The document outlines a proposed research study examining the correlation between crime frequency and neighborhood income levels in New York, emphasizing the potential impact on crime reporting and police-community relationships. It highlights the feasibility of the research with low costs and accessible data sources, aiming to fill existing knowledge gaps about the dynamics between police and residents. The findings could contribute to improving police perception and community safety, while also setting the stage for future studies on these issues.

1. 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

2. 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.
Finally, as highlighted, the research is helpful and can be

3. conducted with a small budget.
Teachers comment
I like your topic here and your responses to the questions. I
definitely would try to narrow this question down a bit though
since it has a lot of moving parts to it. I might consider just
using one aspect of the crime - frequency, reporting, or nature.
The reason I say this is because this type of model could be
very inter-related and its easier to speak of just one. I do like
using the average income of the neighborhoods. Given that I
might recommend something that's also at the neighborhood
level - such as frequency of crime. That way its neighborhood
income and frequency of crime in the neighborhood. (use the
borough of the Bronx in NYC) For the rationale I would
definitely use more references. Always keep in mind that the
rationale shouldn't be opinion and more justification based on
past work. One way to prevent this is to reference a lot of your
statements
References
Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social Science Research: principles,
methods, and practices.
Bryman, A. (2004). Research methods and organization studies.
London: Taylor & Francis.