SSCI 3056 Race, Ethnicity in the Criminal Justice System

FINAL PAPER INSTRUCTIONS

From the Syllabus:

As a class we will work together to create a piece of original research about race, ethnicity and justice. This project will be ongoing throughout the semester and will form the basis of student’s individual 8-10 page (not including the cover page or bibliography) final paper (12 font, Times New Roman, APA, double spaced). Final papers will analyze the survey data collected using only course content. Students must submit survey questions and respond to the survey in order to submit final papers.

WORTH: 25%

DUE: 20 April 2015

(yes an extension from the date posted in the syllabus)

*** under NO circumstances will late papers be accepted ***

You are STRONGLY encouraged to submit your papers early!

SUBMISSION VIA BLACKBOARD: Content > Assignment Submission Links > Final Paper

Specific Instructions:

- Students will write a journal article style final paper based on the class designed and completed survey. As there are no exams for this class, this final paper should make extensive use of course content in order to reflect your knowledge, and understanding, of course materials. No outside sources are permitted.

- Papers should be between 8-10 pages (this does not include the cover page or bibliography), however, I do not deduct marks if you exceed the page length, so do not worry if you go over the page count.

- Students are required to use a minimum of 6 course readings throughout their papers – one of these must be the Chan and Chunn (2015) textbook (this is just 1 source). You can select any other 5 required readings from the course. You should also refer to a minimum of 1 lecture. Use the following notation when citing lectures in-text: (Marques, 5 March 2015).

- Spelling, grammar, clarity of expression as well as insight will all be evaluated.

- Your papers should be structured in the following manner. I have provided the page numbers as estimates (note: there should be reference to course content throughout the entire paper):

Introduction (0.75-1 page)
Introduce the topic of race, ethnicity and the criminal justice system broadly speaking, its importance/significance, etc.
Briefly outline the direction of your paper

Methodology (0.5-0.75 page)
Outline what was done to compile the data for this paper
Outline what exactly you will be analyzing: is it the responses only, the types of questions asked only, or will you be looking at both
Highlight how you broke down the data (i.e., what categories you grouped the results in)

Findings (4-5 pages)
This section should have multiple subsections corresponding to the themes/categories that you organized the data into (i.e., racial profiling, discrimination, stereotypes, criminality, victimization, etc.).
Speak about the category, highlight the findings, and then explain using course content, the findings. For example, why do you think there was so much variation in responses? Or alternately why were the responses to a particular group of questions so polarized? What do the readings offer to help us explain this particular category/topic?

Conclusion (0.5-1 page)
Make some general conclusions about this assignment (as being based on a class designed survey)
What are some limitations (of the design, questions asked, results)?

Note: 1 mark will be deducted for every reading not used out of the minimum 6, this is in addition to any marks unearned as a result of lack of depth and specificity of content (i.e., if you only have 5 sources, on top of the regular grading of your submission, 1 mark will be deducted). While you do not need to use outside sources (and the preference is that you do not, as I am evaluating your ability to apply course content, outside sources are only permitted above and beyond the 6 minimum sources, and cannot be used as the main substantiating source(s)).