To begin the project, you must choose an outcome that is typically studied in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Examples include, but are not limited to, delinquency, drug use, homicide, sentence length, police force size, property crime rates, etc. You must then choose three independent variables that are commonly used to explain variation in the outcome you have chosen. You can come up with these variables on your own, or use the literature to guide you, or perhaps they will be theory driven. For each independent variable you have chosen, you must find at least two studies that have examined the effect of that variable on the outcome. All of these sources must be articles from peer-reviewed academic journals. You must have a total of at least 6 cited sources. After finding and reading these studies, you must write a 4-6 page literature review that includes: Introduction (approx. 1 page) The first paragraph of your assignment should introduce your topic. You may give background information, including relevant statistics, history, and theoretical background. You should also provide a rationale for studying this particular topic. Some of your 6 sources may be cited here. Literature review (approx. 3-5 pages) In this section, you will summarize the studies you read as they pertain to the variables you have chosen. For each variable, you should have at least two paragraphs. The first will include an explanation of why it is expected that this variable will influence the outcome you have chosen. The second will describe what prior research has found regarding the effect of this variable on the outcome you have chosen. This description should include how the researchers studied this relationship, what they found, and any explanation they give that you did not already include in the first paragraph. Since you have chosen three independent variables, that means there should be at least 6 paragraphs in this section of the paper. Bibliography (approx. 1 page) The bibliography should be on a separate page at the end of your paper and should include all articles cited in the paper. You do not need to submit copies of the articles you cited. However, to give an acceptable review of the research, you must have read all of the articles, and you must cite them appropriately. Instructions for how to cite sources in the text of your paper, and how to construct a bibliography are included and posted on the course website. BE SURE TO CITE AN ARTICLE WHENEVER YOU 1) DIRECTLY QUOTE IT AND/OR 2) PARAPHRASE IT
#Police #force #size
