The goal of the study was to examine the effects of DUI courts on self-reported drunk driving behavior, future DUI arrests, and other offenses related to alcohol consumption. The assessment is focused on determining whether DUI courts decreased the number of future DUI arrests. The authors made the assumption that the techniques employed to prevent DUI recidivism are ineffective and that the penalties applied have little to no effect. The research was conducted by use of experimental design. The research method applied in the study is a true experiment, and it is referred as an experiment conducted where an effort is made to impose control over variables except the one under study. The researcher uses non- probability or non-representative sample, and convenience sample because it involves a matter of taking what the researcher get. Data is not obtained because a person has decided what to get but by accident. Simple random sampling technique is utilized to analyze the data of the offenders since the study and test group members have equal chances of being selected to either side of the survey (MacDonald, Morral, Raymond & Eibner, 2007). Data is collected through the interview process. The interview is unstructured whereby there is a one-on-one conversation with the members interviewed.
Data analysis technique employed by the authors is exploratory approach since there is no clear hypothesis stated before testing the data. The researchers are examining the data by conducting analytical analysis that encompass retrieving the values to find attributes of the case, then finding the data points and sorting them by ranking how the respondents in the two groups behave. The authors use regression method. The results were that the DUI Court was not associated with the reduction of misbehavior of either self-reported culprits of drunk driving. They also found out that the DUI courts were not effective than general California common court when used as a tool to improve abstinence from alcohol. It was concluded that there is no evidence that DUI court model implemented at Rio Hondo court was effective in reducing recidivism, and drinking and driving offenses.
Spinning the Web of Hate
Schafer, J. A. (2002). Spinning the web of hate: Web-based hate propagation by extremist organizations. Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, 9(2), 69-88. This exploratory study seeks to examine how the website has been used to propagate hatred by hate organizations. The researcher hypothesizes that the internet has played a significant role in promoting hatred in the United States of America. It is hypothesized that websites are used to preach hate and intolerance. The research method employed by the researcher is a secondary analysis of data that have already been gathered by someone else. The researcher utilized, "a content analysis of a purposeful sample of website cataloged online with Hate Watch was used to generate data for the study" (Schafer, 2002). The researcher uses purposive sample by indulging into the internet to find specific internet sources dealing with spreading of hate speech and intolerance.
The researcher included 132 websites in the study. Each site was examined to determine the essential elements contained, regarding the types of resource available. The author acknowledged that the depth data on the website was broad, and therefore, was not in a position to examine all information. Data was collected through internet survey. The researcher delved into the information provided by the others on the web and selected the most suitable for his study.
Data mining is the analysis method employed in the current research as it focused mainly on the works conducted by other people and available online. The researcher identified the data he required, collected enough of it and then cleaned them to remain with 132 relevant sites (Schafer, 2002). The result of the study was that only less than 9.1% of the sample sites provided any form of warning statement on their page about the offensive nature of the site. It was also indicated that the hate groups allowed the readers to access their primary publications online. It was concluded that radical organizations are manipulating the Internet to spread hatred and recruit new members.
Up it up: Gender and the Accomplishment of Street Robbery
Miller, J. (1998). Up it up: Gender and the Accomplishment of street robbery. Criminology, 36(1), 37-66. The researcher seeks to portray the significance of sex and how violence has been overemphasized. The author hypothesis is that gender plays a role in how the women are viewed in the society. The question raised is why women are less violent than men when it comes to issues such as robbery. The researcher deals with the issue of, "why women and men report engaging in theft” it also addresses “how gender plays part in the commission of a robbery" (Miller,1998). The method used in conducting the research is the comparative analysis based on a semi-structured in-depth interview of 37 active robbers. The sampling procedure is purposeful sampling since the author has identified the sample of 14 women and 23 women to be interviewed all of them within a set age limit. The data is collected by interviewing the 37 active robbers. The result of the research was that women are active in the criminal world of robbery. Miller pointed out that women engage in female-on-female robberies especially in nightclubs and on the street. The author concluded that urban African-American women have a higher rate of violence than other women. However, he noted that their involvement is lower than that of men.
PART 2
In the The efficacy of the Rio Hondo DUI court: A 2-year field experiment it is observed that the three components of a valid experiment are utilized by the researchers. The researchers have identified the control group and experimental group. Control group is a group that resembles research group but does not receive experimental treatment. The researcher should be able to manipulate variables and that there must be a component of random assignment. The offenders were randomly selected for the exercise. This is because there were no particular people who were identified to be assessed. The research participants had equal chances of being selected, and this ensured that the differences in the group are purely out of chance. The researcher had control over the independent variables. The control group set by the researchers is California mandatory minimum group while the experimental group was drunk drivers brought to the DUI Court.
The dependent variable was counseling as well as treatment administered to the control group. The changes were assessed by use of ordinary least squares regression models while age was used as the baseline. Random assignment was employed in the research during the selection of who wanted to participate. The authors points out that “those who chose to participate were randomly assigned to either the treatment or control group" (MacDonald, Morral, Raymond & Eibner, 2007). In the selection of the participants, the researchers ensured that they met the requirements of having been convicted of a second or third DUI offense. The research design was a true experiment because the researchers were able to exert some control on the variable except the one studied. The researchers were not able to monitor the DUI Offenders from the Rio Hondo DUI court since they were the experimental group.
External validity addresses the issues of being able to generalize the result of the study to other persons. The researchers have conducted their research on DUI Court, and it applies to other drunk-driving offenders across the state. It would be very likely for the researchers to get the same result if they used a different sample. The outcome might be the same if the researchers conducted the research again or if it was carried out in the past.
Schafer (2002) utilizes secondary qualitative data to analyze the materials he has obtained from the internet. The researcher used the secondary data because it was available online and was easy to come by and was free to use. It would be expensive and challenging for the researcher to obtain the information about extremist groups if there were no internet sources. It is impossible to conduct primary research about the activities of hate mongers due to their hostility and attitudes. The research data was mined from the internet sources. The researcher utilized the Hate Watch, a "web-based criteria used for defining an organization as a hate group by the public on the internet" (Schafer 2002). A sampling scheme was utilized based on a catalog developed by a group established to protect people from discrimination. The author acknowledges that the data used by the Watchdog raises methodological concerns and may be biased on the information it develops. The researcher further outlines that using data from the watchdog has a potential shortcoming and therefore it is prudent to access the motives and beliefs of the group. The data was analyzed by use of purposive sampling technique. Several websites were visited and the researcher obtained the ones that contained more relevant information about spreading of hate and intolerance.
The research article by Miller (1998) presents a qualitative research that is conducted by use of mixed method approach. The pragmatic approach to research involves the use of the method which appears best suited to the research the problem and not getting caught in philosophical debates about which is the best approach. The author is not concerned about the best method available but has the freedom to use any of the techniques and procedures connected with qualitative and quantitative research. Miller uses a comparative approach where the data obtained is of 37 individuals from different sex but within the same age bracket. The research article presents unbiased representative sample obtained through systematic sampling.
The elements, people, are selected from elements of an ordered sampling frame of the population of busy street and nightclub robbers. The researcher involved 37 people; 14 women, and 23 men. In the process of recruiting the participants, the researcher used snowball sampling. The author considered the issue of ethics while conducting the research and avoid giving actual names of the participants. The research is founded on nominal data since the data is not logical, the author presents the participants as either male or female. However, he delves deeper into analyzing the data as the ratio based on age. Data tabulation is employed by the researcher to give him a comprehensive picture of what the data present the pattern. This helps in determining whether the information was entered correctly. The pseudonyms of the participants indicate that the researcher was concerned about the privacy of the respondents. However, he points out their sex, age, and race.
PART 3
The research work by MacDonald, Morral, Raymond, & Eibner (2007) presents researchers who are figuring out how effective is the DUI court in reducing the rate of drunk driving and subsequent arrests over the same offense. It is interesting that the literature review indicated that there is conflicting information about the effectiveness of DUI Courts. The drink drivers are not persuaded by the therapy and treatment offered by the court. They would be tried in the ordinary courts. But the current study indicates that there are positive changes that can be witnessed to the DUI who are subjected to the DUI Court. I would expand on the research to analyze how the DUI offenders subjected to DUI court relates with other members of the community. I would examine their attitude towards the DUI Court the officers who access them and what influences them to drive while drunk. This article has been helpful in that it has helped me synthesize the information learned in class about experimental research. I have been able to put the knowledge learned into practice, and the article presented relevant experimental research issues such as validity, data analysis, and data collection procedure (MacDonald, Morral, Raymond & Eibner, 2007). The article has given a clear indication of how an experimental research is conducted and recorded.
The research report by Schafer (2002) is of academic importance in that it presents the learner with an opportunity to interact with a practical secondary research. The article is an indicator that a person can conduct a desktop research without necessarily visiting the people or the place he intends to carry out the research. A problem of language barrier witnessed in interviewing session is avoided when secondary research is conducted. There are challenges occasioned by this method in that the authenticity of the information, especially from the internet is difficult to prove. There is no way a person can understand the circumstances surrounding the collection of primary data; researcher only relies on what others say. One only compares the works of other people to reach a particular conclusion.
Secondary information selection is at the discretion of the author; therefore, there is a high chance of a person being biased on the information they gather and interpret. However, with due care and diligence, a person can determine the purpose for which the material was collected as well as the limits of the information presented. The research can be expanded to analyze the activities of two organizations. The analysis would offer a chance to conduct a depth analysis of hate as propagated by the group. The two groups selected would be compared to determine the methods they use to spread intolerance and the differences in their approach. The research article has helped me understand that secondary data analysis may be biased since the researcher has the discretion to determine the material to use. It may prove challenging and time-consuming finding the relevant materials to use for the research.
The works of Miller (1998) presents an interesting research that accesses the issues affecting the society and rarely examined. The researcher went an extra mile to interview the real criminals to get the information necessary to reach informed conclusion. Miller delves into the street and nightclubs to search for participants without fear of being harmed. This indicates that while conducting the research, research should use all means possible to get the necessary information, materials, and data. One has to go an extra mile to obtain the correct and adequate information.
It is interesting to read the research article of Miller because it is coherent, well augmented and presented. The data gathered are well presented and adequately analyzed. No research work is complete such that it does not leave room for further research and therefore Miller's article is not an exception. To expand on his research, I would increase the population size to enable me to get a clearer picture of the involvement of women in crimes that are predominantly men. I would also seek to understand the forces that drive the women to engage in the vice and how it feels to live with the guilt. We find that the research article by Miller sheds more light on how research should be conducted. Being orderly when collecting and presenting the data is an essential aspect demonstrated by Miller. A person should consider ethical issues when conducting their research. Personal information of the people interviewed should be kept private and confidential, not to be divulged to anybody, not even when compiling and presenting the research work. The quality of data obtained determines the result and conclusion
Reference
MacDonald, J. M., Morral, A. R., Raymond, B., & Eibner, C. (2007). The efficacy of the Rio Hondo DUI court: A 2-year field experiment. Evaluation Review, 31(1), 4-23.
Miller, J. (1998). Up it up: Gender and the accomplishment of street robbery. Criminology, 36(1), 37-66.
Schafer, J. A. (2002). Spinning the web of hate: Web-based hate propagation by extremist organizations. Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, 9(2), 69-88.
