Applied Research Topic Selection (1st Page)
Note: Topics related to the following are not approved for this course:
Body-worn cameras
Vulnerable populations as participants, which includes but is not limited to the following:
Victims of abuse, underage or non-English speaking participants, human trafficking victims, pregnant women
Victims of crime as participants
Throughout this course, you will work to develop your capstone project, which is an applied research proposal due in Unit 9. For this assignment, you will select the topic for your applied research proposal, subject to approval by your professor. Look ahead to the requirements for the final Unit 9 Assignment and the required template for the capstone project.
As you work to develop your topic submission, consider the following requirements:
The topic must be within the criminal justice field and specific to a problem currently faced by a criminal justice organization in the United States. There must be documentation (citations) to support the problem’s existence. Research must be designed to generate new knowledge, and therefore, the proposed study cannot set out to determine what is already known. The topic selection should aim to extend beyond a general review or evaluation of the literature and intend to fill a gap in the literature and/or provide recommendations for an identified problem.
Consider the organization where the study will take place and the jurisdiction in which the organization operates. This must be a criminal justice organization in the United States experiencing the problem. Consider background information on the location, demographics, etc., and how the identified problem impacts the organization.
Identify three peer-reviewed studies published within the past five years that support the selected topic as an area of needed research in criminal justice in the United States. While these need not be specific to the location where the proposed study will take place, they must provide support that research is needed on the proposed topic within the United States.
For This Assignment:
Develop a one-page paper that sets forth the proposed research topic. Your submission must:
Clearly articulate the topic to be studied, including citations from sources documenting a problem that currently exists and that can be addressed by an applied research study.
Identify the criminal justice organization that will be the study setting, which must be currently experiencing the problem identified.
Identify the city and state where the organization is located.
Identify three peer-reviewed studies conducted in the United States and published within the past five years that support the need for research on the selected topic.
Write in a scholarly and objective tone, avoiding using first person, personal pronouns, contractions, and colloquial or conversational language. Avoid the use of direct quotations. This assignment requires the use of the assigned readings and outside research. Use citations from the assigned readings and three additional scholarly, peer-reviewed sources throughout your assignment to support your content and credit sources of information and ideas.
Capstone Topic Selection (2nd Page)
Discuss your initial plans for selecting the topic for your capstone project. Provide a brief overview of the topic and the criminal justice organization you plan to use as the study site.
Describe the problem or issue currently facing that organization that your proposed study will address. Include supporting citations from the assigned readings and relevant sources to support your discussion.