Published Piece of Research - Term Paper Example

Critical review of a published piece of research Reviewing a published piece of research is a tedious task as it involves a thorough understanding of the aims and objectives of the research, the hypothesis, research methodology employed, and the reliability and validity of the samples and data used in the given piece of research. The reviewer needs to analyse the authenticity and verifiability of the data collected by the researchers, and he/she needs to find out how far the research methodology supports the findings and the conclusions drawn. For the purpose of the critical review I have chosen the research article entitled “Media Constructions of Identity Theft” (2008) by Robert G. Morris and Dennis R. Longmire. The research article is carefully chosen as there have not been much previous studies on the media constructions of identity theft in the United States. The reviewer is also attracted by the specific content analysis and news paper article studies employed by the researchers for the purpose of the study. The paper tries to make a critical review on the selected research article by applying the basic tenants of research methods. Introduction: The introductory part of the research seems concise and precise, and it focuses specifically on the media portrayal of identity theft in the United States. The researchers identify identity theft as a typical 21st century phenomenon due to the rapid growth of technology and information systems. Special efforts are taken by the researchers to bring in the shocking data on identity theft from reliable sources like the Bureau of Justice Statistics (2006) and Javelin Strategy Research Group. However the researchers purport that there have not been any significant studies on the media representations on identity theft in the United States- an area that needs more research and studies. Aims, Objectives, Scope and Importance of the Research The aims and objectives of the study as well as the scope and importance of the research are very clearly defined by the researchers. The purpose of the research is to “explore how the media portray identity theft and how the media have characterized identity theft offenders and offenses over the past several years” (Morris and Longmire, p. 2-3). Factors such as the delay in identifying and reporting identity theft (under reporting), the freshness of the nature of the crime and vagueness in the official classification of identity theft (which the researchers term as ‘ambiguous criminal justice attenuation or classification’), lack of clear legislations in this regard, lack of clear cut definitions on identity theft and then trans-national nature of the crime have all, according to the researchers, increase the scope and significance of the study. In their attempts to define identity theft, the authors find that there is a lot of variation among state and local level definitions of identity theft and they postulate that there should be researches on each individual type of identity theft rather than considering identity theft as a singular phenomenon. Methodological approach The core of any research lies in its methodological approach and it is essential to understand the methodological designs employed by the researchers and to analyse how far the selected approach justifies the topic under consideration. Knowledge regarding the various facets of methodological approach is equally important for the researcher as well as the readers. As Ranjit Kumar makes it clear, pure research is “concerned with the development, examination, verification and refinement of research methods, procedures, techniques and tools that form the body of research methodology” ( Kumar, p. 9). A qualitative approach is employed for the purpose of the study. The researchers have undertaken a “content analysis of a nationally representative sample of offender focused newspaper articles from 1995-2005” (Morris and Longmire, p. 1). The justification given by the authors regarding the selection of the content analysis of the newspapers of the stipulated period is that there have been no studies to date that focussed on the study of identity theft. Similarly, no official data was available for the study and the only possible resources for the study were the newspaper articles. A content analysis in any research requires reliable and valid data and one is sure to doubt about the reliability of the data and samples collected as newspapers often include unreliable and unrelated data on many issues. This could be regarded as one of the limitations of the study. However, the special care and the way the samples were selected by the authors after sufficient screening makes the findings of the study reliable and solid. The methods employed to bring about reliability and validity of the findings include the test-retest method, the application of secondary codes after the test-retest method, and the final use of break down codes for each theme. Thus, it can very well be said that the research methodology used by the researchers is competent enough to ensure the quality of the samples as well as the reliability of the findings of the study. Sample Collection, Data collection and analysis The careful choice of the samples and the reliability of the data and the quality of data analysis distinguish a good piece of research from a poor one. Researchers need to ensure the quality and the verifiability of the data and this provides creditability to the research findings. This is clearly observed by Kirk and Miller, when they postulate that “much of the validity of qualitative research has been gained at the expense of reliability in the “discovery”, or data collection phase of research” (Kirk and Miller, p. 13). I am particularly attracted by the way the researchers chose the most suitable newspaper articles for their study. There is no doubt that the way both Morris and Longmire (2008) carried out their research deserve primary attention and their efforts to reduce the volume of the samples need to be appreciated. In order to ensure the quality, reliability and the validity of the data samples, a variety of techniques and criteria were employed by the researchers. As already mentioned, the primary aim of the researchers was to collect data from American newspapers on media constructions on identity theft, published from 1995-2005. The articles are collected through LexisNexis™ newspaper database. To limit the large volume of newspaper articles on the issue and make it more precise and research oriented, three steps are followed by the researchers. The initial step was to limit the search terms to three specific terms-‘identity theft’, ‘identity fraud’, and ‘identity thief’. In the second, only the articles that focused specifically on an identity theft offender or a group of offenders were maintained for the purpose of the study. There was yet again a third level of elimination of the collected samples-articles that did not include any three of the manifest codes were removed from the limit of the study and these three screening stages in the collection of the samples, I am sure, have added to the specific nature of the research and this is most likely to have reflected in the findings too. The researchers, thus, after their long laborious efforts were able to choose a list of 257 articles at the end, which they believed met all the necessary requirements for the analysis. One can never doubt the reliability or the quality of the articles selected for the study even after all these screening processes and it is also interesting to note that there were 1500 articles for consideration in the initial screening of the newspaper articles. The next step was to identify the dominant themes or patterns of media constructs that were common in all these news paper articles. To conclude, it can be stated that the researchers have succeeded in bringing out the latent media constructs (themes) that were dominantly visible in the selected articles through effective coding. In my opinion, the sampling method used in the research was sufficient enough to make a strong platform for the formation of objective conclusions by the removal of unrelated articles through subjecting the selected articles through a repeated process of monitoring and screening. It can be inferred that the coding was used with a view to limit the study to offender and offense demographics that are very much significant for the study. The methods of analysis include the interpretation of the data collected from the study of the samples. The data are provided in the form of three tables each of which highlights the peculiar nature of the data collected. Table 1: Media Themes Broken Down by Specific Indicators ((Morris and Longmire, p. 7) categorises the data under four headings such as theme (n=257), number for each category of themes, percentage of valid cases, and the percentage of articles with tone. The data makes it explicit to the reviewer that the most number of cases and the most number of total valid cases and articles with tone falls under the category of scorn toward the offender. Thus, it can be concluded that Table 1 offers the reviewer with a clear cut picture of the dominant themes in the media constructions on identity theft. Having identified the major dominant themes common in all the selected articles, the researchers try to bring out the offender and offence characteristics under each dominant theme in Table 2. (p. 9). Here the researcher makes special efforts to limit the nine common themes identified to four dominant themes on which the findings of the study are built. These four dominant themes identified in the newspaper articles include scornful remarks (29.9%) on identity theft, media shock (26.8%) on the issue, technological marvel (16%) and the conclusion that identity theft is an unstoppable problem (15. 2%). Special attention is provided by the researchers in cross tabulating the four major themes against characteristics such as the age of the offender, gender, median of words and they try to analyse whether the crime was digitally enhanced, whether the crime belonged to ID theft ring or whether the target was vulnerable. Table 3, thus shows the cross tabulation of offender characteristics and media themes and categorises the offender characteristics into circumstantial, general, sophisticated or highly sophisticated. It is again important to note that in all the four categories scornful remarks is the greatest. To conclude, one can state that the methods of analysis as shown in the paper are effective and straight forward. Review of the Findings The findings of the research paper stem from the methodologies employed in the research. The findings of the research suggest that “media represent identity theft through scornful remarks, general astonishment with victimization, alarm due to the ease of offending through the use of technology, and by suggesting that identity theft is an unstoppable problem” (Morris and Longmire, p. 1). The research findings also brought out some relatively less represented themes pertaining to government control on identity theft problem; sensitivity toward the offender; penalties handed down to offenders; sensitivity toward the victim; and an overt focus on potential outcomes of corporate victimization (p. 7). The findings of the study have far reaching implications for United States today. The wide spread media scorn on identity theft is a clear indication of the public notion towards the crime. It is a clear indication that Judges, district attorneys, law enforcement personnel, the victim/s, and journalist writing the article have all been dissatisfied with the growing number of identity theft in the nation. The second implication regarding identity theft in the nation is the media astonishment and shock toward the issue. It was found in the research that of all articles (offenders) in the sample, 26.8% fell under the shock category while this theme represented 31.2% of articles that were non-dry (Morris and Longmire, p. 11). The findings of the study also point out that the growth of technology mainly the widespread use of internet and e-mails have accelerated identity theft and it emphasizes the need to have better preventive measures for the same. The final finding of the study that identity thefts cannot be stopped also deserve attention as people have an inner belief that the law enforcement bodies are incapable of finding a solution for the prevention of identity thefts. Conclusions The conclusions drawn by Morris and Longmire, in their research, point to an increased number of unprecedented identity thefts in the nation. To quote the author’ own words, “there are more potential victims of identity theft at any given time than for any other form of criminality and that the prevalence of identity theft victimization is profound” (Morris and Longmire, p. 14). The authors also come to the conclusion that identity theft is not so easy to detect and that it has got a trans-national nature. Similarly, the researchers believe that when the media very often “treat cases with verbal or innate sensationalism (e.g., scorn, shock, marvel over the use of technology in the crime, or an unstoppable problem), it may in fact be due to a lack of understanding (both in the problem itself and how to curtail it) rather than a reflection of the reality of the problem” (14). This is a pivotal factor that prompts the researchers to conclude that more in-depth researches and studies are to be carried out so as to unveil the real depth and gravity of the issue. Media representations on identity theft are only manifestations of the real problem that awaits the nation and therefore it is mandatory to study the issue in depth. Specifically, there should be more studies on how local reports on the issue are in tune with the Media representations that are highlighted. Works Cited Morris, Robert G and Longmire, Dennis R. Media Constructions of Identity Theft. Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture. School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany: 15 (1), 2008. Kumar, Ranjit. Research Methodology: A Step-by-step Guide for Beginners. SAGE, 2005. Kirk, Jerome and Miller, Marc L. Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research. SAGE, 1986 Read More