Research Topic: What is causing the racial disparities between African
American offenders and their counterparts, and how can we reduce these rates?
Read the article and complete an analysis based on information within the article. This assignment requires atleast 2 pages, no more than 3 pages of CONTENT.
1.) Problem or theory – summarize your response to the following questions:
What specifically is the problem being examined in the study?
Why is it important and how is it a problem?
If a theory is being tested, what is it and why is it relevant?
What is the hypothesis of the study?
2.) Literature review – briefly summarize the literature or other relevant studies in the areas that are covered by the author (~ 2 or 3 sentences)
3.) Data collection – summarize your response to the following questions:
What kind of sample was used?
How was the data collected? Was the process explained clearly enough where you could replicate the study (with the author’s permission)?
Did the data collection methods seem appropriate to the hypothesis?
Does this data collection plan help to advance the knowledge in the field based on previous studies and their data collection methods?
How many people participated? Is the sample large enough to represent the population? Did they sign an informed consent?
Could other data collection instruments be used?
4.) Findings and conclusions – summarize your response to the following questions:
How was the data analyzed?
What did the author discover in the analysis?
What conclusions are reached?
5.) Evaluation of the study
How useful is the study presented in the article?
What are the limitations and criticisms of the study?
Did the author(s) accomplish what they intended to do?
