How social media and mass media influence crimes?

The purpose of this assignment is to conceptualize and describe your research design. This is one of the hardest parts of a research project, so it is in your best interest to not wait until the last minute to start working on this section. Think about your design when you write your literature review and feel free to begin discussing this assignment with me early in the semester. You NEED to use the same topic that you used for your Research Project Part 1 and Research Project Part 2.

Research Project Part 3 will be broken up into two sections. Section 1 is where you will describe the sampling method and mode of observation you will be using for your research project. Section 2 is where you will develop of your mode of observation so that you are ready to collect data. Don’t worry, you do not actually need to collect data. Detailed instructions are provided below on what you must include in both sections.

As with Research Project Part 2, for the purposes of this assignment imagine that you have unlimited resources for your research design. Pretend that you have received millions of dollars from a federal agency or a private company to study your topic. Since you will not actually perform this research be creative, but appropriate, with your design. By appropriate I mean that it must be plausible and ethical.

**You do not need to reference any articles or other sources for this assignment, but you certainly can if you would like to. Lectures and textbooks are good sources of information for this assignment.**

Section 1: Sampling Technique and Mode of Observation

Paragraph #1: Summarize your research design.
• Restate your research question.
• Briefly summarize your research design. You already discussed your research design in depth in Research Project Part 2, so I do not need a lot of detail. Make sure you touch upon the most important aspects of your research design, such as: your hypothesis, what your variables are, how your variables will be measured, and whether you will be using an experimental or quasi-experimental design.

Paragraph #2: Sampling technique
• What is your population of interest? Do you have a sampling frame? If so, what is it?
• How will you select your sample? Will you be using a probability or non-probability sample? Which type of probability or non-probability sample will you be using?
• Why is this type of probability or non-probability sample the best choice for your research topic?
• Explain your sampling technique with your variables. Be very specific.

Paragraph #3: Mode of observation – How will you collect data from your sample?
• Discuss how you are going to collect data from your participants.
• Will you be conducting survey research, qualitative interviewing, field observations, a content analysis, or using agency records and/or secondary data? Explain why this type of data collection was the most appropriate for your research topic?
• Discuss your method of data collection in depth. For example:
o If doing survey research: How are you going to construct your questionnaire (general questionnaire contingency questions, matrix questions, etc.)? How will the participants receive the questionnaire (mail, computer, in-person, telephone)? Why was this the most appropriate way to reach your participants?
o If doing qualitative interviewing: Which type of qualitative interview will you be using (structured, semi-structured, unstructured, focus group)? Why was this the most appropriate type of qualitative interview for your topic? How will you gain access to your participants? Why was this the most appropriate way to gain access to your participants?
o If doing field observations: What is your role as the observer? How will you select cases and places for observation? Why are these the most appropriate for your research topic?
o If using agency records: What type of agency records are you using (published statistics, nonpublic agency records, new data collected by agency staff)? Which specific source of agency record will you be using (must include name and description of agency record)? Why is this the best type of agency record for your research topic?
o If doing a content analysis: What type of coding will you use (manifest or latent)? Why was this the best type of coding for your research topic? How will you pretest your coding scheme?
o If using secondary data: Which specific source of secondary data will you be using (must include name and description of the secondary source of data)? Why was this the best secondary source of data to use for your research topic? Will you be able to answer your research questions adequately with this secondary source of data?

Paragraph #4: Strengths and weaknesses of your mode of observation.
• What are the strengths of your mode of observation?
• What are the weakness of your mode of observation?
• Does your mode of observation affect reliability or validity?

Paragraph #5: Concluding paragraph.
• Summarize your sample/sampling technique and mode of observation.
• Your conclusion paragraph must discuss how your sample/sampling technique and mode of observation will be able to answer your hypothesis.

Section 2: Developing Your Mode of Observation for Data Collection

Now that you have discussed how you will collect data from your sample, you must prepare your materials for data collection. What this means is that you must develop your instruments for data collection (i.e. the questions you will be asking participants, the specific observations you will be making, the questions you will be using from secondary data sources, etc.). YOU MUST USE THE SAME MODE OF OBSERVATION YOU DISCUSSED ABOVE IN SECTION 1. Based on your selected mode of observation, you will do one of the following:

Survey Research (if this is your mode of observation you must do the following):
• Write out the survey questions you will be asking participants.
• You must write at least 5 survey questions, and they must be written in the order the participants will be answering them in.
• Make sure that you follow the guidelines for asking questions and design your questions appropriately.

Qualitative Interviewing (if this is your mode of observation you must do the following):
• If you said you were using a structured or semi-structured interview:
o Write out the scheduled questions you would like to ask participants.
o You must write at least 5 scheduled questions. You must also describe how you would probe for more information at least once based the participant’s response (discuss a specific type of probe here such as: built-in probe, attention probe continuation probe, clarification probe, follow-up questions).
o Make sure that you follow the guidelines for asking questions and design your questions appropriately.
• If you said you were using an unstructured interview:
o Write out your interview guide that you will be discussing with participants.
o You must write at least 5 topical areas that you want to cover in the conversation. You must also describe how you would probe for more information at least once based the participant’s response (discuss a specific type of probe here such as: built-in probe, attention probe continuation probe, clarification probe, follow-up questions).
o Make sure that you follow the guidelines for asking questions and design your questions appropriately.
• If you said you were using focus group interviews:
o Write out your scheduled questions or topical areas (depending on whether your focus group is structured, semi-structured, or unstructured).
o You must write at least 5 scheduled questions or 5 topical areas that you want to cover in the conversation. You must also describe how you would probe for more information at least once based the participant’s response (discuss a specific type of probe here such as: built-in probe, attention probe continuation probe, clarification probe, follow-up questions).
o Make sure that you follow the guidelines for asking questions and design your questions appropriately.

Field Observation (if this is your mode of observation you must do the following):
• Write out the type of information you plan on recording in your field notes.
• You must write at least 5 different types of information you will be looking for and recording during your field observation. You must also discuss why these 5 types of information were the most important for you to record.

Agency Records (if this is your mode of observation you must do the following):
• From the specific agency record(s) you selected, discuss at least 5 specific pieces of information (you can think of these as variables) you can use to answer your hypothesis. An example of a specific piece of information is the rate of burglary in 2019.
• How will these specific pieces of information make it possible for you to test your hypothesis?

Content Analysis (if this is your mode of observation you must do the following):
• Discuss 5 specific pieces of information (you can think of these as variables) that you will be collecting and coding. You must discuss where you will find this information and exactly how you will be coding it. You need to be as specific as possible.
• How will these specific pieces of information make it possible for you to test your hypothesis?

Secondary Sources of Data (if this is your mode of observation you must do the following):
• From the specific secondary source of data you selected (likely a large dataset), discuss 5 specific questions from their original survey you will use in your study.
• How will these specific questions make it possible for you to test your hypothesis?

Additional Criteria for This Assignment:
• This assignment must be typed in 12-point font and double-spaced.
• Your assignment should be about 5 pages (not including the cover page).
• You MUST include a cover page with your name and a title that describes your research topic (preferably the same title you used for Research Project Part 1 and Research Project Part 2).
• You do not need to reference any articles or other sources for this assignment but if you do, do not plagiarize, and make sure to give the authors credit for their work in the same way you did for assignment 1. In addition, if you do choose to use any kind of source that you cite, you must include a references/bibliography page. If you do not use any outside sources, then you do not need to include a reference/bibliography.
• You will lose points for grammatical errors in cases in which errors detract from my ability to easily read through your work.

Outline of Required Sections for Research Project Part 3:

Cover Page (which includes your name and title of your research project)

Sampling Technique and Mode of Observation
• Paragraph 1: Summarize your research design
• Paragraph 2: Sampling technique
• Paragraph 3: How will you collect data from your sample
• Paragraph 4: Strengths and weaknesses of your mode of observation
• Paragraph 5: Concluding paragraph

Developing Your Mode of Observation for Data Collection
• Prepare materials for data collection in accordance to your mode of observation

References/Bibliography (only required if you used any sources)

Grading Rubric

Undeveloped (20%) Beginning (40%) Developing (60%) Accomplished (80%) Exemplary (100%)

Section 1: Sampling Technique & Mode of Observation
50%
Any of these are true:
1) Does not summarize research design (Paragraph 1).
2) Does not state sampling technique (Paragraph 2).
3) Does not state mode of observation (Paragraph 3).
4) Does not discuss strengths & weaknesses of mode of observation (Paragraph 4). Provides inadequate detail when: summarizing research design, discussing the sampling technique, discussing the mode of observation, OR discussing the strengths and weaknesses of mode of observation.

Provides minimally adequate detail when: summarizing research design, discussing the sampling technique, discussing the mode of observation, OR discussing the strengths and weaknesses of mode of observation. Provides good detail when: summarizing research design, discussing the sampling technique, discussing the mode of observation, AND discussing the strengths and weaknesses of mode of observation.
Provides great detail when: summarizing research design, discussing the sampling technique, discussing the mode of observation, AND discussing the strengths and weaknesses of mode of observation.

Section 2: Developing Mode of Observation
30%
Any of these are true:
1) Does not complete all things listed for their mode of observation.
2) Did not use the same mode of observation that was discussed in Section 1. Provides inadequate detail when developing their mode of observation (i.e. completes all requirements for their mode of observation but does not provide adequate detail).
Provides minimally adequate detail when developing their mode of observation (i.e. completes all requirements for their mode of observation but provides minimally adequate detail).
Provides good detail when developing their mode of observation (i.e. completes all requirements for their mode of observation AND provides good detail).
Provides great detail when developing their mode of observation (i.e. completes all requirements for their mode of observation AND provides great detail).

Formatting, Following Instructions, & Writing Mechanics
10%
Any of these are true:
1) Did not use same topic as Research Project Part 1 & 2.
2) Did not include cover page with name & research topic.
3) Gross/serious errors in writing mechanics. Major errors in: cover page, formatting, writing mechanics, OR following instructions. Moderate errors in: cover page, formatting, writing mechanics, OR following instructions. Very few minor errors in: cover page, formatting, writing mechanics, OR following instructions. No errors in: references page, cover page, formatting, writing mechanics, AND following instructions.