There are several approaches that researchers can use to understand concepts, events and objects in a qualitative study. These include phenomenological, ethnographical, field research and grounded theory approaches (Trochim & Donnelly, 2006). The qualitative study proposed is titled “Seeking Ways to Reduce Recidivism”. In order to understand how to reduce recidivism, necessary information about the concept of recidivism has to be collected. Important information would be about the rate of recidivism, its causes, how it can be reduced and the postulated methods that have previously been used to reduce it.
The qualitative research proposal has used ethnographical framework as an approach to the qualitative research study. Ethnography considers studying an entire culture and in the qualitative research study presented, the culture is the behavior of prisoners (Trochim & Donnelly, 2006). According to the problem statement, prisoners have developed a culture of reversion into criminal activities or going against the federal law years after being released from prison. This has contributed to increased rate of recidivism in the United States. It is this culture that has been studied and information about how it can be reduced provided.
The study has not specified the culture of one group for example, the culture of prisoners charged with rape cases or prisoners arrested for robbery, prisoners charged with burglaries, kidnapping, homicides and many others. It has however covered the culture that has developed over the years that has led to increased recidivism considering all prisoners in US. Additionally, the qualitative research has not considered a specific region in US, but has provided general information about recidivism in US and possible ways of reducing it.
The aim of the qualitative research proposal is to find out ways of reducing recidivism that has led to high costs of arresting, incarcerating and prosecuting re-offenders as well as high costs on public safety. One approach that has been used to achieve this aim is collection of information about models that were previously used as remedies to the problem. It is an indication that grounded theory has been used to understand the concept of recidivism (Trochim & Donnelly, 2006).
Reducing recidivism as noted earlier requires information about the concept including methods of reducing it. The qualitative research presented has described theories that have been used in earlier cases to reduce recidivism. The coping-relapse model of criminal recidivism has been used to provide theoretical framework for reducing recidivism. This theory provides a solution through explaining the behaviors’ consistency that has been developed by the prisoners over the years and not the causes of the behaviors. Homebuilder’s Model has also been used as a theoretical model that can be used to reduce recidivism.
Any approach chosen by a researcher has to have a link with the availability of data and the capability of the researcher to get information (Shank, 2006; Patton, 2002). The proposed study has selected ethnological and grounded theory approaches that have provided the researcher with necessary information about recidivism and data that can be analyzed to provide anticipated results. The anticipated result in this case is reduced recidivism and this can only be achieved by methods or approaches that deal with the causes of the behaviors or important elements that can help reduce recidivism like the ones described.
Understanding the concept of recidivism has also been achieved by use of the right framework of a qualitative research proposal. A proposal should have a title, a problem statement, research questions, data collection methods, literature review, a study design, the subjects of the study, data analysis methods and a conclusion (Wolcott, 1994; Schram, 2006). This kind of qualitative proposal framework has been followed by the “Seeking Ways to Reduce Recidivism” proposal.
Reference List
- Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
- Schram, T. H. (2006). Conceptualizing and Proposing Qualitative Research. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
- Shank, G. D. (2006). Qualitative Research: A personal Skills Approach. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
- Trochim W. M. K. & Donnelly, J. (2006). The Research Methods Knowledge Base. Mason, OH: Thomson Learning.
- Wolcott, W. F. (1994). Transforming Qualitative Data: Description, Analysis and Interpretation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.