Criminal justice systems and practices

¶ … criminal justice research study. The writer explores the use of a survey method and explains why it would be an excellent choice. There were three sources used to complete this paper.

For the purpose of research study there are several popular methods that can be used to test a hypothesis or answer a question. Each research team is charged with examining the various types of methods available to them and choosing the method that will best serve the current project. For the purpose of this project I would use the survey method to obtain the best and most accurate results.

REASONS

There are several popular methods that can be used in research studies (Cross, et all, 1996). The case study, experiment, interview and survey methods are all utilized at various times in the field of research. Case studies are excellent choices when one wants to dig deeply into a particular case or example of what the research seeks to answer. A case study often provides the ability to build a relationship with the case, whether it is in person or through literature examination. Case studies allow for a strong focus on one case, or several depending on how many are chosen. The problems with case studies is that they leave room for bias and to color the researcher's analysis of the data that is collected. It is important when case studies are used to maintain objectivity.

Narrative research is often used when the study involves one particular person, or group. It allows the conversation to flow and within the information are the nuggets of answers to the study question (Overcash, 2004).

Another popular study method is the literature review. Literature reviews provide a researcher with the opportunity to learn from research conducted in the past on the same topic. When one uses a literature review as their method for study one must be careful to not choose articles that agree with the hypothesis but to analyze a broad spectrum of literature that is randomly chosen to be sure the result is accurate.

For this research study it was decided that the survey method would work the best. Surveys allow the research team to extract information in a non-personal setting (Cross, et all, 1996). The fact that the survey is pencil and paper removes the chance that the researcher will be biased by body language or other actions the participant displays, thereby coloring the end results.

Surveys also provide the ability to reach large numbers of participants and if needed, a wide geographic area can be reached through mail surveys.

Surveys provide the ability to gather data and categorize it by several headings including demographic, geographic or other criteria.

SURVEY METHOD

The survey will be divided into three different sections. The first section will be used to collect demographic data. The survey questions will be about race, family structure, age and other things that determine demographic information about the participants.

The second section of the survey will move to the study at hand. Questions will be asked about past performance and habits, current performance and habits and future performance and habits. This is an important part of the survey as it allow the researcher to look into the mind and thinking of the participant with regards to the topic of this study.

The third section will be more subjective in that it will ask the participant to identify, through multiple choice the factors he or she feels contributed to the answers in the second section.