Criminal Justice Research Methods
CJ 3170

NOTE: The answers that I wrote down during midterm review were what I believed to be the right answers. They are not necessarily all mine, but instead are what I believed to be the best answer stated during the review.


1. What is the independent and the dependent variable in the following hypothesis? People over 65 years old who eat balanced meals will have significantly less health problems involving their immune systems than people who do not. (Note: be careful once you have identified each variable to write in a form that reflects a variable instead of a constant, ie., type of x, amount of x, etc.)

Independent: Types of meals eaten
Dependent: Health problems

2. What is the population in the above hypothesis?

People over 65 years old.

3. When one creates an operational definition of a variable, what is the most important question one should ask other than can a reasonable person follow the instructions accurately?

Does the measurement accurately measure the values of the underlying variable?

4. Give a very precise definition of what a scientist mans by an operational definition using the words “variable” and “value” in your answer properly:

An operational definition defines how a concept will be measured; the concept is assigned a numerical value and by being operationalized is now a variable.

5. In what section of a research proposal is a working hypothesis suppose to appear and what topic is it most likely to follow?

Section: Methods
Follows: Operational Definition

6. What are the three key elements found in a good introduction to a research paper?

1. A lead in
2. The hypothesis
3. A statement on why the paper will be useful/important

7. In what section of a proposal is a theoretical hypothesis supposed to appear and what topic is it most likely to follow? (READ QUESTION VERY CAREFULLY THAT CONTAINT THE WORD FOLLOW)

Section: Theoretical Literature Review
Follows: The Introduction

8. At the theoretical level, what two things is one attempting to establish in a good literature review?

1. The theoretical lit. review explains why your 2 variables may or may not be related.
2. The theoretical lit. review gives theories that support or oppose your hypothesis.

9. What must be present in a good title and how many of them are required?

1. An independent and dependent variable (and possibly a populations).
2. At least one of each

10. At the empirical level, name the three most important things or ideas that one is attempting to locate in a literature review that might be incorporated in your methodology section?

1. Measurement
2. Sampling/Design
3. Strengths and Weaknesses

11. What are the two test of whether or not a research topic meets the requirement of being “important”?

1. Contributes to theoretical based knowledge
2. Has immediate pragmatic operation

OR

1. The research is for knowledge’s sake
2. The research is for a specific purpose.

12. What is the difference in the goals of applied and pure research?

Applied research: Has pragmatic implications, concerned with solving immediate problems.
Pure research: Contributes to theoretical knowledge for the sake of science or the development of the field.

13. Identify the independent variable and the dependent variable in the following hypothesis: There exists a direct relationship between the severity of sentencing of felons and the magnitude of the court’s backlog of cases during any month for felons convicted of robbery

Independent: Magnitude of court’s backlog
Dependent: Severity of sentencing

14. What level of measurement is the independent variable and the dependent variable in the above hypothesis? (Sentences may include probation jail & prison).

LOM Independent: Ratio
LOM Dependent: Interval/ration

What is the unit of analysis in the above hypothesis?

One month


The rest of the questions will be up later tonight! (5/12)



What I feel like right now.

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