Considerations Impacting Research Efforts (Other (Not Listed) Sample)

Cultural, Ethical and Other Considerations Impacting Research Efforts
Name
Institution
Cultural, Ethical and Other Considerations Impacting Research Efforts
To: Charles Draper, Centervale's Chief of Police
From:
Date:
Subject: Cultural, Ethical and Other Considerations Impacting Research Efforts
Mr. Draper,
One of the crucial steps towards coming up with a good policy is doing research. A good research ensures that the policy recommendations are well-grounded and supported by facts. Therefore, it is important to have a research design that integrates the different components of the study in a coherent and logical way. There are various research designs used to collect evidence and address the research problem. The choice of the research design depends on the resources available, the research problem and time among other considerations. However, there are some ethical and cultural issues that may prevent the smooth research solutions geared towards tracking and controlling illegal immigrants in the city of Centervale.
Research Options
As indicated above, there are many designs that are available for researching, and the choice of the research design largely depends on the purpose of the research. Some of the common research designs include action research design, case study design, cohort design, causal design, historical design, cross-sectional design, experimental design, case study design, longitudinal design, descriptive design and meta-analysis design. It is important to note that each of the design approaches has its fair share of strengths and weaknesses, and these factors have to be balanced when selecting the most suitable research design.
Comparison of two Research Designs
For the purposes of the work that is to be undertaken by the Chief of Police, two research designs appear the most appropriate: historical design and case-study design. The research designs are appropriate because the researcher uses the existing information to come up with a good summary. In addition, the Chief of Police requires using both secondary and primary data to develop the best policy for controlling illegal immigration in Centervale.
In historical research design, the researcher collects, verifies and synthesizes evidence provided from previous studies. The process enables the researcher to defend or refute his or her hypothesis. Since the researcher is not involved in the actual collection of new information, secondary and primary data sources are used. Such sources include reports, books, diaries, and so forth.
The use of historical design is good because of a number of reasons.
One, it is good in doing trend analysis; several sources that have similar results can be compared to understand the changes taking place over a specified period. Secondly, the use of historical research design enables the researcher to understand the contextual background of the research problem thus facilitating a well-informed interpretation and analysis of the research problem. In addition, there is no possibility of researcher-subject interaction that could influence the findings (USC Libraries, 2014).
However, the use of historical research design may not be effective because it relies on primary and secondary data prepared by authors who may introduce their biases to the interpretation of certain findings. In addition, historical research design lacks control over external variables thus leading to the lack of internal validity (USC Libraries, 2014).
Case-study research design, on the other hand, involves a deeper evaluation of a specific research problem instead of studying statistical surveys. The good thing with this research design is that it narrows down a broad field of study into a few researchable examples (USC Libraries, 2014). It is also good in testing whether some theoretical models are applicable in real life situations.
However, case-study research design is limited in that it does tell whether the findings can be generalized to a wider population or geographical area. Additionally, the research design does not facilitate the examination of cause-effect relationships (USC Libraries, 2014). The implication is that a certain finding occurring in the course of study may not be explained. Lastly, the selection of a case that is representative of the enough to be applied to the wider population is always a challenge. In some of the cases, the results may not be generalizable to the wider population, and they can only be applied to that particular case.
Ethical, Cultural and Other Considerations that may Impact Research Efforts
In an effort to combat crime, the use of human subjects in criminal justice research is becoming rampant, which raises ethical concerns regarding the individuals involved (Jones, 2012). In such studies, the researchers may have undue advantage over the participants due to their knowledge and perceived authority. As a consequence, the participants may be exposed to harmful situations because of improper research practices and unethical behavior (Jones, 2012).
There are several considerations that may impact the research efforts under such circumstances. One of them is the fact that some of the measures may intrude on the privacy of the community members. For example, members attending of a private club may not want their activities to be under the surveillance of security personnel for personal reasons. Therefore, a proposal to have CCTVs in all the public and commercial buildings within the city may not auger well with some city residents. The right to privacy is a human right, and several jurisdictions prevent the government and their agencies from imposing policy measures that breach the privacy of individuals (Gillespie, n.d).
Another challenge is that some of the initiatives may have worked very well in other areas, but their success may not be guaranteed in Centervale. Therefore, it would be a challenge for the Chief of Police to convince the stakeholders that the initiatives will work without going through a piloting exercise. Moreover, the Chief of Police may not have the legal authority to conduct a piloting exercise before rolling out the policy measures intended. For example, the Chief of Police may have the intention of having the cell phones of the city residents tracked. However, that cannot be done without getting the necessary legislation.
Nevertheless, in case a piloting exercise has to be carried out, the Chief of Police should ensure that the staff adheres to the highest ethical standards. Organizations that have a reputation for ethical action are likely to receive the support and the respect of both the participants and the community where the policy initiatives are to be implemented (Jones, 2012). Additionally, the society perceives such organizations as competent. It is also crucial to maintain ethical standards in the force because that reflects the reason the community intervention was started in the first place (Liamputtong, 2008).
Another ethical issue that needs to be considered is confidentiality. For example, in the event that the police force wants to carry out a case study to determine the effectiveness of cell phone tracking in reducing illegal immigration, and some community members volunteer to take part in the pilot program, it is important for the police force to ensure that the private conversations between the participants and other parties are kept confidential and not exposed to third parties for malicious reasons. I...