7. What are the principal properties and structural types of metals? Metals exhibit high reflectivit

SOC242 Methods of Social Research Prof. Younts Fall 2014
Homework Exercise #3: Experimental Designs (Due 10/28)
You may work in pairs for this exercise, or alone if you prefer. Bring ONE complete copy of
all materials to hand in at the beginning of the lab. As well, at least two examples will be
chosen and performed during class on 10/28, so make sure you are prepared to conduct the
experiment – bring 22 copies of the vignettes (half- or quarter-sheets are fine) and a method
for randomly assigning the 22 students into two or three groups (depending on how many
conditions you have).
1. Choose ONE of the following theoretical claims (the variables are in italics):
a. The greater an individual’s identification with a target of injustice, the greater
her/his negative reactions to that injustice.
b. Individuals are more likely to agree with others who are higher status than they
are than with others who are lower status than they are.
c. The greater the similarity between self and other, the more favorable self’s
evaluation of that other.
d. The more attractive an individual, the more positive sentiment individuals will
express towards them.
2. Design an experiment to test the argument you have chosen that can be conducted during
the class period on 10/28. Specifically complete and describe each of the following steps
in your typed report:
a. Identify and provide an abstract, connotative definition for the independent and
dependent variables in the conclusion you have chosen.
b. Describe how you will operationalize (i.e., manipulate or measure) each variable.
i. For the independent variable, you should plan to have only 2 (i.e., or three
at most, including an experimental group(s) and perhaps one control
group) each of which receive a different value of the independent variable.
1. The different “conditions” should be identical except for the
manipulation of the independent variable they receive.
2. Construct the manipulations of the independent variable so that
they can be implemented in the class within a maximum of 10
minutes (vignettes are easiest, but not the only way to go).
ii. For the dependent variable, clearly define how you will measure the
outcome so that you can clearly observe the outcome at the conclusion of
the experiment (HINT: 1-3 survey questions is most efficient, asking
participants to react to the scenario in terms of their anticipated behaviors,
actual attitudes, or actual emotions on a numerical scale).
c. Propose a hypothesis based on the conclusion you chose by substituting your
operational definitions into the conlcusion. This should be a statement that clearly
predicts the expected differences between the groups in terms of your
operationalization of the dependent variable.
d. If, after you conduct your experiment, you find support for your hypothesis, can
you conclude that the theory is correct/sound? Why or why not? (HINT: Address
all three criteria of causality).

U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
OFF ICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS
BJA NI J OJJDP BJS OVC
The KansasCity Gun Experiment
by Lawrence W. Sherman, James W. Shaw, and Dennis P. Rogan
R e s e a r c h i n B r i e f
National Institute of Justice
Jeremy Travis, Director January 1995
continued p. 2
risk times.
6 This argument suggests the hypothesis
that greater enforcement of existing
laws against carrying concealed
weapons could reduce gun crime. But this
hypothesis had never been tested until the
Kansas City gun experiment.
The experiment developed out of the first
Federal grant awarded under the Bureau of
Justice Assistance (BJA) “Weed and Seed”
program in 1991. The Kansas City (Missouri)
Police Department (KCPD) was
given wide latitude in planning its Weed
and Seed strategy. Shortly after the BJA
Handgun crime is increasing rapidly
throughout the Nation,
1 especially in
inner-city areas where youth homicide
rates have skyrocketed.
2 While some
scholars argue that more gun carrying by
law-abiding citizens may be the best deterrent
to gun violence,
3 others find little
evidence to support that view4 but much
more evidence that increases in gun
availability produce increases in gun homicides.
5 Still others argue that it is not
the total number of guns in circulation
that increases gun violence, but the carrying
of guns in high-risk places at highIssues
and Findings
Discussed in this Brief: An evaluation
of a police patrol project to
reduce gun violence, driveby
shootings, and homicides in a patrol
beat where the homicide rate
was 20 times higher than the national
average.
Key issues: Gun crime is rising
rapidly nationwide, while other
types of crime are falling. The need
for strategies to control gun crime
is critical. If police could get more
guns off the street, would there be
fewer gun crimes? This was the
question posed by the Kansas City
program.
Key findings: The results of the
evaluation indicate that directed
police patrols in gun crime “hot
spots” can reduce gun crimes by
increasing the seizures of illegally
carried guns. Specific findings
include:
● Gun seizures by police in the
target area increased by more than
65 percent, while gun crimes declined
in the target area by 49 percent
(see exhibit 1).
● Neither gun crimes nor guns
seized changed significantly in a
similar beat several miles away,
where the directed patrol was not
used.
● There was no measurable displacement
of gun crimes to patrol
beats surrounding the target area.
Exhibit 1: Fir e a rm Of f e nses/Gu ns Se iz e d Pe r 1,000 Pe rso ns
Targe t Be a t
37.0
9.9
18.9
16.8
22.6
23.6
10.4
8.8
Gun Crimes
Gun Crimes
Guns Seiz ed
Guns Seiz ed
Be fore Pa trols
0
10
20
30
40
During Pa trols Be fore Pa trols During Pa trols
Comparison Be a t2
R e s e a r c h i n B r i e f
sumed that if enough potential gun criminals
in the area had their guns seized,
they would be unable to commit gun
crimes—at least for as long as it took
them to acquire a new gun.
Neither of these theories could be directly
examined within the limits of the
study. Rather, the evaluation study focused
on the basic hypothesis that gun
seizures and gun crime would be inversely
related. From the outset, the
project team recognized that confirmation
of the hypothesis would not prove that
more gun seizures result in reduced gun
crime. The design could not eliminate all
competing explanations that could be
suggested for the results. But if an inverse
correlation between gun seizures
and gun crime were found, it could suggest
the value of further research and development.
It could also support a policy
of extending the patrols, regardless of the
exact reason for their effectiveness.
award to the KCPD, the National Institute
of Justice (NIJ) awarded the University
of Maryland a grant to evaluate the
Kansas City effort. This timing allowed
the police and researchers to collaborate
in planning a focused program with a
strong research design.
This Research in Brief explains the
study’s methodology and key findings,
analyzes the reasons for the findings, and
concludes with a discussion of policy implications.
Study design
The program was based on the theory that
additional patrols would increase gun seizures,
which, in turn, would reduce gun
crime. Two possible mechanisms were
suggested: deterrence and incapacitation.
The deterrence theory assumed that if police
took guns away, illegal gun carriers
would become less likely to carry them in
the area. The incapacitation theory asIssues
and Findings
continued . . .
● Driveby shootings dropped from 7
to 1 in the target area, doubled from
6 to 12 in the comparison area, and
showed no displacement to adjoining
beats.
● Homicides showed a statistically
significant reduction in the target
area but not in the comparison area.
● Before and after surveys of citizens
showed that respondents in the target
area became less fearful of crime
and more positive about their neighborhood
than respondents in the
comparison area.
● An investment of 4,512 police officer-hours
was associated with 29
more guns seized and 83 fewer gun
crimes, or 54 patrol hours per gun
crime and more than 2 gun crimes
prevented per gun seized.
● Traffic stops were the most productive
method of finding guns, with
an average of 1 gun found in every
28 traffic stops.
● Two-thirds of the persons arrested
for gun carrying in the target area resided
outside the area.
● Only gun crimes were affected by
the directed patrols, with no changes
in the number of calls for service or
in the total number of violent or nonviolent
crimes reported.
Target audience: Mayors, law enforcement
officials, public health officials,
policymakers, community
leaders, and researchers.
R e s e a r c h i n B r i e f
Exhibit 2: 1991 Ch a r act e ristics o f Ta rg e t a n d Comp a riso n Be a ts
Charact eristic Targe t Be a t (144) Comparison Be a t (242)
Popula tion 4,528 8,142
% Female 53% 56%
% Under 25 38% 41%
Median Age 32 31
% Nonwhite 92% 85%
% Age 25+ High School Graduates 53% 73%
Residential Square Blocks 80 150

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7. What are the principal properties and structural types of metals? Metals exhibit high reflectivit

7. What are the principal properties and structural types of metals? Metals exhibit high reflectivit

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