Statistics and Research Methods in Criminology course online

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Canyon College
online Statistics and Research Methods in Criminology course at Canyon College

online Statistics and Research Methods in Criminology course at Canyon College

CJ590: Statistics and Research Methods in Criminology
SYLLABUS
© 2001- Michael L. Beshears

Instructor: Prof. Michael L. Beshears

Office hours: Online Course

Instructor email: beshears@canyoncollege.edu

Two Textbooks Required:

Maxfield, Michael, G. and Babbie, Earl, 2004/2005. "Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology", 4th Edition. Wadsworth (Thomson Higher Education), Belmont California. ISBN-13: 9780534615604 ISBN: 0534615600
Pope, Carl E., Rick, Lovell; Brandl, Steven, G., 2001, Readings in Criminal Justice Research, Wadsworth, Belmont California. ISBN: 0534563767

And

Online Bookstore

It is highly recommended that the student read and review the syllabus thoroughly. The student may wish to copy and paste the syllabus into their word processor to be printed into a hard copy, but be advised that this is a lengthy document and may require several sheets of paper to print.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
CJ590 - Statistics and Research Methods in Criminology

This class focuses on the use of statistical techniques with an emphasis on data collection and measurement of validity and reliability.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

After you have completed this course, you should be able to:

Course Objectives:

Have a basic understanding of Research Methodology:

Have a basic understanding of how to approach an issue in criminal justice and attempt to design research to prove or disprove a theory or problem:

Have a basic understanding of presenting that research design in a written format:

Have a basic understanding of reviewing written research works:

The students will be able to take with them into the field the basic skills and knowledge of research design pursuit their particular interest in Criminal Justice and apply this knowledge to real life situations.

TEXTBOOK/COURSE MATERIAL INFORMATION

Maxfield, Michael, G. and Babbie, Earl, 2004/2005. "Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology", 4th Edition. Wadsworth (Thomson Higher Education), Belmont California. ISBN-13: 9780534615604 ISBN: 0534615600
Pope, Carl E., Rick, Lovell; Brandl, Steven, G., 2001, Readings in Criminal Justice Research, Wadsworth, Belmont California. ISBN: 0534563767

Attendance and Participation:

Students are expected to be mature enough to discipline themselves and know when they are having attendance problems. They are expected to check in initially and weekly by email after the course starts. There is a week's deadline for all course requirements, and not doing weekly assignments (as explained on the course schedule) promptly results in recording of a virtual absence point. Online Exams: (50% of grade)
Exams are a fairly important part of this course. There will be two major exams: a midterm and a final with 5 announced online quizzes, which count as the other (50% of your grade).

Grading System: All assignments are given a letter grade with the following scale applied:

A = 94	A- = 91	B+ = 88
B = 83	B- = 80	C+ = 77
C = 74	C- = 70	D+ = 66
D = 61	F = 57 or less

FINAL GRADE BASED UPON

There are a total of 100 points for this course broken down as follows:

Quizzes
Midterm Examination
Final Examination

50 points (assigned during the course)
25 points
25 points

CJ 590: Statistics and Research Methods in Criminology

Study Schedule/Course Guide

8-Week Course Calendar:

Week One	An Introduction to Criminal Justice, and Scientific Inquiry Theory and Criminal Justice Research Part I Intro Foundations CJR	Read: Maxfield and Babbie CH 1-2, Pope Part I and Online Lecture 1 Take Online Practice Quiz
Week Two	Causation and Validity General Issues in Research Design	Read: Maxfield and Babbie CH 3-4 and Online Lecture 2 Take Online Quiz 1
Week Three	Concepts, Operationalization & Measurement Measuring Crime General Deterrent Effects	Read: Maxfield and Babbie CH 5-6, Pope CH 3 and Online Lecture 3 Take Online Quiz 2
Week Four	Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs Ethics and Criminal Justice Research MIDTERM EXAM	Read: Maxfield and Babbie CH 7-8 and Online Lecture 4
Week Five	Overview of Data Collection and Sampling Survey Research and Other Ways of Asking Questions Reassessing the Impact of Race	Read: Maxfield and Babbie CH 9-10, Pope CH 4 and Online Lecture 5 Take Online Quiz 3
Week Six	Field Research Agency Records, Content Analysis, and Secondary Data Collective & Normative Features of Gang Violence	Read: Maxfield and Babbie CH 11-12, Pope CH 8 and Online Lecture 6 Take Online Quiz 4
Week Seven	Evaluation Research and Policy Analysis Juvenile Victimization	Read: Maxfield and Babbie CH 13, Pope CH 13 and Online Lecture 7 Take Online Quiz 5
Week Eight	Interpreting Data Images of Crime FINAL EXAM	Read: Maxfield and Babbie CH 14, Pope CH 17 and Online Lecture 8

MORE ABOUT ONLINE COURSES

DO NOT PRINT OUT all or most of the online lectures and other materials at the instructor's website. They are intended to be read online or downloaded to a PDA. What I have posted on the Internet is essentially an e-book, totaling over 1GB in file size. They are often updated, so it does little good to print them all out in advance and put them in a binder. It is also foolish to try and print out all the content at the hyperlinks to external sites at the bottom of each lecture. You'd be printing for days. I will try to announce content updates and changes as they happen, but the preferred method for reading in this course is online, taking advantage of all the embedded hyperlinks, dynamic Internet resources, Javascript applets, and other interactive media that is typical of an online course. Please make a habit of hitting the Refresh or Reload icon on your web browser to make sure you are viewing the latest version of a page at this site, or set your browser settings to refresh automatically. You definitely need to know how to Refresh a page's content to make sure you're looking at the most recent version of a post.

The ideal student in a web-based course will have the following characteristics:

They will be independent learners, capable of looking at problems critically and finding solutions to them with a minimum of assistance.
They will be disinclined to procrastinate. Anyone who gets behind in their work in a web- based course will find it very difficult to catch up.
They will be computer literate, and able to negotiate problems with their computer hardware and software as well as network connection when they occur. They will need very little hand holding in this area.
They will have sufficient time to devote to the course and its requirements, although that time may involve unconventional or irregular intervals.
They will have good communication skills, so that inquiries to the instructor will be specific and not require clarification and inevitable delay to obtain an answer.
They will be able to take advantage of the research resources available to them via the Internet and whatever library they may have access to.

Quizzes and exams will not be proctored, but require entering the login and password given the student by the main campus. You are on your honor that you, and only you, are the one taking the course and taking the exams. Security login names and passwords assigned to individual students may change throughout the course, or other methods may be used to ensure honesty. Only a small number of answers can be looked up in the lectures because students will find that, even with the help of sample exams, online quizzes and exams are extremely difficult and require going beyond memorization.