CCJ 3701: Research Methods in Criminology
Spring 2017, Sections0088 & 0095
Course Instructor: Thomas B. Smith
Email:
Office Hours:Monday11:45am – 1:55pm (Turlington 3363A)
Wednesday11:45am – 1:55pm (Turlington 3363A)
Lecture: Monday10:40am – 11:35am (LIT 113)
Wednesday10:40am – 11:35am (LIT 113)
Friday10:40am – 11:35am
Lab Instructor: Danny Acton
Email:
Office Hours:Tuesday3:00pm – 5:00pm(Turlington 3363A)
Lab Sections:Section 0088
Tuesday12:50pm – 1:40pm (ARCH 116)
Section 0095
Tuesday1:55pm – 2:45pm (ARCH 116)
Required Texts and Material:
Bachman, R. & Schutt, R.K. (2016). The Practice of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice, 6th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Wagner, III, W. E. (2016). Using IBM® SPSS® Statistics for Research Methods and Social Science Statistics, 6th edition. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Both of these texts are available as a bundle/’Valuepak’ from the University bookstore. Students will also be responsible for several other readings posted on Canvas.
USB drive or device for storing data electronically.
Course Description:
This course is designed to introduce students to the practice of research in criminology. Specifically, this course focuses on the research process, ethical issues, different forms of research designs, data analysis (univariate, bivariate, regression, etc.), and the reporting of research results.
Course Objectives:
- Identify the purposes of conducting scientific research and address methodological issues necessary for conducting and critically analyzing criminological research.
- Know the various forms of data collection and sampling techniques used in criminological research.
- Examine general issues in research designs, including criteria for causality, types of validity, units of analysis, different types of research design, and stages in the research process.
- Understand issues related to conceptualization and measurement of topics of interest in criminology.
- Describe the diverse ways crime is measured and be familiar with the strengths and limitations of each method.
- Understand the different types of data used in criminological research and the key issues associated with evaluation research and theory testing.
Course Requirements and Policies:
Communications:
Canvas will be used in this course to access grades and supplementary readings.
Canvas is accessible at: If you experience any computer-related difficulties, don't hesitate to contact the UF Computing Help Desk at , 352-392-4357.
Please familiarize yourself with the course site, as it is intended to enhance your learning experience. The "Student Help FAQ" tab is a good introduction for anyone new to Canvas.
Please contact the instructorsvia email (; ) or via Canvas mail. Emails sent during regular business hours will typically receive a response within 24 hours. Emails sent on holidays, weekends or during an especially busy time of year will normally be responded to within 48 hours. Should either instructor attend a conference they may be unreachable for the entirety of the conference. Send emails from your UFL email or through Canvas, as emails sent from other platforms may be sent to junk mail.
Grading:
(Plan ahead, review due dates, and inform me of any conflicts you foresee as soon as possible)
Exams
There will be 3 non-cumulative exams in this course, each worth100 points. The total exam grade will count for 300 points. Exams will cover lecture, lab, and reading materials. Each exam will consist of 40 multiple-choice questions worth 2.5 points each.
Makeup exams will be provided for students who have a university recognized excused absence such as illnesses with a doctor’s note, serious family emergency, and participation in official university activities (athletics). If you must miss an exam due to extremely extenuating circumstances, you must notify the instructor prior to the exam time by email. All make-up exams will be in essay format.
Lab Assignments
There will be 6lab assignments, each of which will form pieces of the final paper. Lab assignments make up 300 points total. Late assignments will be subject to a 10 percent deduction per day.
The 6 assignments are as follows:
- Pick Your Research Question (20 pts; due Jan. 9th @ 11:59pm)
- Annotated Bibliography (40 pts; due Jan. 30th @ 11:59pm)
- Introduction & Literature Review (50 pts; due Feb. 13th @ 11:59pm)
4. Methods Section and Graph of Variables (100pts; due March 3rd @ 11:59pm)
5. Univariate Statistics (40 pts; due March 24th @ 11:59pm)
6. Correlation and T-tests (50 pts; due April 3rd @ 11:59pm)
Research Paper
The final research paper will be built through lab assignments. The final paper will be graded independently of the lab assignments, so students are encouraged to modify their work based on instructor grading and feedback before piecing together the final paper. The research paper is out of 200 possible points. The paper MUST be turned in by April 24th at 11:59pm.
Final papers turned in after April 28th at 11:59pm will NOT be acceptedas course grades will be finalized shortly thereafter.
Lab Attendance
Attendance is required for the labs, and students are responsible for signing the sign-in sheet during each lab session. Failing to do so will result in being marked absent for that lab which will alter the lab attendance grade accordingly.
Lab attendance is worth 50 points.
It is crucial for students to attend labs because valuable information will be gained and data exercises are related directly to major assignments for this course. In the case of exceptional emergencies (illness, death in the family, etc.) students must provide a documented excuse for the absence to be excused. In such circumstances missing lab will not negatively impact your attendance grade.
Grading:
Exams (3)300 points
Lab Assignments300 points
Research Paper200 points
Lab Attendance50 points
850points
The percentage grade will be computed by dividing the total points earned by 890 total possible points. There is no curve in this class. The letter grade will be assigned as follows:
A93-100
A-90-92
B+88-89
B83-87
B-80-82
C+78-79
C73-77
C-70-72
D+68-69
D63-67
D-60-62
F59 and below
Classroom Conduct and Preparation:
Students are expected to act in a professional manner at all times. Students failing to act in a professional manner will be asked to leave the class. Professionalism includes, but is not limited to: civility and courtesy to everyone in class, including the instructor. This class should be viewed as a safe environment for all students to express their opinions without the fear of ridicule or judgment. Comments made to one another should be respectful and civil. Disagreements will be handled in a mature manner, where students attack the issues rather than one another.
Academic Honesty:
Academic honesty and integrity are fundamental values of the University community. Students should be sure that they understand the UF Student Honor Code at
Plagiarism will NOT be tolerated. Please consult the following website to learn what constitutes plagiarism: (from The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina).
Proper citations are required for written work in this course. Useful websites to visit are Both sites offer useful tips and formatting guidelines for proper citation, punctuation or general grammar questions, and basic writing tips that students should find useful when completing discussion posts.
Accommodations:
Students requesting accommodation for disabilities must first register with the Dean of Students Office ( The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the instructor when requesting accommodation. You must submit this documentation prior to submitting assignments or taking the quizzes. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the office as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations.
CCJ 3701SPRING 2017
TENTATIVE LECTURE SCHEDULE
DATE / TOPIC / REQUIRED READING / WHAT’S DUE?Jan. 4th / Lecture:Syllabus & Introductions
Jan. 6th / Lecture:Foundations for social research #1 / Ch. 1
Jan. 9th / Lecture: Foundations for social research #2 / Assig 1: Pick your research question
Jan. 11th / Lecture:Foundations for social research #3
Jan. 13th / Lecture:Process and problems of research #1 / Ch. 2
Jan. 16th / Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Jan. 18th / Lecture:Process and problems of research #2
Jan. 20th / Lecture:Process and problems of research #3
Jan. 23rd / Lecture: Conceptualization and Measurement #1 / Ch. 4
Jan. 25th / Lecture: Conceptualization and Measurement #2
Jan. 27th / Lecture: Conceptualization and Measurement #3
Jan. 30th / Lecture: Sampling #1 / Ch. 5 / Assig2: Annotated Bibliography
Feb. 1st / Lecture: Sampling #2
Feb. 3rd / Lecture: Sampling #3
Feb. 6th / Lecture: Research Ethics #1 / Ch. 3
Feb. 8th / Lecture: Exam 1 Review
Feb. 10th / EXAM 1
Feb. 13th / Lecture: Research Ethics #2 / Assig3: Intro & Lit Review
Feb. 15th / Lecture: Research Ethics #3
Feb. 17th / Lecture: Causation and Experimental Designs #1 / Ch. 6
Feb. 20th / Lecture: Causation and Experimental Designs #2 / Ch. 7
Feb. 22nd / Lecture: Causation and Experimental Designs #3
Feb. 24th / Lecture: Survey and Evaluation Research #1 / Ch. 8 & 11
Feb. 27th / Lecture: Survey and Evaluation Research #2
March 1st / Lecture: Survey and Evaluation Research #3
March 3rd / Lecture: Qualitative and Mixed Methods #1 / Ch. 9 & 12 / Assig5: Methods Section and Graph of Variables
March 6th / SPRING BREAK
March 8th
March 10th
March 13th / Lecture: Qualitative and Mixed Methods #2
March 15th / Lecture: Exam 2 Review
March 17th / EXAM 2
March 20th / Lecture: Univariate Statistics #1 / Ellis et al., 2010
March 22nd / Lecture: Univariate Statistics #2
March 24th / Lecture: Univariate Statistics #3 / Assig6: Univariate Statistics
March 27th / Lecture: Bivariate Statistics – Correlations #1
March 29th / Lecture: Bivariate Statistics – Correlations #2
March 31st / Lecture: Bivariate Statistics – Comparing 2 Groups #1
April. 3rd / Lecture: Bivariate Statistics – Comparing 2 Groups #2 / Assig7: Correlations and T-test
April. 5th / Lecture: P-Values
April 7th / Lecture: Linear Regression #1
April 10th / Lecture: Linear Regression #2
April 12th / Lecture:Linear Regression #3 / OstrowskyMessner, 2005
April 14th / Lecture: Linear Regression #4
April 17th / Lecture: Exam 3 Review
April 19th / EXAM 3
April 21st / READING DAY
FINAL PAPER DUE APRIL 24th!
(11:59pm)
CCJ 3701 SPRING 2017
TENTATIVE LAB SCHEDULE
DATE / TOPICJan. 10th / Searching for Literature
Jan. 17th / Writing a Literature Review
Jan. 24th / Introduction to Data:
ICPSR and National Youth Survey
Jan. 31st / Introduction to SPSS
Feb. 7th / Recoding and Creating Composites #1
Feb. 14th / Recoding and Creating Composites #2
Feb. 21st / Frequency Distributions
Feb. 28th / Univariate Statistics
Mar. 7th / SPRING BREAK
Mar. 14th / T-tests
Mar. 21st / Correlation
Mar. 28th / Open Lab
Apr. 4th / Regression #1
Apr. 11th / Regression #2
Apr. 18th / Open Lab