Research Methods in Criminal Justice
Spring 2022
Poster Assignment
This assignment is an exercise in creating a viable research study on a criminal justice topic of your choosing. Your research design will turned in the final week of class. The final poster will be worth 100 points.
You will also turn in components of your research poster over the course of the semester so you can get ongoing feedback from me. These individual components are worth a total of 160 points and will be dur throughout the semester.
Poster Component
Points
Due Date
Research Topic
10 points
Research Question
25 points
Annotated Reference List for Introduction
50 points
Method Draft
50 points
Abstract Draft
25 points
Total
160 points
Final Poster
200 points
Late assignments will result in an automatic deduction of half a letter grade in addition to any penalties from the rubric.
First, you will choose a topic of interest within the criminal justice field, you can gather some ideas by searching google scholar or relying on prior knowledge of topics of interest from your other criminal justice classes. Write down a couple ideas and come up with a research question(s) based on a specific topic. Please feel free to run any ideas by me.
Second, Poster Information:
For your poster presentations, you are to select a research question related to the broader criminal justice world, focusing on an area that you can ask a research question, identify a design you would use to answer the question, how you would operationalize and measure
the data, what collection techniques you would use, as well as synthesize relevant prior literature relating to your topic in a brief background, and then propose sampling techniques
to explore your topic. You could, for instance, propose to investigate why police use body cameras. You would be required to specify why you would suggest this, how you would design a study to answer your proposed research question, who you would recruit to participate and what methods you would use to conduct this research.
Below you will find a detailed poster presentation information that should guide you as you compose your poster. Your final product will be a saved PDF of what a printed-out poster would look like and be formatted accordingly. Your final posters must include appropriate
in-text citations and a references section that each conform to APA regulations. You are to have between 4 and 5 peer-reviewed and published sources cited within your final poster.
Overview:
All posters will end up being a PowerPoint document which can be saved as a .PPT or .pdf for the final upload. Two templates are provided in Canvas, with additional templates available via google, should you choose. Search for “academic research poster.”
Poster Purpose:
This poster is a graphic display of the work you will complete, it is a representation of your research. To make your poster strong, do not try to add too much information or a variety of topics, it is best to make just one point. Part of the requirements is to identify a research question of interesting to you and build a feasible research design around this topic. I recommend sticking to one or two simple and related questions and not trying to tackle all the questions that you may have on your topic.
Required Sections:
1. Title
2. Abstract
3. Introduction
· This is where your peer-reviewed sources will go, this should read like a brief literature review of what has already been done and what problem you are suggesting to study.
4. Research Question(s)
5. Methods Section
· Setting – Where will you conduct your proposed study OR if the data already exists – What setting did this data come from?
· Sample – Who will take part in your study? How many participants?
· Materials/Measures – How will you operationalize and measure your variables?
· What is your independent and dependent variables?
· What research design will you be using (e.g., experiment, quasi-experiment, qualitative, etc.)?
6. Data Collection Methods Section
· How will you collect the data?
· How will you recruit participants?
· Sampling methods (e.g., random assignment, purposive)?
· Will participants be compensated?
· What kind of method will you use to collect the data (e.g., surveys, interviews, observations, administrative data)?
7. Implications/Conclusion
· If you were to actually do this study, what would you hope to conclude?
· What are the implications from this study? Why is answering your research question important? What can results tell us?
8. References
· 4 to 5 peer reviewed references in APA format are required for this project
Font Size Suggestions:
Title= 100pt, bold
Section Headings= 48pt, bold
Body Text=28pt
Captions=24pt
Reference Section= 16pt
Writing Style:
Your entire poster should follow APA guidelines, including the reference section. You do not need to use full sentences if you are bulleting items, but please remember this is an academic representation of your work and sloppy or messy work will be a poor reflection of your research.
IMPORTANT:
· Your assignment must be in a PowerPoint document formatted using one of the provided templates. You can find the templates on the Poster Assignment under “Assignments”. Points will be deducted for not following these directions.
· In-text citations must be in APA format. If you have citations, but they are not in APA format, points will be deducted (see rubric below).
· Directions for APA formatting and citing lecture notes can be found below:
· In-text citations in APA: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/03/
· How to cite lecture notes in APA: http://library.canterbury.ac.nz/services/ref/apa/lecture.shtml
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Criminal Justice Research Methods
2022 Spring
Assignment: Poster
This assignment will help you develop a viable research study on a criminal justice topic of your choice. The final week of class, you will submit your research design. A total of 100 points will be awarded for the final poster.
You will also turn in parts of your research poster throughout the semester so that I can provide you with feedback. These individual components are worth a total of 160 points and will be completed over the course of the semester.
Component of a poster
Points
Date of Submission
Topics for Research
10 out of 10
Question for Research
a score of 25
Annotated Bibliography for the Introduction
Points: 50
Drafting Techniques
Points: 50
Draft of an abstract
a score of 25
Total
a score of 160
Poster (final)
a score of 200
Assignments that are late
