Assignment 1: Applied Research in Action

Read the study presented in Chapter 4 in Voices from the Field on pages 95–108.

Review the materials found in the other Unit 1 Readings.

Review outside research resources.

Draw ideas from these sources regarding the manner in which you would create the questions, address the project, and draft your findings for this week’s Assignment.

Write a 750–1,050 word essay responding to the following scenario:

A police chief has hired you to conduct an applied research study on police officers’ attitudes and perceptions in a particular jurisdiction. Specifically, the chief is concerned that the morale (i.e., satisfaction, confidence, enthusiasm) among his police officers is poor. However, he needs to collect the information necessary in order to show city-council officials that this is indeed a problem that needs to be addressed with more resources, additional personnel, and/or better equipment.

The chief has asked that you write a memorandum to him in which you address the following:

1. Begin the process of outlining a plan for studying officer morale in the police chief’s department by drafting a research hypothesis about the relationship between officer morale and resources, personnel, and/or equipment.
2. Define conceptualization and operationalization.
3. Identify the primary concept of your proposed study (i.e., the primary dependent variable), and provide both a conceptual definition and an operational definition of this concept.
4. Create a survey instrument with at least five questions designed to measure the study concepts (for both the dependent and independent variables), and provide the information needed to evaluate the research hypothesis developed in Item 3 above.