Communities and Crime
CJ 2003
Fall 2003

Course Requirements and Explanation of Assignments

Turning in answers
You should bring your typed, double-spaced answers to class each week. Bring two copies; one for yourself, one to turn in. At the bottom of each page have:
* a page number
* the class date
* the number of the question being answered
* your name

You want to try an answer to every question but one. You want to be prepared to read your answer if called upon.

In-class first midterm
This will be a closed-book, no-notes examination. I may hand out to you the week prior questions that are typical of the kinds of questions I might ask. This does not mean that I definitively will or will not use those specific questions, but simply that the questions you actually see will be "like" those.

In-class, second midterm
This will be a closed-book, no-notes examination. I may hand out to you the week prior questions that are typical of the kinds of questions I might ask. This does not mean that I definitively will or will not use those specific questions, but simply that the questions you actually see will be "like" those. It will cover readings taking place in the course since the first midterm.

Final, turned-in paper
You may complete one of the following types of assignments. I am arranging these in order from more difficult to less difficult. The more difficult assignments require more "leg work" on your part, and that level of effort is recognized in the grading. The less difficult assignments require less leg work on your part, and therefore somewhat higher standards are applied at grading time.

Here are the types of assignments that are available. Up to a point, I may be open to suggestions for a different type of assignment. If you think you have an idea, let me know, and we can explore if it is allowable.

CASE STUDY
You locate a community or a site within a community that is much safer than the surround, or much more dangerous, or has some particular type of crime or disorder problem. If you are going to do this type of assignment, you will need to sign a student waiver per the CLA guidelines on experiential learning. You will learn about the community by talking to residents or leaders or local users; you will gather data on the community from some primary sources. You will complete a theoretical analysis that ties the community or site dynamics to the class readings. These connections must be solid, and you must be sure that these class materials help you unpack or understand what is happening in the community.

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS: Primary
You complete a primary data analysis and write up. You can think of these as being along the lines of a "psych experiment." You might show pictures to people and get them rated. You might elicit information about different-named neighborhoods in a locale. You "run" some "subjects" and code your data and write it up. It might be possible to do one of these in a qualitative way, but we will need to talk in detail first.

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS: Secondary
You complete a secondary data analysis of a dataset, preferably one that includes crime data and survey data. Your analysis is theoretically guided. You interpret your results in the context of theories discussed in class.

LITERATURE REVIEW
You complete a literature review on a particular topic within the course domain. You will need to do Social Science Citation Index searching, and go well beyond the starter references list which will be provided.

You want to follow the guidelines for preparing manuscripts for the journal Criminology; these can be found online at: http://www.asc41.com/crim.guide.html 

Please read these guidelines carefully and follow them!

In addition: 

* always run the spell checker

* always run a grammar checker

* proofread carefully, if possible, get someone else to proofread for you as well.

Many students find that their writing improves if they consult some books on writing like Strunk & White's The Elements of Style or Provost's 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing.

Presentation
You will be making a professional presentation of your paper work to date. Exact time of presentation to be announced later. You will want to prepare a handout AND a Powerpoint for this presentation. More details to follow. I will hand out at a later date the grading rubric to be applied to your presentation.