The research project for this course requires you to identify a criminal justice professional field in which you would be interested in pursuing a career. If you already work in the criminal justice field, you can use your current position as the basis for this project. The course research project will be due in Unit VI.
The research project paper should consist of the following sections:
How did the competencies you identified for this field of criminal justice align or differ from the information obtained during the interview with a criminal justice professional?
What learning goal would you like to set for yourself during this course, month, or year based on the skill sets and requirements discovered during your research and based upon the interview with a criminal justice professional?
While the level of detail in each section of the research paper will vary, it is anticipated that the final paper will be approximately five to six pages in length, not counting the cover and reference pages. Please click here to review the General Guidelines for Papers document to obtain a description of other formatting requirements.
NOTE: Part of the purpose of a reference is to lead your reader back to the sources you used. Imagine a person reads your paper and wants to find out more information about your topic. The reader can refer to your reference list to locate the sources you used to find information. However, certain types of sources, like a private conversation, cannot be located. No one can read a transcript of your interview (unless you recorded it). The information the interviewee passed on to you is not recoverable by other researchers, so it does not go in the reference list. This kind of source (interviews, private letters and e-mail, personal conversations, phone calls, etc.) is called a personal communication. Cite it in text only, give initials as well as the surname of the person involved, and give as precise a date as possible. Again, this type of source is ONLY cited in text. There will be no reference citation on the reference list.