite often in other research. The link to Concordia is: http://www.cui.edu/StudentLife/Writing-Center/index.aspx?id=20517…AND IF ALL ELSE FAILS
Ask me, either before or after class or through an email through our class Eagle Online site. If you’re having a problem, chances are others are as well. Don’t be shy about getting the information you need, and don’t wait until it’s too late.
* significant points may be deducted if the above formatting requirements are not followed!
Sample Topics:
World War II
World War I
Great Depression
NASA
Civil Rights Movements
Vietnam
Rock and Roll