Assignment: Research Death Row Inmates
Assignment: Research Death Row Inmates
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Psychologists conducting research using historical and contemporary data must make sure that different demographic populations of offenders are not compared with each other. For example, when studying crime rates, much more information can be gleaned by separating male and female offenders, offenders from different age groups, and offenders from different socioeconomic strata.
Using the module readings and the Argosy University online library resources, describe the strengths and weaknesses of research on death row inmates.
Write your initial response in approximately 300 words. Apply APA standards to cite sources.Little literature exists, however, to support curricular or pedagogical methods for improving writing in graduate programs. There is some evidence that three types of training are typically available: conducting a library search (Bem, 1995; Peper, 1971), learning to read and understand research (Jackson, 1980), and writing in American Psychological Association (APA, 1994) format. In other words, students may attend classes or workshops to learn how to conduct computerized database searches and collect information to be included in their papers. In addition, students are typically required to take a research methods course to help them read, understand, and summarize research (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs [CACREP], 1994). Finally, they may attend workshops or use the APA (1994) Publication Manual to learn the specifics of how to cite references in APA style. Although the APA manual advocates cognitively advanced writing, it does not offer a mechanism on how to improve the complexity in writing. Rather, it focuses only on the specifics of written presentation. Thus, although specific faculty certainly engage in individualized instruction to improve writing, what seems to be missing in the counselor education literature is a formalized, intentional, and well-grounded mechanism designed to teach students how to critically evaluate and synthesize the material they have collected into cognitively advanced reviews of the literature.
