Analyzing Content Chapter.9 Test Bank

Chapter 12: Reporting Research Results

Test Bank

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Which of these is a group that will help the researcher begin to shape the final report? (12-1)
2. The researcher’s goals
3. The research sponsor’s goals
4. The concerns of the wider anticipated readership
5. All of the above

LOC: Reporting Research Results

TIP: Research Report Goals

[LO 1]

COG [Knowledge]

DIF [Easy]

1. Developing valid knowledge about how society is organized tells us (12-2)
2. How society should be organized
3. How we should live our lives
4. That there should be a strict separation between a determination of empirical facts and evaluation of those facts
5. All of the above

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Advance Scientific Knowledge

[LO 1]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Easy]

1. Many social scientists seek to influence social policy through their (12-2)
2. Writing
3. Policy-oriented social science research
4. Innocuous knowledge
5. Both B and C

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Shape Social Policy

[LO 1]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. William Foote Whyte argues that social scientists must (12-3)
2. Climb into a social scientific rut in order to understand it
3. Get out of the academic rut and engage research in order to better understand social phenomena
4. Step over the social scientific rut because it is a nonscientific concern
5. All of the above

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Organize Social Action—Participatory Action Research

[LO 1]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. Whyte proposed an alternative research and reporting strategy he calls (12-3)
2. Preliminary applied research
3. Participatory action research
4. Preformed applied research
5. None of the above

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Organize Social Action—Participatory Action Research

[LO 1]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. In PAR, the researcher involves some members of the setting as (12-3)
2. Passive participants
3. Active participants
4. Passive-aggressive participants
5. Objective participants

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Organize Social Action—Participatory Action Research

[LO 1]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. Torre and Fine (2005) were involved in Participatory Action Research to facilitate a (12-3)
2. college and college-bound program at high schools in New York
3. college and college-bound program at prisons in New York
4. college program at a work farm in the eastern U.S.
5. college-bound program for long-term prisoners in the U.S.

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Case Study: Seeking Higher Education for Inmates

[LO 1]

COG [Application]

DIF [Medium]

1. The PAR team were interested in knowing (12-3)
2. Who the men were in the program
3. The impact of the college experience on inmate students and their children
4. The cost of the program to the state offices supporting it
5. The triangulation and qualitative analysis of rate of the program

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Case Study: Seeking Higher Education for Inmates

[LO 1]

COG [Application]

DIF [Medium]

1. The cost-benefit analysis of the program indicated that the (12-4)
2. Costs due to increased recidivism outweighed the cost of the program itself
3. Savings based on decreased recidivism rates for those who attended the college far outweighed the initial cost of the program itself
4. Elements of the program did not create community involvement, as expected
5. None of the above

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Case Study: Seeking Higher Education for Inmates

[LO 1]

COG [Analysis]

DIF [Medium]

1. A methodology that emphasizes the importance of exploring how stakeholders construct beliefs is known as a (12-4)
2. Construction paradigm
3. Inquiring paradigm
4. Belief paradigm
5. Constructivist paradigm

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Dialogue With Research Subjects

[LO 1]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Hard]

1. The constructivist paradigm rejects the assumption that (12-4)
2. There is a not a reality around us to be studied and reported on
3. There is no way to create a consensus among participants to understand findings
4. There is a reality around us to be studied and reported on
5. There is no way to evaluate this type of research

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Dialogue With Research Subjects

[LO 1]

COG [Analysis]

DIF [Hard]

1. Students preparing a paper for a committee must be prepared to integrate (12-5)
2. Two or three perspectives at most into a moderately coherent plan
3. Multiple perspectives and comments of committee members into a plan for a coherent final report
4. His own perspective into a plan for a carefully selected final report
5. All of the above

LOC: Student Papers and Theses

TIP: The Thesis Committee

[LO 2]

COG [Synthesis]

DIF [Medium]

1. When an article is submitted for peer review, the journal’s editor sends submitted articles to (12-5)
2. Eight to ten experts (peers) for their analysis
3. Five to seven experts (peers) for their comments and whether the article should be accepted or rejected
4. Two to three experts (peers) for their comments as to whether it should be accepted, revised or resubmitted, or rejected
5. None of the above

LOC: Types of Research Reports

TIP: Journal Articles

[LO 2]

COG [Knowledge]

DIF [Easy]

1. The peer review process includes (12-6)
2. Experts in the field who usually have published articles themselves in the field
3. Peer reviewers who are pulled out of a hat that represent being experts in their field
4. Making sure that the author is not familiar with research literature so that he is able to present his own research without the taint of other researchers
5. None of the above

LOC: Types of Research Reports

TIP: Journal Articles

[LO 6]

COG [Knowledge]

DIF [1]

1. Criminological and criminal justice research is published in many journals within several disciplines and (12-6)
2. All use one formatting style
3. Each journal uses their own formatting style
4. The psychology-related journals use a different style and all the rest use a separate single style
5. None of the above

LOC: Types of Research Reports

TIP: Journal Articles

[LO 2]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. Applied reports are usually commissioned by (12-6)
2. Colleges or Universities
3. Particular government agencies or corporations
4. Nonprofit organizations
5. Both B and C are true

LOC: Types of Research Reports

TIP: Applied Reports

[LO 4]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. According to Booth, Colomb, and Williams (1995), which is the first step in writing a successful report? (12-7)
2. Respect the complexity of the task
3. Start with an outline
4. Leave time for restarts and revisions
5. Ask all people you trust for reactions

LOC: Types of ResearchReports

TIP: Curbing the Frustrations of Writing

[LO 3]

COG [Application]

DIF [Medium]

1. The method called reverse outlining involves (12-8)
2. Ignoring the section headings
3. Outlining on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis
4. Ignoring actual section headings
5. All of the above

LOC: Types of Research Reports

TIP: Curbing the Frustrations of Writing

[LO 3]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. In a combined frequency display, the distributions of a set of conceptually similar variables with the same response categories (12-8)
2. Are presented separately with different headings for responses
3. Are presented separately with common headings for responses
4. Are presented together with common headings for responses
5. None of the above

LOC: Curbing the Frustrations of Writing

TIP: Displaying Data

[LO 2]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. Compressed frequency displays (12-9)
2. Mean the same as combined frequency displays
3. Can be used to present correlational data efficiently
4. Can be used to present cross-tabular data and summary statistics efficiently
5. Are most effective with univariate variables

LOC: Curbing the Frustrations of Writing

TIP: Displaying Data

[LO 2]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. Requirements for good research reports in quantitative and qualitative research projects are (12-11)
2. Very different and may not be used together at all
3. Ones that include good writing as well as a clear statement of the research question
4. Often divergent in many respects of their research
5. Always very different and easily combined

LOC: Displaying Data

TIP: Some Final Thoughts on Reporting Quantitative and Qualitative Research

[LO 3]

COG [Analysis]

DIF [Medium]

1. Methodology sections should (12-12)
2. Never describe how the researcher gained access to participants
3. Rarely show the approach used to manage relations with research participants
4. Describe how the researcher gained access to the setting or individuals studied
5. All of the above

LOC: Curbing the Frustrations of Writing

TIP: Displaying Data

[LO 3]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. Reports on mixed-methods projects should include (12-11)
2. Subsections that introduce each method
3. Distinguishing findings from qualitative and quantitative analyses in the findings section
4. Both A and B
5. None of the above

LOC: Displaying Data

TIP: Some Final Thoughts on Reporting Quantitative and Qualitative Research

[LO 3]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Easy]

1. Researchers have an obligation to (12-14)
2. Be familiar with the definition of plagiarism and how it is enforced by your discipline’s professional association
3. Be familiar with their code of ethics as well as other applicable codes of ethics
4. Provide only information about changes made in plans to research and or new ideas
5. Both A and B

LOC: Communicating With the Public

TIP: Plagiarism

[LO 5]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. Researchers have an ethical obligation to maintain a full record of the research project (12-16)
2. And although details may have to be omitted, even if omissions make it impossible to track down answers to specific questions
3. So that occasional “lying with statistics” can be explained
4. So that questions can be answered if they arise
5. Even though answers to specific questions about procedures may not be answerable

LOC: Displaying Data

TIP: Ethics, Politics, and Reporting Research

[LO 5]

COG [Analysis]

DIF [Medium]

1. Ethical research reporting includes (12-13)
2. Telling a coherent story without losing track in miniscule details
3. Reporting every twist and turn in conceptualization of the research problem
4. Being suspicious of reports that include no room for improvement
5. All of the above

LOC: Displaying Data

TIP: Ethics, Politics, and Reporting Research

[LO 6]

COG [Analysis]

DIF [Medium]

1. Sociologist William Julius Wilson (1998) argues that when engaging the public through the media, the researcher should (12-13)
2. Present a small picture at a time because a non-sociologist could not possibly understand
3. Focus on issues of national concern that are high on the public agenda
4. Develop simplistic arguments with minimal technical language so they may be understood
5. Present information so that the public can see the parts but not necessarily how they fit together because they may be too complicated

LOC: Ethics, Politics, and Reporting Research

TIP: Communicating With the Public

[LO 4]

COG [Analysis]

DIF [Medium]

1. Plagiarism is (12-13)
2. Presenting information as if it were your own idea, even if it is not
3. Failing to give proper acknowledgement for an idea
4. Honesty and openness in research procedures and results
5. Both A and B

LOC: Communicating With the Public

TIP: Plagiarism

[LO 5]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Knowledge]

1. One of the three legs of validity is (12-14)
2. Measurement validity
3. Causal validity
4. Facial validity
5. Only A and B

LOC: Plagiarism

TIP: Conclusion

[LO 5]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Easy]

1. The ASA Code of Ethics specifically prohibits plagiarism (12-14)
2. In publications, presentations, and taking data from another person’s written work
3. Even if the work is not quoted verbatim or paraphrased
4. And states that lack of awareness is not a defense to a charge of unethical conduct
5. All of the above

LOC: Communicating With the Public

TIP: Plagiarism

[LO 4]

COG [Knowledge]

DIF [Easy]

TRUE/FALSE

1. When designing a proposal, commitments must often be made to cover certain issues in the final report. (12-2)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Reporting Research Results

TIP: Research Report Goal

[LO 1]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Easy]

1. The traditional scientific approach does not encourage a research goal to advance scientific knowledge. (12-2)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Advance Scientific Knowledge

[LO 1]

COG [Knowledge]

DIF [Easy]

1. Many social scientists seek to influence social policy through their writing. (12-2)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Shape Social Policy

[LO 1]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. Whyte (1991) argues that social scientists must get “out of the academic rut” and engage in applied research to develop better understanding of social phenomena. (12-3)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Organize Social Action—Participatory Action Research

[LO 1]

COG [Analysis]

DIF [Medium]

1. In participatory action research the researcher involves some organizational members as active participants throughout the process of studying an organization. (12-3)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Organize Social Action—Participatory Action Research

[LO 1]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. Torre and Fine (2005) found that the positive impact of college on inmates was transferred to their children. (12-3)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Case Study: Seeking Higher Education for Inmates

[LO 2]

COG [Analysis]

DIF [Medium]

1. The constructivist paradigm is a methodology that emphasizes the importance of exploring how stakeholders in construction build their beliefs. (12-4)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Dialogue With Research Subjects

[LO 2]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. Often, applied research reports are written for an organization or agency. (12-5)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Types of Research Reports

[LO 2]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Easy]

1. Often the most distinctive thing about student research papers is the audience for the final product. (12-5)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Types of Research Reports

TIP: Student Papers and Theses

[LO 3]

COG [Analysis]

DIF [Medium]

1. As much as possible, thesis committee members should have complementary areas of expertise for a research project. (12-5)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Types of Research Reports

TIP: The Thesis Committee

[LO 2]

COG [Synthesis]

DIF [Medium]

1. The process for preparing an article for an academic journal article is unique because it uses an editor review process. (12-5)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Types of Research Reports

TIP: Journal Articles

[LO 2]

COG [Analysis]

DIF [Medium]

1. Like journal articles, applied reports are commissioned by a particular government agency. (12-6)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Types of Research Reports

TIP: Applied Reports

[LO 4]

COG [Applied]

DIF [Medium]

1. According to Booth, Colomb, and Williams (1995), an author should respect the complexity of the task and not expect to write a polished draft in a linear fashion. (12-7)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Types of Research Reports

TIP: Curbing the Frustrations of Writing

[LO 4]

COG [Application]

DIF [Medium]

1. According to Booth, Colomb, and Williams (1995), an author should worry about spelling and grammar from the beginning of the writing process. (12-7)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Types of Research Reports

TIP: Curbing the Frustrations of Writing

[LO 4]

COG [Application]

DIF [Medium]

1. Reverse outlining is when you outline the sections in an already written draft of a paper or report to improve its organization in the next draft. (12-8)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Types of Research Reports

TIP: Curbing the Frustrations of Writing

[LO 4]

COG [Application]

DIF [Medium]

1. A table that presents together the distributions for a set of conceptually different variables with different response categories is a combined frequency display. (12-8)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Curbing the Frustrations of Writing

TIP: Displaying Data

[LO 4]

COG [Application]

DIF [Medium]

1. When cross-classification data are efficiently displayed by eliminating unnecessary percentages, it is known as a compressed frequency display. (12-9)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Curbing the Frustrations of Writing

TIP: Displaying Data

[LO 7]

COG [Synthesis]

DIF Hard

1. The requirements for good research reports are similar in many respects for quantitative and qualitative research projects. (12-11)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Displaying Data

TIP: Some Final Thoughts on Reporting Quantitative and Qualitative Research

[LO 7]

COG [Synthesis]

DIF [Medium]

1. The methodology section in a qualitative research report should describe the researcher’s interpretation of his materials. (12-11)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Displaying Data

TIP: Some Final Thoughts on Reporting Quantitative and Qualitative Research

[LO 6]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. It is important to provide an honest accounting of how the research was carried out. (12-12)
2. True
3. False

LOC: Displaying Data

TIP: Ethics, Politics, and Reporting Research

[LO7]

COG Comprehension []

DIF [Easy]

ESSAY

1. Describe the three basic goals of research reports. (12-1)

Advance Scientific Knowledge -- Most social science research reports are directed to other social scientists working in the area of study, so they reflect orientations and concerns that are shared within this community of interest. The so scientific approach encourages a research goal to advance scientific knowledge by providing reports to other scientists. This approach also treats value considerations as beyond the scope of science: “An empirical science cannot tell anyone what he should do but rather what he can do and under certain circumstances what he wishes to do” (Weber, 1949, p. 54).

The idea is that developing valid knowledge about how society is organized or how we live our lives does not tell us how society should be organized or how we should live our lives. There should, as a result, be a strict separation between the determination of empirical facts and the evaluation of these facts as satisfactory or unsatisfactory (Weber, 1949). Social scientists must not ignore value considerations, which are viewed as a legitimate basis for selecting a research problem to study. After the research is over and a report has been written, many scientists also consider it acceptable to encourage government officials or private organizations to implement the findings. During a research project, however, value considerations are to be held in abeyance.

Shape Social Policy -- As we highlighted in our discussion of applied research in Chapter 10, many social scientists seek to social policy through their writing. By now, you have been exposed to several such examples in this text, including all the evaluation research. These particular studies, like much policy-oriented social science research, are similar to those that aim strictly to increase knowledge. In fact, these studies might even be considered contributions to knowledge first and to social policy debate second. What distinguishes the reports of these studies from strictly academic reports is their attention to policy implications.

Other social scientists who seek to influence social policy explicitly reject the traditional scientific, rigid distinction between facts and values (Sjoberg & Nett, 1968). Bellah and colleagues (Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan, Swidler, & Tipton, 1985) have instead proposed a model of “social science as public philosophy,” in which social scientists focus explicit attention on achieving a more just society:

Social science makes assumptions about the nature of persons, the nature of society, and the relation between persons and society. It also, whether it admits it or not, makes assumptions about good persons and a good society and considers how far these conceptions are embodied in our actual society.

Social science as public philosophy, by breaking through the iron curtain between the social sciences and the humanities, becomes a form of social self-understanding or self-interpretation.... By probing the past as well as the present, by looking at “values” as much as at “facts,” such a social science is able to make connections that are not obvious and to ask difficult questions. (p. 301)

This perspective suggests more explicit concern with public policy implications when reporting research results. But it is important to remember that we all are capable of distorting our research and our interpretations of research results to correspond to our own value preferences. The temptation to see what we want to see is enormous, and research reports cannot be deemed acceptable unless they avoid this temptation.

Organize Social Action—Participatory Action Research

For the same reasons that value questions are traditionally set apart from the research process, many social scientists consider the application of research a nonscientific concern. William Foote Whyte, whose Street Corner Society (1943) study you encountered in Chapter 8, has criticized this belief and proposed an alternative research and reporting strategy he calls participatory action research (PAR). Whyte (1991) argues that social scientists must get “out of the academic rut” and engage in applied research to develop better understanding of social phenomena (p. 285).

Participatory action research: A type of research in which the researcher involves some organizational members as active participants throughout the process of studying an organization; the goal is making changes in the organization.

In PAR, the researcher involves as active participants some members of the setting studied. Both the organizational members and the researcher are assumed to want to develop valid conclusions, to bring unique insights, and to desire change, but Whyte (1991) believed that these objectives were more likely to be obtained if the researcher collaborated actively with the persons he or she studied. PAR can bring researchers into closer contact with participants in the research setting through groups that discuss and plan research steps and then take steps to implement research findings. Stephen Kemmis and Robin McTaggart (2005) summarize the key features of PAR as “a spiral of self-reflecting cycles” involving

• planning a change,
• acting and observing the process and consequences of the change,
• reflecting on these processes and consequences,
• planning again, and
• acting and observing again.

In contrast with the formal reporting of results at the end of a research project, these cycles make research reporting an ongoing part of the research process.

LOC: Reporting Research Results

TIP: Research Report Goals

[LO 1]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Easy]

1. Identify unique problems that must be overcome in writing student papers, theses, applied research reports, and journal articles. (12-4)

These unique features do not really match up so neatly with specific types of research products. For example, a student paper that is based on a research project conducted in collaboration with a work organization may face some constraints for a project designed to produce an applied research report. An academic article may stem from an applied research project conducted for a government agency. An applied research report often can be followed by an academic article on the same topic. In fact, one research study may lead to all three types of research reports as students write course papers or theses for professors who write both academic articles and applied research reports.

Student Papers and Theses -- What is most distinctive about a student research paper or thesis is the audience for the final product: a professor or (for a thesis) a committee of professors. In light of this, it is important for you to seek feedback early and often about the progress of your research and about your professor’s expectations for the final paper. Securing approval of a research proposal is usually the first step, but it should not be the last occasion for seeking advice prior to writing the final paper. Do not become too anxious for guidance, however. Professors require research projects in part so that their students can work through—at least somewhat independently—the many issues they confront. A great deal of insight into the research process can be gained in this way. So balance your requests for advice with some independent decision making.

Most student research projects can draw on few resources beyond the student’s own time and effort, so it is important that the research plan not be overly ambitious. Keep the paper deadline in mind when planning the project, and remember that almost every researcher tends to underestimate the time required to carry out a project.

The Thesis Committee -- Students who are preparing a paper for a committee, usually at the MA or PhD level, must be prepared to integrate the multiple perspectives and comments of committee members into a plan for a coherent final report. (The thesis committee chair should be the primary guide in this process; careful selection of faculty to serve on the committee is also important.) As much as possible, committee members should have complementary areas of expertise that are each important for the research project: perhaps one methodologist, one specialist in the primary substantive area of the thesis, and one specialist in a secondary area.

It is very important that you work with your committee members in an ongoing manner, both individually and collectively. In fact, it is vitally important to have a group meeting with all committee members at the beginning of the project to ensure that everyone on the committee supports the research plan. Doing this will avoid obstacles that arise due to miscommunication later in the research process.

Journal Articles -- It is the peer review process that makes preparation of an academic journal article most unique. Similar to a grant review, the journal’s editor sends submitted articles to two or three experts (peers), who are asked whether the paper should be accepted more or less as is, revised and then resubmitted, or rejected. Reviewers also provide comments—which are sometimes quite lengthy—to explain their decision and to guide any required revisions. The process is an anonymous one at most journals; reviewers are not told the author’s name, and the author is not told the reviewers’ names. Although the journal editor has the final say, editors’ decisions are normally based on the reviewers’ comments.

Peer review: A process in which a journal editor sends a submitted article to two or three experts who judge whether the paper should be accepted, revised and resubmitted, or rejected; the experts also provide comments to explain their decision and guide any revisions.

This peer review process must be anticipated in designing the final report. Peer reviewers are not pulled out of a hat. They are experts in the field or fields represented in the paper and usually have published articles themselves in that field. It is critical that the author be familiar with the research literature and be able to present the research findings as a unique contribution to that literature. In most cases, this hurdle is much harder to jump with journal articles than with student papers or applied research reports. In fact, most leading journals have a rejection rate of over 90%, so that hurdle is quite high indeed. Of course, there is also a certain luck of the draw involved in peer review. One set of two or three reviewers may be inclined to reject an article that another set of reviewers would accept. But in general, the anonymous peer review process results in higher-quality research reports because articles are revised prior to publication in response to the suggestions and criticisms of the experts.

Criminological and criminal justice research is published in a myriad of journals within several disciplines, including criminology, law, sociology, psychology, and economics. As a result, there is no one formatting style by which all criminological literature abides. If, for example, you are submitting your paper to a psychology-related journal, you must abide by the formatting style dictated by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (American Psychological Association, 2009). The easiest way to determine how to format a paper for a particular journal is to examine recent volumes of the journal and format your paper accordingly. Numerous articles are available on the student study site (the website is listed at the end of each chapter in this book).

Despite the slight variations in style across journals, there are typically seven standard sections within a journal article in addition to the title page (see Exhibit 12.1).

Applied Reports -- Unlike journal articles, applied reports are usually commissioned by a particular government agency, corporation, or nonprofit organization. As such, the most important problem that applied researchers confront is the need to produce a final report that meets the funding organization’s expectations. This is called the “hired gun” problem. Of course, the extent to which being a hired gun is a problem varies greatly with the research orientation of the funding organization and with the nature of the research problem posed. The ideal situation is to have few constraints on the nature of the final report, but sometimes research reports are suppressed or distorted because the researcher comes to conclusions that the funding organization does not like.

Exhibit 12.1 General Sections of a Journal Article

Applied reports that are written in a less highly charged environment can face another problem—even when they are favorably received by the funding organization, their conclusions are often ignored. This problem can be more a matter of the organization not really knowing how to use research findings than it not wanting to use them. This is not just a problem of the funding organization; many researchers are prepared only to present their findings, without giving any thought to how research findings can be translated into organizational policies or programs.

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Types of Research Reports

[LO 2]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. Describe the elements that should be considered in writing research reports to ensure adherence to the ethical standard of honesty. (12-11)

Reports based on qualitative research should be enriched in each section with elements that reflect the more holistic and reflexive approach of qualitative projects. The introduction should include background about the development of the researcher’s interest in the topic, whereas the literature review should include some attention to the types of particular qualitative methods used in prior research. The methodology section should describe how the researcher gained access to the setting or individuals studied and the approach used to managing relations with research participants. The presentation of findings in qualitative studies may be organized into sections reflecting different themes identified in interviews or observational sessions. Quotes from participants or from observational notes should be selected to illustrate these themes, although qualitative research reports differ in the extent to which the researcher presents findings in summary form or uses direct quotes to identify key issues. The findings sections in a qualitative report may alternate between presentations of quotes or observations about the research participants, the researcher’s interpretations of this material, and some commentary on how the researcher reacted in the setting, although some qualitative researchers will limit their discussion of their reactions to the discussion section.

Reports on mixed-methods projects should include subsections in the methods section that introduce each method and then distinguish findings from qualitative and quantitative analyses in the findings section. Some mixed-methods research reports may present analyses that use both qualitative and quantitative data in yet another subsection, but others may just discuss implications of analyses of each type for the overall conclusions in the discussions and conclusions sections (Dahlberg, Wittink, & Gallo, 2010). When findings based on each method are presented, it is important to consider explicitly both the ways in which the specific methods influenced findings obtained with those methods and to discuss the implications of findings obtained using both methods for the overall study conclusions.

LOC: Displaying Data

TIP: Some Final Thoughts on Reporting Quantitative and Qualitative Research

[LO 4]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. List and describe the major sections of a research article. (12-6)

LOC: Types of Research Reports

TIP: Applied Reports

[LO 3]

COG [Analysis]

DIF [Medium]

1. Discuss the motivations for plagiarism and the ways of avoiding suspicions of plagiarism. (12-13)

Plagiarism -- Presenting as one’s own the ideas or words of another person or persons for academic evaluation without proper acknowledgment.

You learned in Chapter 3 that maintaining professional integrity—honesty and openness in research procedures and results—is the foundation for ethical research practice. When it comes to research publications and reports, being honest and open means avoiding plagiarism—that is, presenting as one’s own the ideas or words of another person or persons for academic evaluation without proper acknowledgment (Hard, Conway, & Moran, 2006). In essence, plagiarism is a form of stealing.

An increasing body of research suggests that plagiarism is a growing problem on college campuses. For example, Hard et al. (2006) conducted an anonymous survey in one university and found very high plagiarism rates: 60.6% of students reported that they had copied “sentences, phrases, paragraphs, tables, figures or data directly or in slightly modified form from a book, article, or other academic source without using quotation marks or giving proper acknowledgment to the original author or source” (p. 1069), and 39.4% reported that they had “copied information from Internet [websites] and submitted it as [their] work” (p. 1069).

The plagiarism problem is not just about purchasing term papers—although that is really about as bad as it gets (Broskoske, 2005); plagiarism is also about what you do with the information you obtain from a literature review or an inspection of research reports. However, rest assured that this is not only about student papers; it also is about the work of established scholars and social researchers who publish reports that you want to rely on for accurate information. Several noted historians have been accused of plagiarizing passages that they used in popular books; some have admitted to not checking the work of their research assistants, to not keeping track of their sources, or to being unable to retrieve the data they claimed they had analyzed. Whether the cause is cutting corners to meet deadlines or consciously fudging facts, the effect is to undermine the trustworthiness of social research.

A primary way to avoid plagiarism is to maintain careful procedures for documenting the sources that you rely on for your own research and papers, but you should also think about how best to reduce temptations among others. After all, what people believe about what others do is a strong influence on their own behavior (Hard et al., 2006).

Reviewing the definition of plagiarism and how it is enforced by your discipline’s professional association is an important first step. These definitions and procedures reflect a collective effort to help social scientists maintain standards throughout the discipline. Awareness is the first step (American Sociological Association [ASA], 1999). In addition, your college or university also has rules that delineate its definition of and consequences for plagiarism.

Researchers have an obligation to be familiar with their code of ethics (and other applicable ethics codes) and their application to sociologists’ work. Lack of awareness or misunderstanding of an ethical standard is not, in itself, a defense to a charge of unethical conduct.

ASA’s (2008) Code of Ethics, which is used by the American Society of Criminology and is similar to that of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, includes an explicit prohibition of plagiarism:

14. Plagiarism

(a) In publications, presentations, teaching, practice, and service, sociologists explicitly identify, credit, and reference the author when they take data or material verbatim from another person’s written work, whether it is published, unpublished, or electronically available.

(b) In their publications, presentations, teaching, practice, and service, sociologists provide acknowledgment of and reference to the use of others’ work, even if the work is not quoted verbatim or paraphrased, and they do not present others’ work as their own whether it is published, unpublished, or electronically available. (p. 16)

The next step toward combating the problem and temptation of plagiarism is to keep focused on the goal of social research methods: investigating the social world. If researchers are motivated by a desire to learn about social relations, to study how people understand society, and to discover why conflicts arise and how they can be prevented, they will be as concerned with the integrity of their research methods as are those, like yourself, who read and use the results of their research. Throughout this text, you have been learning how to use research processes and practices that yield valid findings and trustworthy conclusions. Failing to report honestly and openly on the methods used or sources consulted derails progress toward that goal.

It works the same as cheating in school. When students are motivated only by the desire to ace their tests and receive better grades than others, they are more likely to plagiarize and use other illicit means to achieve that goal. Students who seek first to improve their understanding of the subject matter and to engage in the process of learning are less likely to plagiarize sources or cheat on exams (Kohn, 2008). They are also building the foundation for becoming successful social researchers who help others understand our world.

LOC: Communicating With the Public

TIP: Plagiarism

[LO 5]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]

1. Identify major steps in the review of research reports. (12-6)

LOC: Types of Research Reports

TIP: Applied Reports

[LO 6]

COG [Knowledge]

DIF [Medium]

1. What ways can an author display statistical results without redundant information using compressed displays? (12-8)

In a combined frequency display, the distributions for a set of conceptually similar variables with the same response categories are presented together, with common headings for the responses. For example, you could identify the variables in the leftmost column and the value labels along the top. Exhibit 12.2 is a combined display reporting the frequency distributions in percentage form for responses to the question, “How worried are you that you or someone in your family will become a victim of terrorism?” for the years 2002 through 2013. From this table, you can infer several pieces of information besides the basic distribution of attitudes. Except for the high blip in early October, when 24% of the population was very worried, for the most part, about 1 in 10 people have been very worried throughout the entire time period. However, there has been a noticeable increase in the percentage of the population who are not worried at all during this time.

Combined frequency display -- A table that presents together the distributions for a set of conceptually similar variables having the same response categories; common headings are used for the responses.

Compressed frequency displays can also be used to present cross-tabular data and summary statistics more efficiently by eliminating unnecessary percentages (such as those corresponding to the second value of a dichotomous variable) and by reducing the need for repetitive labels. Exhibit 12.3 presents a compressed display used to highlight the characteristics of violent victimization by victim and offender relationship across the life course. It took many cross-tabulations to create this display, but not all of the percentages are presented—only the percentages necessary to convey the bivariate distribution are presented. With this display, readers can easily compare the likelihood of different types of violence across age groups. For example, we can see that those age 65 or older are actually more likely to be victimized by strangers compared to all other age groups.

Compressed frequency display -- A table that presents cross-classification data efficiently by eliminating unnecessary percentages, such as the percentage corresponding to the second value of a dichotomous variable.

Combined and compressed statistical displays present a large amount of data in a relatively small space. To the experienced reader of statistical reports, such displays can convey much important information. They should be used with caution, however, because people who are not used to them may be baffled by the rows of numbers.

Graphs can also provide an efficient tool for summarizing relationships among variables. A good example of the use of graphs is the report Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2013 (Robers, Kemp, Rathbun, Morgan, & Snyder, 2014). Exhibit 12.4 presents nonfatal serious violent victimization rates against students aged 12 to 18 that occurred both at and away from school for 1992 through 2012. These figures were obtained from the School Crime Supplement from the NCVS (Robers et al., 2014). Nonfatal serious violence includes rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults. Interestingly, it appears that while serious violence against students away from school has been decreasing over this time period, victimization at school, except for the high point in the early 1990s, has remained relatively stable. As you can see, compressed displays in both table and graph form can be very illuminating!

Exhibit 12.2 Combined Frequency Distribution of Responses to Question About Fear of Terrorism, 2002–2013

Source: Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics Online. (2013). Table 2.29.2013. Retrieved September 19, 2015, from http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/pdf/t2292013.pdf

Exhibit 12.3 Compressed Display of the Distribution of Violent Victimization by Victim–Offender Relationship and Age Group, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2003–2013

Source: Morgan, R. E., & Mason, B. J. (2014). Crimes against the elderly, 2003–2013. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice.

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to rounding. See appendix table 14 for standard errors.

^aIncludes current or former spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends.

^bIncludes unknown victim–offender relationships and unknown number of offenders.

LOC: Curbing the Frustrations of Writing

TIP: Displaying Data

[LO 7]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Hard]

1. What is Participatory Action Research (PAR)? Example? (12-4)

Participatory action research -- A type of research in which the researcher involves some organizational members as active participants throughout the process of studying an organization; the goal is making changes in the organization.

In PAR, the researcher involves as active participants some members of the setting studied. Both the organizational members and the researcher are assumed to want to develop valid conclusions, to bring unique insights, and to desire change, but Whyte (1991) believed that these objectives were more likely to be obtained if the researcher collaborated actively with the persons he or she studied. PAR can bring researchers into closer contact with participants in the research setting through groups that discuss and plan research steps and then take steps to implement research findings. Stephen Kemmis and Robin McTaggart (2005) summarize the key features of PAR as “a spiral of self-reflecting cycles” involving

• planning a change,
• acting and observing the process and consequences of the change,
• reflecting on these processes and consequences,
• planning again, and
• acting and observing again

In contrast with the formal reporting of results at the end of a research project, these cycles make research reporting an ongoing part of the research process.

Case Study: Seeking Higher Education for Inmates

While prison populations in the United States have been significantly increasing, access to college programs within prisons has been essentially eliminated. Primarily because of the “tough on crime” policies of the 1990s, by 1995, only eight of the existing 350 college programs in prisons remained open nationwide (Torre & Fine, 2005). To remedy this situation, Torre and Fine became involved in PAR to facilitate a college and college-bound program at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility (BHCF), a maximum-security women’s prison in New York. Michelle Fine was the principal investigator in the study determining the effects of the program, along with four prisoner researchers and four researchers from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. This PAR team asked several questions: (a) Who are the women in the college program? (b) What is the impact of the college experience on inmate students and their children? (c) What is the impact of the college experience on the prison environment? (d) What is the impact of the college experience beyond college on recidivism? and (e) What is the cost of such a program to taxpayers? The researchers used a triangulated methodology employing quantitative analysis of recidivism rates and costs of the program along with in-depth interviews with the participants; focus groups with inmates, faculty, children, and college presidents; and surveys of faculty who taught in the program. Although not using a randomized experimental design, Torre and Fine, along with their coinvestigators, tracked participants in the college program after release and found that women who had not participated in the program were four times more likely to be returned to custody than women who had participated.

The narratives from the interviews with college inmates also illuminated the positive benefits of the education. One inmate college student said,

Because when you take somebody that feels that they’re not gonna amount to anything, and you put them in an environment, like, when you’re in college it takes you away from the prison... it’s like you’re opening your mind to a whole different experience. (Torre & Fine, 2005, p. 582)

The positive impact of college on the inmates was also transferred to their children. The cost-benefit analysis of the program indicated that the savings based on decreased recidivism rates for those who attended the college far outweighed the initial cost of the program itself. In sum, with just a small grant from a private foundation, the PAR team brought together universities, prisoners, churches, community organizations, and prison administrators to resurrect a college at BHCF. The authors concluded, “Key elements of this program include broad-based community involvement, strong prisoner participation in design and governance, and the support of the prison administration” (p. 591). A full report of this research can be found at http://ggsc.wnmu.edu/gap/fine.htm. As you can see, PAR has the potential to be life changing for all those involved.

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Organize Social Action—Participatory Action Research

[LO 4]

COG [Application]

DIF [Hard]

1. Describe the research by Torre & Fine (2005). (12-3)

The narratives from the interviews with college inmates also illuminated the positive benefits of the education. One inmate college student said,

Because when you take somebody that feels that they’re not gonna amount to anything, and you put them in an environment, like, when you’re in college it takes you away from the prison... it’s like you’re opening your mind to a whole different experience. (Torre & Fine, 2005, p. 582)

The positive impact of college on the inmates was also transferred to their children. The cost-benefit analysis of the program indicated that the savings based on decreased recidivism rates for those who attended the college far outweighed the initial cost of the program itself. In sum, with just a small grant from a private foundation, the PAR team brought together universities, prisoners, churches, community organizations, and prison administrators to resurrect a college at BHCF. The authors concluded, “Key elements of this program include broad-based community involvement, strong prisoner participation in design and governance, and the support of the prison administration” (p. 591). A full report of this research can be found at http://ggsc.wnmu.edu/gap/fine.htm. As you can see, PAR has the potential to be life changing for all those involved.

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Organize Social Action—Participatory Action Research

[LO 2]

COG [Application]

DIF [Medium]

1. What is the constructivist paradigm? What does it emphasize? (12-4)

Constructivist paradigm -- Methodology based on rejection of belief in an external reality; it emphasizes the importance of exploring the way in which different stakeholders in a social setting construct their beliefs.

The constructivist approach provides a useful way of thinking about how to best make sense of the complexity and subjectivity of the social world. Other researchers write reports intended to influence public policy, and often, their findings are ignored. Such neglect would be less common if social researchers gave more attention to the different meanings attached by participants to the same events, in the spirit of constructivist case reports. The philosophy of this approach is also similar to the utilization-based evaluation research approach advanced by Patton (1997; see Chapter 10) that involves all stakeholders in the research process.

LOC: Research Report Goals

TIP: Dialogue With Research Subjects

[LO 2]

COG [Analysis]

DIF [Medium

1. What is the Peer Review process in preparing academic journal articles? Why is it most unique? (12-5)

Peer review -- A process in which a journal editor sends a submitted article to two or three experts who judge whether the paper should be accepted, revised and resubmitted, or rejected; the experts also provide comments to explain their decision and guide any revisions.

This peer review process must be anticipated in designing the final report. Peer reviewers are not pulled out of a hat. They are experts in the field or fields represented in the paper and usually have published articles themselves in that field. It is critical that the author be familiar with the research literature and be able to present the research findings as a unique contribution to that literature. In most cases, this hurdle is much harder to jump with journal articles than with student papers or applied research reports. In fact, most leading journals have a rejection rate of over 90%, so that hurdle is quite high indeed. Of course, there is also a certain luck of the draw involved in peer review. One set of two or three reviewers may be inclined to reject an article that another set of reviewers would accept. But in general, the anonymous peer review process results in higher-quality research reports because articles are revised prior to publication in response to the suggestions and criticisms of the experts.

Criminological and criminal justice research is published in a myriad of journals within several disciplines, including criminology, law, sociology, psychology, and economics. As a result, there is no one formatting style by which all criminological literature abides. If, for example, you are submitting your paper to a psychology-related journal, you must abide by the formatting style dictated by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (American Psychological Association, 2009). The easiest way to determine how to format a paper for a particular journal is to examine recent volumes of the journal and format your paper accordingly. Numerous articles are available on the student study site (the website is listed at the end of each chapter in this book).

Despite the slight variations in style across journals, there are typically seven standard sections within a journal article in addition to the title page (see Exhibit 12.1).

LOC: Types of Research Reports

TIP: Journal Articles

[LO 6]

COG [Analysis]

DIF [Medium]

1. What are the steps in writing a successful report, according to Booth, Colomb, and Williams (1995)? (12-7)

We often hear lamentations from students such as “It is impossible to know where to begin” or “I have a hard time getting started.” To this we say only, “Begin wherever you are most comfortable, but begin early!” You do not have to start with the introduction; start in the method section if you prefer. The main point is to begin somewhere and then keep typing, keep typing, and keep typing! It is always easier to rewrite a paper than it is to write the first draft. The fine art of writing is really in the rewriting!

Those of you who began with a research proposal have a head start; you will find that the final report is much easier to write. It is very disappointing to discover that something important was left out when it is too late to do anything about it. We do not need to point out that students (and professional researchers) often leave final papers (and reports) until the last possible minute (often for understandable reasons, including other course work and job or family responsibilities). But be forewarned: The last-minute approach does not work for research reports.

A successful report must be well organized and clearly written. Getting to such a product is a difficult but not impossible goal. Consider the following principles formulated by experienced writers (Booth, Colomb, & Williams, 1995):

• Start with an outline.
• Respect the complexity of the task, and do not expect to write a polished draft in a linear fashion. Your thinking will develop as you write, causing you to reorganize and rewrite.
• Leave enough time for dead ends, restarts, revisions, and so on, and accept the fact that you will discard much of what you write.
• Write as fast as you comfortably can. Do not worry about spelling, grammar, and so on until you are polishing things up.
• Ask all the people whom you trust for their reactions to what you have written.
• Write as you go along, so you have notes and report segments drafted even before you focus on writing the report.

It is important to remember that no version of a manuscript is ever final. As you write, you will get new ideas about how to organize the report. Try them out. As you review the first draft, you will see many ways to improve your writing. Focus particularly on how to shorten and clarify your statements. Make sure each paragraph concerns only one topic. Remember the golden rule of good writing: Writing is revising!

LOC: Types of Research Reports

TIP: Curbing the Frustrations of Writing

[LO 6]

COG [Synthesis]

DIF [Hard]

1. Describe the Reverse Outlining technique. (12-8)

Perhaps most importantly, leave yourself enough time so that you can revise—several times if possible—before turning in the final draft.

Reverse outlining -- Outlining the sections in an already written draft of a paper or report to improve its organization in the next draft.

A well-written research report requires (to be just a bit melodramatic) blood, sweat, and tears and more time than you will at first anticipate. But the process of writing one will help you to write the next, and the issues you consider—if you approach your writing critically—will be sure to improve your subsequent research projects and sharpen your evaluations of others.

Those of you interested in a more focused discussion of writing in general (e.g., grammar, elements of style, emotional aspects of writing) should see Becker (1986), Booth et al. (1995), Mullins (1977), Strunk and White (1979), and Turabian (1967). And we don’t need to point out that students (and professional researchers) often leave final papers (and reports) until the last possible minute (often for understandable reasons, including other coursework and job or family responsibilities). But be forewarned: The last-minute approach does not work for research papers or reports.

LOC: Types of Research Reports

TIP: Curbing the Frustrations of Writing

[LO 6]

COG [Synthesis]

DIF [Hard]

1. What is a combined frequency display? What does it show? (12-8)

Combined frequency display -- A table that presents together the distributions for a set of conceptually similar variables having the same response categories; common headings are used for the responses.

LOC: Curbing the Frustration of Writing

TIP: Displaying Data

[LO 7]

COG [Knowledge]

DIF [Easy]

1. Should ethical researchers avoid political controversy by sidestepping media outlets for their work? Why or Why not? What were Wilson’s (1998) principles for engaging the public through the media? (12-13)

The sociologist William Julius Wilson (1998) urges the following principles for engaging the public through the media:

1. Focus on issues of national concern, issues that are high on the public agenda.

2. Develop creative and thoughtful arguments that are clearly presented and devoid of technical language.

3. Present the big picture whereby the arguments are organized and presented so that the readers can see how the various parts are interrelated.

Ultimately, each researcher must make a decision about the most appropriate and important outlets for his or her work.

LOC: Ethics, Politics, and Reporting Research

TIP: Communicating With the Public

[LO 4]

COG [Comprehension]

DIF [Medium]