Criminal Justice Research Majors only......

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Research Methods - CRJ 5073 Proposal Rubric

The Proposal section is worth 5% of your overall grade and due on October 8th 2018 at the beginning of class (i.e., 1800). Any assignments received after that date and time will be subject to a 10% penalty per day (each day will begin at 1800). Exceptions to this rule will only be considered with a documented reason. General Guidelines

 Assignments are to be double spaced, typed with Times New Roman 12-point font, with margins set at 1.25” on all sides.

 Papers should be written in a formal tone. Do not use contractions, slang, etc.

 The paper should not contain your personal opinion, political beliefs, etc.

 Higher grades will be assigned to papers that: o State a clear, testable hypothesis o Link the literature review, theory, and proposed hypothesis o Identify the research design, including strengths and weaknesses of the proposed design o Outline the data collection plan, including the sampling strategy o Explain the variables and their measurement, including the level of measurement o Discuss validity and reliability (when appropriate) o Possess minimal grammatical errors o Offer smooth transitions o Write in an objective, professional tone

Grading Rubric

 IV, DV, U of A = 1 point

 Hypothesis = 1 point

 Theory = 1 point

 2 empirical articles = 1 point

 Style (followed guidelines, references, etc.) = 1 point Assignment Proposal Requirements The proposal should consist of three pages. The goal is to outline the topic of interest for your more expansive paper due later in the semester. The first page is a cover page containing the following information:

 Title of paper (not Assignment 1 – be creative); Date; Name & student number; Class and semester; Instructor’s name

The second page should provide the following required information for your study:

 Independent Variable(s); Dependent Variable; Hypothesis; Unit of Analysis; Number of Cases

 Relevant theory – describe in a few sentences how your chosen theory explains the relationship between the independent and dependent variables

 At least two empirical articles that contextualize your topic This information may be presented in bullet point form when appropriate (i.e., variable identification); some of the bullet points may require some explanation (i.e., complete sentences). A third page should be titled “References” and provide a list of all sources used in your assignment. This is not a bibliography; only list sources that actually appear in your assignment.