HW QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS

1. Why are our conclusions from research considered tentative? What is the continuing problem when attempting to show causal relations between events and explanations of them? Why is it difficult to establish cause-effect relations between variables? Give an example to support your answer – due date : 7/4/13

2. What are some general contrasts between qualitative and quantitative research? What type of information is yielded by each? Give an example of each type- due date : 7/11/13

3. What is triangulation? What are some primary purposes of triangulation? Give an example, in the context of a study you would like to conduct, to support your answer. – due date : 7/11/13

4. How does observation conducted by criminologists differ from everyday random observations by others? In what ways are participant and non-participant observation structured? Give an example to support your answer. How does observation in a quantitative study differ from observation in a qualitative study (and they are VERY different). Give an example of how both a quantitative and qualitative observation might be conducted. – due date : 7/11/13

5. Does any particular study stand as the definitive work in any given subject area? Why or why not? – due date : 7/11/13

6. What are some general differences between unstructured and structured interviews? Under what circumstances would investigators want to use each type of interview? What general kinds of research plans might be associated with these two types of interviews? due date

Create a semi-structured interview on a topic area of your choice with 10 questions. You should design this interview as though you are conducting qualitative research–so each question should elicit a detailed response. Make sure the questions cannot simply be answered with yes/no, and make sure that they are in a logical order. Begin by telling us who your potential subjects would be : due date: 7/11/13