RESEARCH PROJECT

The research project for this course requires you to identify a criminal justice professional field in which you would beinterested in pursuing a career. If you already work in the criminal justice field, you can use your current position as thebasis for this project.

The course research project will be due during Unit VI.

The objectives of the course research project are as follows:

Identify and analyze three competencies required within the selected field of criminal justice.

Compare and contrast the competencies within the field to the student's own knowledge, skills, and abilities and identifyone goal you would like to set for yourself.

Examine the use of technology within the selected field of criminal justice.

You will be required to not only research various aspects of the selected field, but must also interview an individual thatcurrently works in it.

For the assignment in this unit, you are encouraged to select the criminal justice field that will serve as the basis of yourresearch project and submit it to your instructor for approval, as well as the type of individual you plan to interview. Youshould also include several references related to the field that can be used in the project.

This submission should be no more than one page in length.

The research project for this course requires you to identify a criminal justice professional field in which you would be interested in pursuing a career. If you already work in the criminal justice field, you can use your current position as the basis for this project. The course research project will be due in Unit VI.

You will be required to not only research various aspects of the selected field, but you must also interview an individual who currently works in the selected field.

When interviewing the professional working in the selected criminal justice field, you should consider asking the following types of questions:

Why did you decide to work in this field of criminal justice?

What are three key skills or competencies a person must possess to be successful in this field of criminal justice?

What steps should a person take to prepare him or herself for working in this field of criminal justice?

What types of substantive changes do you currently see occurring or foresee occurring within this field of criminal justice?

What types of technology do you use on a regular basis within this field of criminal justice?

The research project paper should consist of the following sections:

Introduction: This section identifies the criminal justice field that the student has selected and includes a brief description of why this field is of interest (recommended length: no more than one page).

Competencies: In this section, you will identify at least three competencies required for the selected criminal justice field and explain why each is important to the field. This section should be based upon research that you have conducted about the selected field and supported with cited resources (recommended length: one page).

Professional interview: In this section, you will summarize the interview conducted with a professional working in their selected field of criminal justice. It is important for you to begin this section by identifying the person interviewed and his or her current position within the selected criminal justice field (recommended length: one to two pages).

Evaluation: In this section, you will evaluate the selected field of criminal justice by discussing the following questions and supporting the evaluation with cited resources (recommended length: one to two pages): How did the competencies you identified for this field of criminal justice align or differ from the information obtained during the interview with a criminal justice professional?

What learning goal would you like to set for yourself during this course, month, or year based on the skill sets andrequirements discovered  during your research and based upon the interview with a criminal justice professional?

While the level of detail in each section of the research paper will vary, it is anticipated that the final paper will beapproximately five to six pages in length, not counting the cover and reference pages. Please click here to review theGeneral Guidelines for Papers document to  obtain a description of other formatting requirements.

NOTE:

Part of the purpose of a reference is to lead your reader back to the sources you used. Imagine a person reads your paperand wants to find out more information about your topic. The reader can refer to your reference list to locate the sources youused to find information.

However, certain types of sources, like a private conversation, cannot be located. No one can reada transcript of your interview (unless you recorded it).

The information the interviewee passed on to you is not recoverableby other researchers, so it does not go in the reference list.

This kind of source (interviews, private letters and e-mail,personal conversations, phone calls, etc.) is called a personal communication. Cite it in text only, give initials as well as thesurname of the person involved, and give as precise a date as possible. Again, this type of source is ONLY cited in text.

There will be no reference citation on the reference list.

The two examples of how personal communication citations can be done are below:

1. T. Smith (personal communication, March 19, 2013) indicates that ...

2. ...from a police custody inspector's prospective (T. Smith, personal communication, March 19, 2013).

Information about accessing the grading rubric for this assignment is provided below.

The following guidelines must be adhered to for the Research Project paper in the, Introduction to Criminal Justice course:

• A 12-point Times New Roman font must be used in the paper.

• Double-spacing must be used throughout the paper.

• Page margins must be 1" on each side of the paper (top, bottom, left and right sides).

• A cover and reference page must be included. The cover and reference pages must appear on separate pages from the rest of the paper and do not count towards any minimum page length requirements.

• All sources utilized to create the paper must be cited and included in the reference list. The APA Publication Manual (6th edition) guidelines for citations and reference listings must be followed.

• When citing a personal communication (e.g., interview or conversation with another person) APA states that the communication should be cited, but not included in the reference list. For example, if the information was obtained as part of an interview conducted with Joe Smith on September 5, 2013, a citation would be provided as (J. Smith, personal communication, September 5, 2013), however, this would not be included in the reference list. More information on this can be found in Section 6.20 of the APA Publication Manual (6th edition).

• Unless otherwise specified, all papers must be submitted as a Microsoft Word document saved as either a .doc or .docx file. No other formats will be accepted.

• Only scholarly resources should be used. Sites such as Wikipedia, blogs, or other resources where information has not been peer-reviewed must not be used. If you have questions regarding whether a resource is acceptable, please ask your instructor before using that resource.

• Abstracts are only appropriate for papers that will be published. For this reason, Abstracts should not be included with course papers.

• Direct quotes should be used sparingly, if at all. The intent of scholarly writing is to demonstrate the ability to comprehend, interpret, and analyze information. Direct quotes do not demonstrate these skills; therefore, they should only be used when the true meaning of the original author cannot be appropriately expressed otherwise.