Course Description:
CRIMLJUS 3900 Research Methods in Criminal Justice
| Course Number: | CRIMLJUS 3900 |
| Course Name: | Research Methods in Criminal Justice |
| Course Description: | An introduction to research methods in criminal justice and criminology, with applications to both pure and applied research. The course provides a basic conceptual framework for understanding and interpreting criminal justice research as well as designing, conducting, and evaluating research projects. |
| Prerequisites: | CRIMLJUS 2130 and CRIMLJUS 2230 with a "C" or better in each, MATH 1830, and junior standing or consent of the instructor |
| Level: | Undergraduate |
| Credits: | 3 |
| Format: | Online |
| Semesters Offered: |
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| Registration Instructions |
Additional Information
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course, you should be able to:
- Describe the various methods of conducting empirical research.
- Define key research terms and concepts.
- Be critical consumers of research.
- Identify the steps in the research process.
- Develop research questions and hypotheses.
- Find and summarize literature and statistics relevant to a particular research question.
- Operationalize a research question.
- Demonstrate basic analytical logic given appropriate summary data.
Unit Descriptions
Unit 1: Introduction to Criminal Justice Inquiry
Unit 2: Structuring Criminal Justice Inquiry
Unit 3: Modes of Operation
Unit 4: Application and Analysis
Number of Exams
There are 4 quizzes for this course.
Number of Assignments
There are 14 discussions, 9 mini-assignments, 1 article summary, 2 news article assignments, and 2 projects for this course.
Number of Projects
There are no group projects for this course.
Grading Information
Grades will be determined based on total accumulated points throughout the semester. The breakdown of points is as follows:
Task Points
Quiz 1 35
Quiz 2 35
Quiz 3 45
Quiz 4 30
Summary of Journal Article 50
1st Project 20
2nd Project 25
9 Mini Assignments 90
2 News Article Assignments 20
Participation 30
Total 380 points
The following grading scale will be used:
A = 342-380
B = 304-341
C = 266-303
D = 240-265
F = 239 or below