Research skills for scholarly program evaluation proposals and design critique

5: Evaluating a research article.
In the study by Corsaro, Brunson and McGarrell (2009), the researchers use mixed-methodology of quantitative hierarchical growth curve models and qualitative interviews to measure whether problem-oriented policing strategies are effective. The researchers hypothesize that pulling levers can be an effective strategy for reducing drug-related crime. The researchers are able to evaluate the program of problem-oriented policing using quantitative models and qualitative interviews to combine data types in their study.
Ethical issues salient to the study were not explicitly identified and thus did not appear to make any impact on the study itself or its directives. However, one ethical principle that appears to be followed in the study is that identified by Llewellyn, Archibald, Clairmont and Crocker (2013): “the inclusion of dignity requires attention and respect for the diversity of ways of being that become clear when one approaches individuals in all their embedded and relational complexity” (p. 299). This ethical principle helps to ensure that no participants are prejudiced against in a study’s work and that bias is reduced.
References
Corsaro, N., Brunson, R. K., & McGarrell, E. F. (2013). Problem-oriented policing and
open-air drug markets: Examining the Rockford pulling levers deterrence strategy. Crime & Delinquency, 59(7), 1085-1107.
Llewellyn, J. J., Archibald, B. P., Clairmont, D., & Crocker, D. (2013). Imagining
success for a restorative approach to justice: Implications for measurement and evaluation. Dalhousie LJ, 36, 281.
5.1 Political and ethical questions.
Political and ethical issues that might be associated with the research I am proposing in my study are the following: As body cameras are typically viewed by the public as a solution to undue force used by police against citizens, this study’s measure of officers’ perceptions could risk upsetting a delicate balance achieved by the local government in terms of how it seeks to pacify community complaints and watchdog groups concerned with issues like police civility, police brutality, and police accountability (Sousa, Miethe & Sakiyama, 2015). If cameras are perceived by the public as a protection, the question of how police view cameras may have a lasting impact on police-community relations. The political position of powerful persons in the community could come under fire, especially if public perceptions as noted in prior surveys do not correlate with police officers’ perceptions. Thus, this study’s evaluations methods could be viewed as controversial by some members of the political class.
Ethical issues, such as confidentiality, will have to be addressed as well, since many officers will want to be assured that their personal opinions are not reflected in a way that might bring harm to them. Confidentiality is a principle that is always important to observe whenever doing research using participants for data (Creswell, 2013). That principle will have to be observed in this study so as to guarantee to participants that their data will not be connected in any apparent way to their own person. This guarantee should help to alleviate any concerns that participants might have for contributing to the study.
References
Sousa, W. H., Miethe, T. D., & Sakiyama, M. (2015). Body worn cameras on police:
Results from a national survey of public attitudes. University of Nevada Las Vegas: Center for Crime and Justice Policy. Retrieved from
https://jobs.unlv.edu/sites/default/files/page_files/27/BodyWornCameras.pdf
5.2 Selected methodology design
The design methodology I intend to use in my Final Paper is quantitative survey method design, with responses being measured via the Likert Scale. Moderator variables that could impact the overall effects of the policy I am proposing to evaluate could be: police officers’ awareness of public sentiment and a desire to correlate their perceptions with public perceptions and pressure from within the department to give politically correct answers that the public will approve of. These variables could therefore alter the way that officers view the use of body cameras and may swing the responses one way or another.
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Ethical considerations inherent in the evaluation I aim to undertake are that race and socio-economic factors are likely to be important variable as well as are political nuances that might include issues such as problems that the city has had in the past with race relations and how body camera usage is designed to pacify critics of the police in the past and hopefully usher in an era of better police-community relations. The study should not aim at raising controversies or attempt to subjugate the aims of the city. The purpose of the evaluation is to better have a sense of how police themselves view the use of body cameras as they are the ones who are tasked with implementing the policy of wearing the cameras and being in front of the public with them. If, ultimately, police officers themselves do not support wearing body cameras, their attitudes and interactions with the community may suffer as a result and this should be known and prevented ahead of time if at all possible. Thus, the study has a very ethical basis even if it worries some stakeholders because of its potential to cause controversy within a city that has already seen its fair share of controversy. The most surprising thing about my research to date is how responsive stakeholders are to the idea of body cameras—and not positively.