What is the meaning of your research?  How can it impact public policy? 

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PILOT STUDY:  Now, you will have the chance to conduct a very small research study, also known as a pilot study.   You can choose a survey, one-on-one interview or an observation.

DESIGNS (pick one)

Survey Research

Design a survey with at least 10 questions, but no more than 15.  Please submit your survey to your professor before you distribute it.  You can survey people about any criminal justice topic. .  For example, you may want to know how people feel about the death penalty or you may want to know what people think about the police.

Pick your sample.  Decide who you want to survey.  Make sure your unit of analysis is consistent with your hypothesis.  Will you stand in the lobby and ask every 5th student to complete your survey, will you survey students in a particular class, etc.  These decisions must be made well ahead of time.  You must have 15-20 people in your sample.

Field Research – observer only

Pick a location that you can sit in and observe people without being too obvious.  Pick a bench on a busy street or in a public park.  Whichever place you pick, make sure it is a public place.

Decide what type of behavior you want to observe and what type of people you want to observe.  DO NOT OBSERVE CRIMINAL ACTIVITY – IT IS TOO DANGEROUS, it brings up too many ethical issues, and it is not allowed!!!  Perhaps you want to observe how the police interact with the public or the behavior of homeless persons in the park.

Keep a log and report on everything you see – This will serve as your field notes.  Your field notes can be handwritten.  What do the people look like? What are they wearing?  How are they behaving?  Who are they with?  What can you interpret from their body language?   Include everything and anything and write everything down.

Do at least three observations on three separate days for 15-20 minutes each.


Pick someone to interview on a one-on-basis.  Your unit of analysis should be consistent with your hypothesis.  The interview must be done in person.  You will interview them on two separate occasions.

Find someone that you are interested in knowing more about.  It could be a police officer, a correction counselor, a former inmate, etc.

Write a list of interview questions –this is known as your interview schedule and you cannot deviate from these questions (just like a real researcher).  Show me your questions before you interview your subject.  Have at least 15 questions that include both quantitative and qualitative measures.  Make sure you write down everything the subjects say to you.  If the subject agrees to be tape recorded, you may tape record the interview and transcribe it later on.  You may also describe the subject’s behavior, mannerisms, dress, etc.

After the first interview, analyze the responses of your subject.  Devise ten additional questions that you would like to ask the subject based on their responses to the first set of questions you asked them.  Hence, there should be 25 or more questions in total.

Results/Discussion (1 page)

Discuss the results of your research.  What did you find?  Be specific.

If You Conducted a Survey:

Analyze your results.  What did you find? Write up everything you did, starting from the beginning and concluding with the results of your study.  Use the last couple of paragraphs to describe your experience with the survey research.  Did you like it, hate it, find it interesting, etc. and why?  Did you face any difficulties?  Submit the typed proposal with the survey attached to the back.

If you conducted an Ethnography:

Analyze your results – did you find anything interesting?  For example, do security guards at Macys follow people of color around more than white people? Look for trends. Write up everything you did, beginning with who you decided to observe, where you decided to observe them, what you saw, and conclude with the results of your observations. Describe your experience with the field work.  Did you like it, hate it, find it interesting, etc. and why?  Did you face any difficulties? Submit the typed proposal with your field notes attached to the back.

If you conducted a one-on-one Interview:

What did you learn from your participant based on the questions asked?  Submit the typed proposal, which will include the interview (in question/answer

format), any interesting findings, and how you felt about conducting an interview.  Please report on any difficulties that you faced.

Policy Implications (1 Page)

What is the meaning of your research?  How can it impact public policy?  For example, do we require more police presence or does it mean that we require more sensitivity training for law enforcement.

Limitations (1 paragraph)

What are the weaknesses of your study design?  How could this study be improved?

Future Research (1 paragraph)

What should other researchers focus on in this area?  What is the next recommendation for future study?  Why?

Works Cited Page – make sure to provide a full reference list that adheres to APA format


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