Vanessa Schoening January 24, 2014 Module 1 M1 Research Journal Question 1. Research problem Is there a correlation between the frequency, nature of crimes, and the readiness to report them depending on the average income of neighborhoods in New York? Question 2. This statement captures the problem of crime in residential areas and tries to establish whether income is a factor that contributes to it. From the research, suggestions could be made on ways of trying to resolve the problem by solving the root issue. There is no bias in this statement because once the research is commissioned; data would be collected from several neighborhoods. The research can be carried out within a reasonable period and a small budget because data on the average incomes can be found at relevant authorities. Information on crimes is readily available from police stations. Law enforcement officers can also give useful information on the topic through interviews and questionnaires. The research would also involve collecting data from residents through questionnaires that is a faster and less expensive way of collecting information (Bhattacherjee, 2012). This research, if conducted could lead to the discovery of new knowledge in the social sciences field. It could reveal on the kind of working relationship that exists between police officers and residents in different field. It would be important to find out the perception of the police in this field. It could also reveal past experiences with the police and their responsiveness depending on the neighborhoods. The research could also reveal whether the geographical areas that police officers work influence their level of job satisfaction. The data collected could tell whether officers view their roles differently when placed in dissimilar stations. Question 3. This research is quite feasible and a proposal could be drawn for funding. If conducted, the research could give insight on ways of improving the way police are perceived in different neighborhoods. When the image of police is bettered, people will be more willing to report crimes as soon as they happen in order to improve security in all areas. The research could help gain insight on why the response time in some areas may be less than in others despite the proximity of police stations to scenes of crime. The research findings would be shared with the police and they can read people’s suggestions on improvement of service delivery. Previous research has focused more on the frequency of crime in different crimes and the conclusions have been that the income level affects the rate of crime (Bhattacherjee, 2012). Areas with high levels of unemployment have generally higher rates of petty crimes and muggings. However, research has not focused on the relationship between the police and citizens. There is an information gap on how exactly the nature of relationship affects service delivery. The research would act as a stepping-stone for future r ...

1. Vanessa Schoening
January 24, 2014
Module 1
M1 Research Journal
Question 1. Research problem
Is there a correlation between the frequency, nature of crimes,
and the readiness to report them depending on the average
income of neighborhoods in New York?
Question 2.
This statement captures the problem of crime in residential
areas and tries to establish whether income is a factor that
contributes to it. From the research, suggestions could be made
on ways of trying to resolve the problem by solving the root
issue.
There is no bias in this statement because once the research is
commissioned; data would be collected from several
neighborhoods.
The research can be carried out within a reasonable period and a
small budget because data on the average incomes can be found
at relevant authorities. Information on crimes is readily
available from police stations. Law enforcement officers can
also give useful information on the topic through interviews and
questionnaires. The research would also involve collecting data
from residents through questionnaires that is a faster and less
expensive way of collecting information (Bhattacherjee, 2012).
This research, if conducted could lead to the discovery of new
knowledge in the social sciences field. It could reveal on the
kind of working relationship that exists between police officers
and residents in different field. It would be important to find
out the perception of the police in this field. It could also reveal
past experiences with the police and their responsiveness

2. depending on the neighborhoods. The research could also reveal
whether the geographical areas that police officers work
influence their level of job satisfaction. The data collected
could tell whether officers view their roles differently when
placed in dissimilar stations.
Question 3.
This research is quite feasible and a proposal could be drawn
for funding. If conducted, the research could give insight on
ways of improving the way police are perceived in different
neighborhoods. When the image of police is bettered, people
will be more willing to report crimes as soon as they happen in
order to improve security in all areas. The research could help
gain insight on why the response time in some areas may be less
than in others despite the proximity of police stations to scenes
of crime. The research findings would be shared with the police
and they can read people’s suggestions on improvement of
service delivery.
Previous research has focused more on the frequency of crime
in different crimes and the conclusions have been that the
income level affects the rate of crime (Bhattacherjee, 2012).
Areas with high levels of unemployment have generally higher
rates of petty crimes and muggings. However, research has not
focused on the relationship between the police and citizens.
There is an information gap on how exactly the nature of
relationship affects service delivery. The research would act as
a stepping-stone for future research on more specific matters
dealing with police and citizens relationship.
Justification for the problem
Previous researches carried out on crime incidents have often
labeled some neighborhoods around cities as unsafe (Bryman,
2004). Some of these suburbs are famous for gang fights and
other ill vices. However, these researches have not gone deeper
to find out why these vices occur in some areas only. No efforts
have been made to find out how the frequency of crime affects
police morale. There is also no information to show how the
existent partnership between civilians and police affects crime.

3. Finally, as highlighted, the research is helpful and can be
conducted with a small budget.
References
Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social Science Research: principles,
methods, and practices.
Bryman, A. (2004). Research methods and organization studies.
London: Taylor & Francis.
Vanessa Schoening
February 9, 2014
Module 2
Research Journal
The articles relied on for the research mainly focuses on crime
incidents in cities and the perception of people regarding the
causes of crime. The articles seem to suggest that certain
characteristics of people greatly determine the frequency of
crime. These features include earnings, race, and the manner in
which families are structured. Family structure is of particular

4. interest because it has a psychology angle to it. The articles try
to use these indicators as a tool to predict crime.
The articles also pose a question on what the effects of having
densely populated population or closely situated homes affects
crime. Some feel that having these would deter crime because
the sidewalks would be always filled with people while other
feel the large population offer more potential victims to be
preyed on. These different finding from research offer potential
areas for further research because some researches indicate no
correlation between the two. Studies should be done to find out
other factors that drive crime in suburban areas.
Finally, the research papers give a comparison of the frequency
of crimes between urban areas and suburban areas. The nature
of the crimes is also compared with urban areas exhibiting
higher frequencies of violent crimes. The offenders are often
strangers in urban areas but the in suburbs people are more
likely to be attacked by someone they have met before. The
articles offer the theory that suburbs are composed of people
with the same economic status and are more likely on initiatives
such as security (Christens & Speers, 2006). This could mean
that they could choose options such as hiring private security.
The articles also highlight emerging trends in suburbs including
gated communities and their effects on crime.

5. References
Bureau of Justice Statistics (1999). Number of homicides and
population for cities with estimated population 100,000 or
more, from 1985-1997.
Christens, B., & Speer, P. W. (2006). Predicting violent crime
using urban and suburban densities. Behavior and Social Issues,
14(2), 113-127.
Duany, A., Plater-Zyberk, E., & Speck, J. (2000). Suburban
nation: The rise of sprawl and the
decline of the American dream. New York: North Point Press.
Fulton, W., Pendall, R., Nguyen, M. & Harrison, A. (2001).
Who sprawls most? How growth patterns differ across the U.S.
Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution.
LaFree, G., Bursik, R.J., Short, J. & Taylor, R.B. (2000). The
nature of crime: Continuity and change. Criminal Justice 2000,
1, 261-308.
Lang, R. E. (2005). Valuing the suburbs: Why some
“improvements” lower home prices. Opolis: An International
Journal of Suburban and Metropolitan Studies, 1(1), 5-12.
Lersch, K. M. (2004). Space, time, and crime. Durham, NC:
Carolina Academic Press.
Regoeczi, W. C. (2003). When context matters: A multilevel
analysis of household and neighborhood crowding on aggression
and withdrawal. Journal of EnvironmentalPsychology, 23(4),
451-464.
U.S. Census Bureau (2000). Metropolitan Area Population
Estimates for July 1, 1999 and Population Change for April 1,
1990 to July 1, 1999
Yanich, D. (2004). Crime creep: Urban and suburban crime on
local TV news. Journal of Urban Affairs, 26(5), 535-563.