For this assignment, you can choose to either create a PowerPoint presentation or write a report depicting your analysis of historical crime data for a specific category of crime or criminal issue. Focus your research on one component of the criminal justice system (i.e., law enforcement, courts, or corrections). The data and charts you develop may be used in your Final Paper. For this assignment, you will

• Present national data and trends based on the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (Links to an external site.) and/or the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Data Collection: National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) (Links to an external site.); another comparable nationally recognized database, such as The Campus Safety and Security Data Analysis Cutting Tool on the U.S. Department of Education’s The Tools You Need for Campus Safety and Security Analysis (Links to an external site.); or, for an international perspective, you may present data available at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s Crime & Criminal Justice (Links to an external site.) web page.
• Present graphical statistical crime data for a specific category of crime from three comparably sized cities, counties, or states from three different regions of the country (e.g., Indianapolis, Austin, and San Francisco, etc. This information should be found on official government websites.)
• Develop questions you would like to address based on the data you retrieved. (Note: You do not have to answer these questions for this assignment.) What crime prevention programs or initiatives are available to potentially address the crime or criminal justice issue? (Note: You are working through Step 18 in Crime Analysis for Problem Solvers in 60 Small Steps. (Links to an external site.))

If you choose to create a PowerPoint presentation, your PowerPoint presentation must be a minimum of 10 slides long and must graphically display the statistical data developed for three comparable cities, counties, or states. Your presentation must incorporate national statistics for comparison. Your assessment may be in bullet or paragraph format and must be provided in the notes section of the presentation. Make sure you standardize your data (usually 1:1000; 1:10,000; or 1: 100,000) and incorporate the scale in a key for each chart.

You may wish to include visual enhancements in your presentation. These may include appropriate images, a consistent font, appropriate animations, and transitions from content piece to content piece and slide to slide. (Images should be cited in APA Style (Links to an external site.) as outlined by the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.). Students may wish to use the following “Finding Non-Copyrighted Images for Presentations” (Links to an external site.) guide for assistance with accessing freely available public domain and/or Creative Commons licensed images.) Top Ten Slide Tips (Links to an external site.), PowerPoint 2010 (Links to an external site.) and the Simple Rules for Better PowerPoint Presentations (Links to an external site.) web pages provide useful assistance with creating successful PowerPoint presentations.

If you choose to write a report, graphically display the statistical data developed for three comparable cities, counties, or states. Incorporate national statistics for comparison. You must include an introduction that presents the focus of the project for analysis. Your report must be at least five pages in addition to the title page and references page. Your assessment may be in bullet or paragraph format below the graphic display. Make sure you standardize your data (usually 1:1000; 1:10,000; or 1: 100,000) and incorporate the scale in a key for each chart.

The Statistical Analysis paper or presentation

• Must be at least five double-spaced pages (if writing a paper) or at least 10 double-spaced slides (if creating a presentation) in length (not including title and references pages or slides) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.) or How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate title page or slide with the following:
  • Title of paper, project, etc.
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted

For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.).

• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
  • For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) as well as Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Ashford Writing Center resources.
• Must use at least three scholarly, peer-reviewed, and/or credible sources in addition to the course text.
  • The Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
• Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate references page or slide that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.