You must answer two of the following questions. You are required to
answer Question #1 and you can choose which one of the remaining
questions.
Question #1 (required)
Answer each of the following in detail.
A. Identify and explain the different types of research designs.
B. Explain what is the unit of analysis for a research project, discuss the three major
categories of the unit of analysis, and provide examples of when it is best to use
them in a research.
C. Identify and explain the two different types of sampling. In your response, include
and explain the different types of procedures for each.
D. What is meant by the term “instrument”? In your response, provide and explain
the three most popular types of instruments.
E. Identify and explain the two types of variables. Also, provide examples of how
you would operationalize the following variables in a research project with a 4-
point Likert Scale.
a. Age
b. Household income
c. Marital status
d. Education
Question #2
A researcher has collected data using an online survey from a sample of 3,000 studentathletes. The dataset includes information about the student’s gender, age, race, GPA,
average hours of sleep, academic major, and alcohol use. First, construct a research
question and hypothesis based on the available data. In detail, explain what descriptive
and inferential statistics you would use to answer this question. Also, specify the type of
variables that you are using in the analysis and include their measurement levels. Provide
an outline of the appropriate tables or graphs that you would use for data visualization.
Lastly, discuss the limitations and strengths of the research design and data analysis.
Question #3
A researcher is interested in whether Virginians spend more dining out annually than
Americans living in other states. She asks 30 of her friends and calculates a mean of
$4,500. Based on data from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys, we know that nationally
Americans spend on average $3,459 annually on food away from home.
Does this mean that the average Virginian does in fact spend more than the national
average? Explain. Describe in detail the assumptions of statistical hypothesis testing?
Does this data meet those conditions? If not, describe how you could collect data that
would meet the required assumptions of statistical hypothesis testing. Also, formally
express the hypothesis and explain whether it is a one-tailed or two-tailed test. Lastly,
what is the null hypothesis? Explain in detail what would be required to reject the null
hypothesis. Be sure to include a discussion of test statistics, p values, alpha, and errors.
Question #4
Imagine that you are a researcher and you have received a grant to study the campus
safety at a large urban college and you have decided to collect data about students’
perceptions of the campus safety and their perceptions about the characteristics of safe
and unsafe locations on campus. You also want to collect data on the social background
of students. Please choose one specific methodology (quantitative vs. qualitative) to
design your research. Please provide justification for your choice with detailed discussion
of the specific design and the research plan relevant to the specific research design
(including sampling design, your specific sampling selection methods, the potential
ethical concerns and how you will handle those ethical concerns, etc.). In your answer,
you must address the following:
(1) State your specific research purpose; State your specific research question(s); State
your specific research hypothesis.
(2) Discuss your research design. You must elaborate the actual procedure and specific
details relevant to the following aspects:
i. Specify your key variables, the conceptual definition and the operational
definition of your key variables. Indicate your independent variable(s) and your
dependent variable(s).
ii. Specify your study subjects and your design to select your study subjects
(you need to discuss the specific sampling design with justification).
iii. Specify your design for data collection (survey, field study, experimental
study, content analysis, secondary data analysis, etc.). Justify your choice with
detailed discussion and explain why this specific choice is appropriate for this
study.
Question #5
A researcher interviewed a group of adults about their opinion of current welfare
program and summarized the collected information in Table 1. The researcher decided
to examine whether there were gender differences in terms of these adults’ opinion of
welfare program. Based on the information in Table 1, answer these questions:
Table 1. Opinion of Welfare by Sex
| Sex of Respondent | Total | |||
| Male | Female | |||
| Opinion of Welfare |
Too Little | 119 | 198 | 317 |
| About Right | 176 | 245 | 421 | |
| Too Much | 227 | 236 | 463 | |
| Total | 522 | 679 | 1201 |
(1) Which is the independent variable? Which is the dependent variable?
(2) What is the level of measurement of the independent variable? What is the level of
measurement of the dependent variable?
(3) What is the total sample size for this study? How many males participated in this study?
How many females participated in this study?
(4) Do women and men have different opinions about welfare spending? What are the
differences in attitudes between men and women? Please cite the appropriate
percentages to support your answer.
(5) Can we test the null hypothesis that sex of respondent and opinions of welfare
programs are independent of each other with Chi-Square statistics? Please justify your
answer with detailed discussion.
Section 2: Statistics
You must answer one of the following questions
Question #1
A. Examine the Cross-Tabulation output in Table 4.
B. Identify the Dependent Variable and the Independent Variable and provide an
explanation for the designations.
C. Explain at least three of the percentages in the Table 4.
D. Explain the Chi Square Table in the auxiliary table.
Table 4 – SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE * How often does R attends religious services Crosstabulation
| Recoded how often does R attends religious services | Total | ||||||
| SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE |
Never | Once Yearly and less |
> once yearly BUT < once montly |
At least once montly BUT < once weekly |
Once weekly and more |
||
| ALWAYS WRONG |
Count | 12 | 18 | 10 | 27 | 70 | 137 |
| % within Recoded how often does R attends religious services |
12.5% | 17.0% | 15.4% | 26.5% | 64.8% | 28.7% | |
| ALMST ALWAYS WRG |
Count | 6 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 7 | 30 |
| % within Recoded how often does R attends religious services |
6.3% | 2.8% | 4.6% | 10.8% | 6.5% | 6.3% | |
| SOMETIMES WRONG |
Count | 14 | 19 | 16 | 33 | 11 | 93 |
| % within Recoded how often does R attends religious services |
14.6% | 17.9% | 24.6% | 32.4% | 10.2% | 19.5% | |
| NOT WRONG AT ALL |
Count | 64 | 66 | 36 | 31 | 20 | 217 |
| % within Recoded how often does R attends religious services |
66.7% | 62.3% | 55.4% | 30.4% | 18.5% | 45.5% | |
| Total | Count | 96 | 106 | 65 | 102 | 108 | 477 |
| % within Recoded how often does R attends religious services |
100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0 % |
Chi-Square Tests
| Value | df | Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) |
|
| Pearson Chi-Square | 128.109(a) | 12 | .000 |
| Likelihood Ratio | 122.554 | 12 | .000 |
| Linear-by-Linear Association |
85.928 | 1 | .000 |
| N of Valid Cases | 477 |
a 1 cells (5.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 4.09.
Question #2
A. Examine the Cross-Tabulation output in Table 4.
B. Identify the Dependent Variable and the Independent Variable and provide an
explanation for the designations.
C. Explain at least three of the percentages in the Table 4.
D. Explain the Chi Square Table in the auxiliary table.
Table 1- SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE * VOTE FOR GORE, BUSH, NADER Crosstabulation
| VOTE FOR GORE, BUSH, NADER | Total | ||||
| SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE |
GORE | BUSH | NADER | ||
| ALWAYS WRONG |
Count | 28 | 57 | 3 | 88 |
| % within VOTE FOR GORE, BUSH, NADER |
21.9% | 37.0% | 27.3% | 30.0% | |
| ALMST ALWAYS WRG |
Count | 6 | 9 | 0 | 15 |
| % within VOTE FOR GORE, BUSH, NADER |
4.7% | 5.8% | .0% | 5.1% | |
| SOMETIMES WRONG |
Count | 27 | 32 | 1 | 60 |
| % within VOTE FOR GORE, BUSH, NADER |
21.1% | 20.8% | 9.1% | 20.5% | |
| NOT WRONG AT ALL |
Count | 67 | 56 | 7 | 130 |
| % within VOTE FOR GORE, BUSH, NADER |
52.3% | 36.4% | 63.6% | 44.4% | |
| Total | Count | 128 | 154 | 11 | 293 |
| % within VOTE FOR GORE, BUSH, NADER |
100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Table 2 – Chi-Square Tests
| Value | df | Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) |
|
| Pearson Chi-Square | 11.837(a) | 6 | .066 |
| Likelihood Ratio | 12.641 | 6 | .049 |
| Linear-by-Linear Association |
5.254 | 1 | .022 |
| N of Valid Cases | 293 |
a 4 cells (33.3%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .56.
Question 3
Some researchers hypothesize that children living in neighborhood with more
recreational facilities such as parks, playgrounds, and recreation centers are more likely
to participate in extracurricular programs. Researchers used 2016 NSCH data from 33578
children to test this hypothesis with a bivariate regression analysis. The researcher used
two variables in this regression analysis: neighborhood recreation facilities (measured in
summed number of parks, playgrounds, recreation centers in the neighborhood) and
extracurricular program participation (measured in number of extracurricular programs
the children participate). Researchers have got the following regression output with SPSS
and regression equation to indicate the relationship between these two variables: Y =
1.616 + (0.079) X.
(1) What is the dependent variable? What is the independent variable?
(2) What is the level of measurement for the independent variable? What is the level
of measurement for the dependent variable?
(3) How to interpret 1.616? And how to interpret 0.079?
(4) What is the predicted extracurricular programs for those children who are living
in neighborhood with 3 recreation facilities (X = 3)? What is the predicted
extracurricular programs for those children living in neighborhood with 6
recreation facilities (X = 6)?
(5) The SPSS output indicates that the value of Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient (or
Pearson’s r) for this bivariate regression analysis is .110. Give a complete
interpretation of the relationship between these two variables (include both
strength and direction) based on this value.
Regression
| Variables Entered/Removeda | |||||
| Model | Variables Entered |
Variables Removed |
Method | ||
| 1 | NCFACILITI ESb |
. | Enter | ||
| a. Dependent Variable: SPORTSCLUB | |||||
| b. All requested variables entered. | |||||
| Model Summary | |||||
| Model | R | R Square | Adjusted R Square |
Std. Error of the Estimate |
|
| 1 | .110a | .012 | .012 | 1.00774 | |
| a. Predictors: (Constant), NCFACILITIES | |||||
| Coefficientsa | |||||
| Model | Unstandardized Coefficients | Standardized Coefficients |
t | Sig. | |
| B | Std. Error | Beta | |||
| 1 | (Constant) | 1.616 | .013 | 124.284 | .000 |
| NCFACILITIE S |
.079 | .004 | .110 | 17.770 | .000 |
| a. Dependent Variable: SPORTSCLUB |
Section 3: Concentration Area
You must answer one of the following questions. You are required to
answer Question #1 and you can choose which one of the remaining
questions.
Question 1:
The Juvenile Justice System’s origins were to recognize that juveniles are less culpable
for crime than adults due to their age and ushered reforms and a special court that still
exists today. Please trace the history of the juvenile justice movement from its origins in
the child-saving movement to the current moment. In separate sections, please describe
the following:
A. The underlying philosophy of the juvenile justice movement that started as far
back as medieval Europe and came to the United States during the Progressive
Era and child-saving movements.
B. The heyday of juvenile justice reform and progressive programs. Please include
relevant U.S. Supreme Court cases and what rights were conferred through these
decisions. Also, make sure you discuss “Labeling Theory,” and how this
criminology theory influenced reforms.
C. Discuss the punitive period of the 1980s through 2000s. What were the societal
triggers for this move to the push to make juveniles “take responsibility” for their
actions, harsher punishment, and increased incarceration? Make sure to discuss
“juvenile waiver” and its impact on juvenile offenders, incarceration rates and its
impact on minority juveniles, particularly young Black males.
D. What does the new reform movement of the 2000s involve? Please discuss the
most pertinent U. S. Supreme Court decisions that now protect juveniles from
overly harsh treatment as juveniles. Please discuss “death penalty” and mandatory
life imprisonment without parole decisions for juveniles.
Question 2:
The “Age-Crime Curve” is a criminological research finding that shows that juveniles
commit crime out of proportion to their proportion in society. Think about it this way:
juveniles are U. S. residents between roughly 10 years and 17 years while everyone else
is from 18 to 100 years. Please explain why so many juveniles may commit crimes or
status offenses during this particular time in their lives and then then drop off once they
reach adulthood.
A. I am providing an article by Terrie Moffit that theorizes the difference between
adolescent and adult persistent anti-social behavior (including crime). Use work
from this article to make your argument about why offending is highest in this age
group and then drops off.
B. Also, what are the social, emotional, and psychological aspects of life for
juveniles that contribute to their greater participation in crime.
C. Use Social Bonds Theory (Travis Hirshi see reading) and “Life Course
Developmental Theory,” (see reading Sampson and Laub) to further elaborate on
why most juvenile offenders go straight once they enter adulthood.
Question 3:
A central argument of juvenile justice offending explanations is that a core of offenders
commit most of the crime, often referred to as the chronic 6 percent (argued from
“Delinquency in a Birth Cohort: Philadelphia,” see the study in full at
https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/NACJD/studies/7729.
Describe this study and others that confirmed its finding and what it uncovered about
juvenile delinquency offending rates. If only a small segment of the juvenile population is
committing most of the crimes, what policies would best be used to prevent and resolve
these issues? Use the following two approaches to address the juvenile justice problem;
A. Deterrence theory and its application in the real world.
B. Restorative justice and its application in the real world
C. Which of these approaches is most appropriate for juveniles offending? Please
discuss pros and cons of each approach.
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