Advances in Technology – Cheap Research Essays

Advances in Technology
Paper details

CCJ 5078 – Computer Applications in Criminal Justice
Assignment #4
One expectation among criminal justice administrators and practitioners is that advances in information
technology (IT) have the potential to improve the efficiency and productivity of criminal justice agencies.
Some have even argued that the major crime drop in America over the past couple decades was, at least in part,
due to advances in technology. For this assignment, you must find three research articles outside of the course
readings that address this issue. That is, you must find three articles from academic journals that say something
concrete, based on research, about whether or not advancements in technology seem to have improved the
functioning of the criminal justice system (or not). You must then write a short paper (3-5 pages) that describes
the findings of these studies. Note that the articles do not have to agree in their findings. Note also that it is not
necessary for you to understand all parts of the articles. Some parts may be quite complex and statistical, but
you do not necessarily need to discuss those parts.
Your paper must adhere to the standards of writing that you would find in a typical article in a peer-reviewed
criminological journal. A sample outline is provided below. Note that the sources for this paper MUST be
academic journal articles – not books, websites, or government reports. Below you will find advice about how
to find journal articles using the resources that are freely available to you as a student at FSU. You will submit it in the “Assignments” section of the Blackboard
website.
Sample Outline
I. title page (1 separate page – not included in the 3-5 page total)
II. introduction (approx. 1-2 paragraphs)
A. brief introduction to the issue
B. purpose of the paper
III. body (approx. 2-3 pages)
Your description of the articles can be organized either according to article (e.g. first describe article
1, and then article 2, and then article 3), or they can be organized according to the general findings
(e.g. first describe the findings in support of technology, then describe the findings arguing that
technology does not reduce crime).
IV. conclusion (approx. 1-2 paragraphs)
A. summary of what you found
B. questions for future research
V. bibliographic references page (1 separate page – not included in the 3-5 page total)
Important notes:
• Your paper must be double-spaced, with no additional spacing after each paragraph.
• The first page (not included in the 3-5 pages) must be a title page with the following elements centered
on the page:
– a short title for your paper
– your name
– course name and number
– instructor’s name
• include page numbers in the footer of every page except the title page
• use an appropriate font such as Times New Roman with 12 point font size
• use correct citation and bibliographic format as described below
Guidelines for Finding Journal Articles
There are many different ways to find relevant academic journal articles. For this assignment, it may be best to
use an expansive search rather than a highly focused search. Therefore, we will use Google Scholar. Be sure to
follow these instructions for logging in via the FSU library first. Otherwise, you will not have access to the
PDF versions of the articles that you find through Google Scholar.
Step 1 – Log into the FSU library and find Google Scholar
1. visit the University Libraries website at http://www.lib.fsu.edu
2. If you are using an off-campus computer, click the “connect from off-campus” link and login with your
FSUID.
3. After logging in, click the “Find a database” link.
4. Search for “Google Scholar.”
5. Enter your search terms in the box
6. Click the “Search” button
Step 2 – Find relevant articles
1. View the results of your search and scan the titles for something interesting.
2. When you find something, click the title of the article (or “Find it @ FSU” if available). This should
take you to a website where you can view the abstract and find a PDF version of the article. Every site
is a little different, so just look around until you find a link to the PDF file.
3. Avoid sources that are dissertations, government reports, or that are published by an association (e.g.
American Society of Criminology, or ncjrs.gov). Your sources must be academic journal articles.
Guidelines for Citation Style
There are numerous different styles for providing citations and bibliographic references. This paper will use the
APA Citation Style. Guidelines are provided below.
Referencing citations in the text of the paper
In the text of your paper, the first time you refer to an article or the findings of an article, you must provide a
citation that refers the reader to an entry in your bibliographic references. Use the following examples:
for articles by a single author
The last name of the author and the year of publication are inserted in the text at the appropriate point.
… as argued in a classic study (Simon, 1945).
If the name of the author appears as part of the narrative text, cite only the year in parentheses.
Simon (1945) argued that…
for works by a multiple authors
When a work has two authors, always cite both names every time the reference occurs in the text. In
parenthetical material join the names with an ampersand (&).
… as has been shown (Leiter & Maslach, 1998)
When names are included in the narrative text, join the names with the word “and”.
As Leiter and Maslach (1998) show…
When a work has three, four, or five authors, cite all authors the first time the reference occurs.
Kahneman, Knetsch, and Thaler (1991) found …
In all subsequent citations, include only the surname of the first author followed by “et al.” (Latin for
“and others”) and the year of publication.
… as found by Kahneman et al. (1991).
… as found in a key study (Kahneman et al., 1991).
Bibliographic references
At the end of your paper, you must include a list of bibliographic references. You must include a reference for
each of the articles that you cite in your paper. They should be in alphabetical order according to the first
author’s last name. This reference page will not be included as part of the 3-5 pages. All references must
include the following:
• authors’ last names and first initials
• year of publication (in parentheses)
• title of article (in quotes)
• title of journal (in italics)
• volume number
• page numbers
• use a hanging indent, as shown below
Refer to the following examples for one author or multiple authors.
Johnson, G. (2008). “The effects of regret in escalation of commitment.” Organizational Behavior and Human
Decision Processes, 105, 221-232.
Smith, M., R. Jones, & A. Stevens. (2010). “Self control and white Collar crime.” Criminology, 102, 541-566.