Criminal Justice Questionaires - Essay Example

work] Criminal Justice Questionnaires Questionnaires constitute one of two procedures or the sole procedure of a survey. A questionnaire is almost always self-administered, letting respondents fill them out themselves. The researcher only has to set up delivery and collect later on (Babbie, 1990).Researchers who plan to use questionnaires usually start by writing the questions themselves or use ready-made questionnaires but with permission from the author. The former is true in the field of criminal justice where there is not much research done yet.

After a rough draft is created, the researcher then analyzes the questions to see which ones are related to the variables list. The variables list contains the key concepts or theoretical constructs that are contained in the research question. Care is taken to ensure that questions cover every concept, and there is no duplication or excessive coverage of any one concept. (Hagan, 2000).For example, I am interested in studying the relationship of childrearing, self-control, and crime. Before I would formulate the questions to constitute my questionnaire, I would do some literature search.

I would try to find out if there is a research gap or a strong reason for trying to study this topic. I would exploit a theory connected to these three constructs for my study, if feasible (Converse &Presser, 1986).Self-control theory has received extensive empirical attention in the past decade, but most studies have not tested its arguments about the effects of parenting on self-control and delinquency (Hay, 2001). Latimore, Tittle & Grasmick (2006) wrote that there is an emerging body of research suggesting that self-control may be dependent on things other than the childhood caregiving identified in self-control theory.

They have examined Gottfredson & Hirschi's model of caregiving to produce high self-control using survey data from a city population of adults.Meanwhile, Carter Hay (2001) tried to test self-control theory in a possible relationship between parenting, self-control and delinquency. Using data collected from a sample of urban high school students, this study addressed this void. Results generally support self-control theory but also point to empirical limitations of the theory.In a related literature, Burt, Simons & Simons (2006) investigated two core propositions of Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) general theory of crime.

Using longitudinal data collected on approximately 750 African American children and their primary caregivers, they first examined whether self-control fully mediates the effect of parenting on delinquency. Consistent with the general theory, they find that low self-control is positively associated with involvement in delinquency, and that self-control only partially weakens the negative effect of parental efficacy on delinquency. They explored whether social factors can explicate these changes in self-control.

The four social relationships they incorporate (improvements in parenting, attachment to teachers, association with pro-social peers, and association with deviant peers) explain a substantial portion of the changes in self-control. Meanwhile, Hay & Forrest (2006) claim that research on self-control theory consistently supports its central prediction that low self-control significantly affects crime. The theory includes other predictions that have received far less scrutiny. Among these is the argument that self-control is developed early in childhood and that individual differences emerging then persist over time.

Their study was to provide a rigorous test of the stability thesis. Working on a national sample of U.S. children aged 7 - 15, their analysis revealed strong absolute and relative stability of self-control for more than 80 percent of the sample, and this stability emerged in large part as early as age 7 Finally, in Wright & Beaver's (2005) study, it is claimed that Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime (1990) has generated an abundance of research, testing the proposition that low self-control is the main cause of crime and analogous behaviors.

Their study tested whether "parents matter" in creating low self-control once genetic influences are taken into account. Using a sample of twin children they found that parenting measures have a weak and inconsistent effect. Basically following Burt, Simons & Simons (2006) as my main source of theory that is consistent with Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) general theory of crime, I may like to find out if indeed low self-control is positively associated with involvement in delinquency, and that self-control only partially weakens the negative effect of parental efficacy on delinquency.

The research questions that I may then like to be answered are: 1) How do participants perceive self-control 2) In what ways is a person perceived to be of low self-control 3) Is parenting related to delinquency I would administer these questionnaires, for example, to parents of incarcerated delinquents.From these research questions, I would develop questions to constitute my questionnaire equally representative of these questions. For Number 3 question, for example, I would ask the parent, "What do you consider are delinquent acts" "How should a child be punished for delinquent acts" "Do you think there would be any improvement in behaviour after punishment" "Does low self-control have anything to do with delinquency" These questions can be answered quantitatively in surveys and I would give a checklist of possible answers under each question.

Terminology is important at this point, and some researchers try to mix jargon with the operational definitions of their concepts. Generally, the less intelligent or more highly specialized the respondents, the more the researcher uses jargon, or plain, everyday language. A questionnaire, of course, can contain scales and indexes from the extant literature. (Converse & Presser, 1986).In my proposed research on parenting, self-control and crime. A good starter question would be on attitude about these constructs.

I may also want to include reversal questions, which ask for the same information, but only in reverse. For example, early in my questionnaire, I may ask "Do you feel that lack of parenting leads to lack of self-control" Later in my questionnaire, I can also ask "Do you feel that lack of parenting has nothing to do with lack of self-control" The responses should be roughly equivalent to both questions, although one should be Strongly Disagree while the other should be Strongly Agree. It is said that reversal questions serve as a check on lying and complacency (Babbie, 1990).

There are many ways of preparing a questionnaire. It only needs to reflect the questions needed to come up with the objectives of the research (Neuman & Wiegand, 2000). ReferencesBabbie, E. (1990). Survey Research Methods. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Burt, C. H., Simons, R.L. & Simons, L.G. (2006). A longitudinal test of the effects of parenting and the stability of self-control: negative evidence for the general theory of crime. Criminology 44 (2), 353-396. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2006.00052.x Converse, J. & S. Presser. (1986). Survey Questions.

Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Hagan, F. (2000). Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.Hay, C. & Forrest, W. (2006). The Development of Self-control: examining self-control theory's stability thesis. Criminology 44 (4), 739-774. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2006.00062.x Hay, C. (2001). Parenting, self-control, and delinquency: a test of self-control theory. Criminology 39 (3), 707-736. August 2001. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2001.tb00938.x. Latimore, T. L., Tittle, C.R., Grasmick, H.G. (2006) Childrearing, Self-Control, and Crime: Additional Evidence.

Sociological Inquiry 76 (3), 343-371. August 2006. doi:10.1111/j.1475-682X.2006.00159.x Neuman, L. & B. Wiegand. (2000). Criminal Justice Research Methods. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.Wright, J.P. & Beaver, K.M. Do parents matter in creating self-control in their children A genetically informed test of Gottfredson and Hirschi's theory of low self-control. Criminology 43 (4), 1169-1202. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2005.00036.x [Your name][Your coursework]Use of interview to enhance research in daily operationsAn interview typically occurs whenever a researcher and respondent are face-to-face or communicating via some technology like telephone or computer.

There are three subtypes of interviews: unstructured, which allows spontaneous communication in the course of the interview or questionnaire administration; structured, where the researcher is highly restricted on what can be said; and semi-structured, which restricts certain kinds of communication but allows freedom on discussion of certain topics.(Fowler, 1993). The general rule for interviewing is to record responses verbatim. This usually means the researcher should use some type of recording device, or write down word-for-word what the respondent says (Converse & Presser, 1986).

Structured interviews use precoded response categories (for example SA, A, D, SD for strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree) which the researcher can tailor to more sophisticated responses depending upon feedback from one's pretest (for example: A lot, a little, hardly any, and none at all). This requires one to be familiar with the terminology and jargon used in the population.(Converse & Presser, 1986).Unstructured or semi-structured interviews allow one to explore various issues in depth with respondents.

If one starts getting into life history, one is probably doing depth interviewing, which is something completely different. The interviewer may talk about how a participant should answer a question, as long as this is to clarify the purpose of the question or set up an instructional pattern. Interviews are ideally confidential and this should be impressed on respondents(Fowler, 1993).A somewhat important issue with interviewing is time of day. Some people are diurnal and others are nocturnal, which means they talk more during the day or at night.

Many criminal justice populations are nocturnal, so one may get the best information at night. However, safety issues must be kept in mind. Interviewers should not be overdressed nor underdressed. (Fowler, 1993). Some time should be spent at the beginning to build up a rapport with the respondent (Hagan, 2000).An interviewer must be prepared to use probes. Probes, or probing questions are whatever's necessary when you get responses like "Hmm" or "I guess so," and your probe should be "What did you mean by that" And interviewer should not be satisfied with monosyllabic answers.

Simple yes or no answers usually call for probing, unless the protocol suggests otherwise. An interviewer must always exit the interview diplomatically (Hagan, 2000).Telephone interviews usually are better than computer interviews, although neither substitutes for the good observational skills of face-to-face interviewing. The most common sampling procedure with telephones is random digit dialing (Dillman, 1978). The most common computer method is a web-based series of questions allowing for chat or bulletin board posting.

Various software programs exist that can be loaded onto laptops and used to guide face-to-face interviews. Other technology exists to content analyze keywords captured by recording or computer devices (Neuman & Wiegand, 2000). Interviews are different from interrogations. It is important to be able to tell this difference because in the military from where I come, interrogations can be a daily fare where work deals with security matters. There is then the tendency that while trying to get information from people, the military man has security in his mind first and foremost.

The kind of questioning then that are heard most often are those of the kind trying to get incriminating information. These are different from interviewing for research.ReferencesBabbie, E. (1990). Survey Research Methods. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Converse, J. & S. Presser. (1986). Survey Questions. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Dillman, D. (1978). Mail and Telephone Surveys: The Total Design Method. NY: Wiley.Fowler, F. (1993). Survey Research Methods. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Hagan, F. (2000). Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology.

Boston: Allyn & Bacon.Neuman, L. & B. Wiegand. (2000). Criminal Justice Research Methods. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.