Criminal Justice Research Project

Project B: Review of the Literature

Project B addresses the related research on your topic. One reason we conduct a review of the literature is to make sure that our research proposal is original and not just a replication of work already conducted. The literature review is a discussion of studies, research reports, statistics, etc. that are related to your research topic. You should include a review of the most pertinent and recent research articles from professional journals. Begin your literature review as soon as possible as this process is time consuming and make take you longer than you originally planned.

Project “B” Instructions

Provide a review of at least EIGHT research articles on the topic you have selected. You will want to select articles that are scholarly and/or empirical. A good literature review should tie previous research together in some logical way and should acknowledge the importance of your intended research. The literature review should provide a synthesis of the articles you select rather than a series of article summaries. The final product for Project B should be approximately five to seven pages.

Format

·  Use Times New Roman script with a font size of 12 for the entire document.

·  The paper should be double-spaced.

·  Margins should be at least one inch all around.

Content

·  EIGHT scholarly sources are utilized. Information is synthesized throughout the paper.

·  The literature review has a strong introduction, main body, and conclusion.

Documentation

·  APA should be used for in-text citations and the reference page.

Writing

·  The literature review should be well written and error free. Use spell check and proofread paper for grammatical errors.

·  The paper should be written in a professional tone. Familiar language (slang) should be avoided.

·  Use direct quotations sparingly (paraphrasing is encouraged) and make sure quotes are properly documented.

·  Be as concise and clear as possible throughout your paper.

·  Each sentence should logically flow into the next sentence and each paragraph should transition smoothly to the next paragraph.

Additional files or information:

Lesson_3_Measurement_and_Hypotheses.ppt

·  Hypotheses in Research: http://drtomoconnor.com/3760/3760lect02.htm

·  Measurement: http://drtomoconnor.com/3760/3760lect03a.htm

·  Conceptualization and Operationalization: http://academic.cengage.com/resource_uploads/downloads/0534507786_28792.ppt

·  Survey Research Design: http://www.drtomoconnor.com/3760/3760lect04.htm

·  Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Research Design: http://www.drtomoconnor.com/3760/3760lect04a.htm

·  Sampling: http://www.drtomoconnor.com/3760/3760lect03.htm

·  Qualitative and Quantitative Methods: http://www.jtpcrim.org/January_Articles/Qualitative_Vs_Quantitave_Richard_Tewksbury.pdf

·  National Archive of Criminal Justice Data: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/NACJD/ucr.html

·  Criminal Justice Statistics: http://www.census.gov/govs/cj/