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Graded Assignment #1
Daniel Mazak
RDG CJ-07
This assignment will help you pull together everything that you have learned up to this point and prepare you to complete assignment #2, a full research proposal. Use the form below to help you complete your assignment. You should turn in a retyped version of this form which includes the information that you add. Proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar are expected. You should email me your paper or turn it in during class. You may turn in the assignment earlier if you wish.
You should choose one of the research questions that you turned in to me and use it to complete the assignment.
Theory:
Spousal abuse is nothing new; it has been linked to ancient views of power struggles between the sexes. Even today in current times, some men continue to treat their female partners as objects of mere possession. Men will often engage in acts of domestic violence for a number of reasons such as: they have poor coping skills, they suffer a range of psychological issues, they view women as easy targets for abuse, and they maybe the men returning home from active duty in the military just to name a few.
Although there's no excuse for domestic violence, some men frequently abuse their female partners. This behavior can be further explained by rational-choice theory. This theory posits, in this case, that men choose to commit acts of domestic violence after concluding that their own pleasure supersedes the victimization of their female companions. In other words, if the woman is viewed as an easy and accepting target for abuse, her male companion may, in fact, gain pleasure over her victimization. The women in these situations can be and often are easy targets for abuse—that is, easy targets that often do not report their victimization to anybody including the authorities.
Men abuse women for a number of reasons, the culprit for the behavior of these abusive men maybe due to a multitude of psychological problems. For instance, men who have poor coping skills and suffer from other psychological issues such as: anger, hostility, high levels of stress, and poor self control are likely candidates to abuse women. Furthermore, men who tend to suppress their intense feelings of anger, stress, and hostility would much rather keep their demons to themselves, rather than openly confronting them with their female partners. These men, once overwhelmed, have a greater risk of violent outbursts.
Finally, men who return home after serving active duty in the military, men who have a history of being physically abused themselves as children, and men who witness their fathers physically abuse their mothers during childhood also have a prevalence to abuse women. This behavior can be further explained by social learning theory. This theory posits, in this case, boys as young children and grown male adults, learn how to behave in a manner fashioned by that of viewing others. In other words, violent behavior is socially learned via family members as well as a subculture like that of the military.
It's for these reasons that I wish to test a hypothesis in order to better understand the probable causes for this socially unacceptable behavior.
Quantitative Research Question:
Are there gender differences in men commiting domestic violence more often than women?
Quantitative Hypothesis:
Men are most likely to commit more acts of domestic violence than women.
Independent Variable:
Variable Name: Sex
(Nominal) Categories: 1) Male
2) Female
3) Unknown/Other
Dependent Variable:
Variable Name: Level of Domestic Violence Acts
(Ordinal) Categories: 1) High
2) Moderate
3) Low
Conceptual Definition for your Independent variable (IV): (Sex)
Male: A male is a human being, a boy or man. A man has the ability to produce sperm to aid in human reproduction. In traditional terms, the male is also the one to fill the position of authority as an authority figure. The male anatomy consists of a penis and testes. The penis is an organ which can be used to eliminate urine, disperse sperm, or to be used for copulation. The testes are a pair of small reproductive glands that produce sperm and are suspended in a small sac called the scrotum.
Female: A female is a human being, a girl or woman. In traditional terms, the woman fills the role of child bearer and child nurturer. A woman has the ability to reproduce, or to bear offspring. The female anatomy consists of mammary glands and a vagina. The mammary glands are located in the breasts; they produce and secrete milk to nourish a newborn child. The vagina is the female organ used for copulation and is the delivery route or passageway to deliver a newborn child.
Unknown/Other: Unknown or other consists of any deviation, even slightly, of the terminology listed above in the male and female categories.
Operationalization (Indicators) of your Independent variable (IV): (Genitalia)
Indicators (of Genitalia)
Penis
Vagina
Conceptual Definition for your Dependent variable (DV):
Domestic Violence: It can be described in broad terms to indicate abusive patterns and abusive behaviors of just one or even both partners involved in any one or more of the following intimate relationships: friendly cohabitation among friends, oversight of a child or elderly parent, immediate or extended family relationship, dating or long-term dating relationships, as well as in a marriage—whether it be heterosexual or homosexual in nature.
Domestic violence consists of several forms of aggression such as: object throwing, verbal abuse, hitting, shoving, kicking, biting, slapping, and restrainment.
Domestic violence may also be characterized as intimate partner violence (IPV), family violence, domestic abuse, and spousal abuse.
Operationalization (Indicators) of your Dependent variable (DV):
Indicators (Level of Domestic Violence Acts)
Aggressive acts:
1) Object throwing
2) Verbal abuse
3) Hitting
4) Shoving
5) Kicking
6) Biting
7) Slapping
8) Restrainment
Research method used to collect your data (e.g. survey)
Surveys
Sample Used
· The type of sample that I will utilize is a stratified random sample.
· The sampling frame that I will utilize is the City of Reading Finance Department Office of Tax Administration.
· My sample will consist of 4,000 elements from my sampling frame.
· I intend on drawing my sample in the following format:
I will place a telephone call to City of Reading Finance Department office of Tax Administration and ask to speak to the supervisor. I will explain to the supervisor who I am, what I need, what my intentions are, and setup an appointment.
On the day of the prescheduled appointment, I will get into my car and drive to the City of Reading Finance Department Office of Tax Administration. I will enter the office, ask for the supervisor whom I've already spoken to, and proceed to ask him or her any relevant questions concerning the list of city residents. Once my questions are answered and the supervisor and I are satisfied with our meetings results, I will thank him or her for their help and exit the office with the list of city residents in hand. I will get back into my car and proceed to drive home. Once I arrive home, I will enter my office and develop a systematic method to draw a sample from the list that I just received of all city residents.
The systematic method that I will utilize is as follows:
· My sampling frame (or population) of all residents in the City of Reading = 80,000 (80k).
· And of the 80k, the race breakdown in percentages is listed below.
--White……….48% or 38,400 (.48 x 80k)
--Black…….....12% or 9,600 (.12 x 80k)
--Hispanic……24% or 19,200 (.24 x 80k)
--Other……….16% or 12,800 (.16 x 80k)
· From my sampling frame of 80k, I will utilize a sample consisting of 4,000.
· From the sample of 4,000, I will conduct a random selection (1 in 20) from each stratum listed below:
--White……….48% or 1,960 (.48 x 4k) then divide by 20 = 96
--Black…….....12% or 480 (.12 x 4k) then divide by 20 = 24
--Hispanic……24% or 960 (.24 x 4k) then divide by 20 = 48
--Other……….16% or 640 (.16 x 4k) then divide by 20 = 32
This systematic method will ensure that all the residents in my random selection of (1 in 20)
have a 50/50 chance of being selected.
I will then begin by taking the list of the 38,400 white residents and randomly select 1,960 names using Microsoft Excel’s random generator. Next, I take the list of the 9,600 African Americans and select 480 names using Microsoft Excel’s random generator. I will then I take the list of the 19,200 Hispanics and select 960 names using Microsoft Excel’s random generator. Finally, I will I take the list of the 12,800 “others” and select 640 names using Microsoft Excel’s random generator. These selected names will be used as my sample.
10 academic sources to use for "quantitative" literature review (list according to ASA style)
Anderson, Kristin L. 2008. "Is Partner Violence Worse in the Context of Control?" Journal of Marriage and Family. 70(5): 1157–1168.
Capaldi, Deborah M., Joann Wu Shortt, Hyoun K. Kim, Jane Wilson, Lynn Crosby, and Shivan Tucci. 2009. "Official Incidents of Domestic Violence: Types, Injury, and Associations with Nonofficial Couple Aggression." Violence & Victims. 24(4): 502-519.
Knoblock, Jacquelyn. 2008. "Gender and Violence." Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge. 6(2): 91-101.
VanBuren Trachtenberg, Jennifer, Stephen Anderson, and Ronald Sabatelli. 2009. "Work-Home Conflict and Domestic Violence: A Test of a Conceptual Model." Journal of Family Violence. 24(7): 471-483.
Simmons, Catherine, Peter Lehmann, and Shannon Collier-Tenison. 2008. "Men’s Use of Controlling Behaviors: A Comparison of Reports by Women in a Domestic Violence Shelter and Women in a Domestic Violence Offender Program." Journal of Family Violence. 23(6): 387-394.
Crowley, Jocelyn Elise. 2009. "Fathers' Rights Groups, Domestic Violence and Political Countermobilization." Social Forces. 88(2): 723-755.
Wallach, Helene, and Tsipi Sela. 2008. "The Importance of Male Batters’ Attributions in Understanding and Preventing Domestic Violence." Journal of Family Violence. 23(7): 655-660.
Oliver, William, and Creasie Finney Hairston. 2008. "Intimate Partner Violence During the Transition from Prison to the Community: Perspectives of Incarcerated African American Men." Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma. 16(3): 258-276.
Forgey, Mary Ann, and Lee Badger. 2010. "Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence and Associated Risk Factors Among Married Enlisted Female Soldiers." Violence & Victims. 25(1): 45-61.
Hines, Denise A., and Emily M. Douglas. 2009. "Women's Use of Intimate Partner Violence against Men: Prevalence, Implications, and Consequences." Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma. 18(6): 572-586.
Qualitative Research Question:
How do you cope with being victimized from domestic violence?
Research Method you will use to collect your data (e.g. Interview)
Interviews
Sample Used se (e.g. simple random sample, snowball sample, etc.)
· The type of sample that I will utilize is a snowball non-random sample.
· The sampling frame that I will utilize is the City of Reading Finance Department Office of Tax Administration.
· My sample will consist of 4,000 elements from my sampling frame.
· I intend on drawing my sample in the following format:
I will place a telephone call to City of Reading Finance Department office of Tax Administration and ask to speak to the supervisor. I will explain to the supervisor who I am, what I need, what my intentions are, and setup an appointment.
On the day of the prescheduled appointment, I will get into my car and drive to the City of Reading Finance Department Office of Tax Administration. I will enter the office, ask for the supervisor whom I've already spoken to, and proceed to ask him or her any relevant questions concerning the list of city residents. Once my questions are answered and the supervisor and I are satisfied with our meetings results, I will thank him or her for their help and exit the office with the list of city residents in hand. I will get back into my car and proceed to drive home.
I will then take the list and enter the names of the residents into Microsoft Excel. After this, I will then use Microsoft Excel’s random generator to randomly select 10 names from the list. I will contact these individuals directly and set up an interview. If none of the 10 can be contacted or decline to be interviewed, I will randomly generate another 10 names. Once each person is interviewed I will ask the interviewee for the names and contact information of five other people s/he knows that reside in the city. I will then contact these individuals to schedule interviews and repeat the process until I have all 4000 interviews completed.
10 academic sources to use for "qualitative" literature review (list according to ASA style)
Anderson, Kristin L. 2008. "Is Partner Violence Worse in the Context of Control?" Journal of Marriage and Family. 70(5): 1157–1168.
Capaldi, Deborah M., Joann Wu Shortt, Hyoun K. Kim, Jane Wilson, Lynn Crosby, and Shivan Tucci. 2009. "Official Incidents of Domestic Violence: Types, Injury, and Associations with Nonofficial Couple Aggression." Violence & Victims. 24(4): 502-519.
Knoblock, Jacquelyn. 2008. "Gender and Violence." Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge. 6(2): 91-101.
VanBuren Trachtenberg, Jennifer, Stephen Anderson, and Ronald Sabatelli. 2009. "Work-Home Conflict and Domestic Violence: A Test of a Conceptual Model." Journal of Family Violence. 24(7): 471-483.
Simmons, Catherine, Peter Lehmann, and Shannon Collier-Tenison. 2008. "Men’s Use of Controlling Behaviors: A Comparison of Reports by Women in a Domestic Violence Shelter and Women in a Domestic Violence Offender Program." Journal of Family Violence. 23(6): 387-394.
Crowley, Jocelyn Elise. 2009. "Fathers' Rights Groups, Domestic Violence and Political Countermobilization." Social Forces. 88(2): 723-755.
Wallach, Helene, and Tsipi Sela. 2008. "The Importance of Male Batters’ Attributions in Understanding and Preventing Domestic Violence." Journal of Family Violence. 23(7): 655-660.
Oliver, William, and Creasie Finney Hairston. 2008. "Intimate Partner Violence During the Transition from Prison to the Community: Perspectives of Incarcerated African American Men." Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma. 16(3): 258-276.
Forgey, Mary Ann, and Lee Badger. 2010. "Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence and Associated Risk Factors Among Married Enlisted Female Soldiers." Violence & Victims. 25(1): 45-61.