- Select either a sociological or a criminology theorist who you believe has contributed significantly to our understanding of society from a macro level perspective. Justify your choice by discussing their specific contributions to understanding aspects of society, social relations, institutions, etc. Then pick either a sociological or a criminological theorist who you believe has contributed significantly to our understanding of society from a micro level perspective. Justify your choice by discussing their specific contributions to understanding aspects of society, social relations, institutions, etc. Discuss the ways in which these different levels of theory provide different but perhaps complementary understandings of the social world.
- Problem formulation:
a. What are the authors’ reasons for doing the research? What is the purpose of the research and the problems they are investigating?
b. Do you think they adequately formulated and clearly state the research problem? Why or why not? Specifically, what are the competing theories and previous findings from related research? How are these theories discussed in relation to the present study? - Research Design
a. Is this a descriptive, explanatory, or exploratory study (remember these are not mutually exclusive types of studies).
b. Are hypotheses developed? If so, what are they and do they make sense in light of the literature review and the purpose of the study?
c. How were the data collected (surveying, interviewing, etc)? Who collected the data (primary or secondary)? What are the relative advantages of using this type of data collection method in terms of measurement, control and representativeness?
Sample Solution