Introductory Note
This presentation provides an analysis of a news article that features a criminal justice issue, referring to a research study. It presents information about the study, showing what data was used to conduct the research. The paper outlines the study’s sample size and who was included in it, as well as evaluates its validity, credibility, and potential bias. The paper discusses the angle of the news article, the author’s perspective, and the appropriateness of the research data utilization. It concludes that the news article presented the issue correctly and used reliable evidence to support its claim.
Research Study Analysis
The research presents a qualitative research design; the study was published in 2017 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal. The source is a comprehensive multidisciplinary scientific journal that features articles on social, biological, and physical sciences. The sample size of the work included 682 and 299 stops of black and white drivers accordingly, conducted by 245 officers of the Oakland Police Department (Voigt et al. 6522). These numbers comprised about 70% of all stops during April 2014. Authors received more than 180 hours of footage of interactions among the police officers and drivers and were able to obtain and analyze more than 36,700 utterances of officers (Voigt et al. 6522). Thus, the dataset consisted of transcribed footage from vehicle stops taken from body cameras.
The findings of the study show that police officers were less polite with black individuals compared to white ones. In many cases, they did not use polite words and did not show a respectful attitude towards the representatives of the minorities (Voigt et al. 6522). In addition, white people were almost 60% more likely to hear respectful utterances, while black community members were around 60% more exposed to a lack of respect (Voigt et al. 6524). It is evident that police officers were rarely disrespectful towards white individuals.
The study does not show significant threats to measurement validity. The authors drew valid conclusions based on the obtained data; their personal opinions did not interfere with the obtained results and did not affect the interpretation of the data. It is possible to say that researchers had developed a belief regarding the results before the investigation as they referred to the incidents involving officers and black suspects, noting that these cases are disturbing (Voigt et al. 6521). However, the authors supported their preliminary claims with evidence from scientific sources.
It is possible to say that findings have a medium degree of generalizability. The study revealed that police officers showed less respect while talking to black individuals compared to their white counterparts. As mentioned earlier, white people were 60% more likely to experience a respectful attitude, while black community members were 60% more likely to see a lack of respect (Voigt et al. 6524). These findings can be applied to other situations in which minorities are perceived and treated differently than white individuals. At the same time, the results are only relevant to the black community, which means that the generalizability of the study is not at a high level.
The type of bias that might affect the study’s conclusions is a selection bias. The authors noted that they had collected footage for around 70% of stops; at the same time, obtained information involving almost two times more black drivers than white ones (Voigt et al. 6522). It is unclear whether black individuals were stopped more often, as the study does not present a total number of such incidents for April. This issue can be considered a limitation of the study, as it is possible that the authors could have collected more data on black community members intentionally.
The study can be considered credible, as it was conducted by the representatives of Departments of Linguistics, Psychology, and Computer Science of Stanford University; the authors have several scientific publications. The sample size was large and included enough participants for both groups of the population, which indicates the high level of precision of the results. The research used secondary data only to introduce the issue and used a specifically collected dataset. In addition, the study showed a high level of validity, as its conclusions corresponded to reality.
News Article Analysis
The selected article presents an issue of racism in the criminal justice system. It was published in The Washington Post, the source that features news and analysis on politics, global issues, business, and other acute topics. The main angle of the publication is that the modern criminal justice system shows racial bias and discriminates against particular groups of individuals (Balko). The article discusses causes of racism related to various fields, including policing, profiling, a misdemeanor, suspensions, drug crimes, jury selection, the death penalty, discretion, sentencing, incarceration, and detentions. For each category, Balko provided evidence retrieved from official reports and scientific articles; findings reveal the link between a person’s race and the perspectives of the criminal justice system.
The article discusses causes of racism related to various fields, including policing, profiling, a misdemeanor, suspensions, drug crimes, jury selection, the death penalty, discretion, sentencing, incarceration, and detentions. For each category, Balko provided evidence retrieved from official reports and scientific articles, including investigations conducted by national agencies. It is necessary to outline that the author provided at least five sources for each group. The findings reveal the link between a person’s race and the perspectives of the criminal justice system and support the claim that there is discrimination in policing, profiling, and other aspects of the criminal justice system.
The journalist used the findings of the study by Voigt et al. appropriately for the point he wanted to introduce. He included some of the utterances of the police officers mentioned in the research to support his claim. In addition, it is notable that Balko used the study in the appropriate group, showing that discrimination is present in the spheres of life that are rarely considered or discussed publically. However, it is necessary to outline that the news article has some limitations, as the findings of the study may not have been used effectively.
It is possible to say that Balko could have presented more data from the study, such as the sample size, the detailed analysis of the findings, and the words or attitudes police officers used or showed while talking to the black population. At the same time, the author featured a broad selection of articles on the issue and it was unnecessary to provide extensive detail on each of them to support the main claim. In summary, the study allowed Balko to reveal racism in the criminal justice system associated with policing and profiling.
Summary
The analysis of the news article showed that the study was used appropriately and helped the author to support his claim. The research revealed a significant bias in the criminal justice system and provided a detailed investigation of available data. The authors proved those police officers showed a biased attitude towards black individuals, which is evident from the recordings of their utterances. Balko presented the elements of findings to illustrate the main conclusion of the study. It means that justice research can be used effectively to support news articles.
Works Cited
Balko, Radley. “There’s Overwhelming Evidence That the Criminal-Justice System is Racist. Here’s the Proof.” The Washington Post, 2018, Web.
Voigt, Rob, et al. “Language from Police Body Camera Footage Shows Racial Disparities in Officer Respect.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 114, no. 25, 2017, pp. 6521-6526.