Types of Variables in Research: Categorical & Discrete - Essay Sample

Introduction

There are various types of variables that will be used for this research since it involves a large number of people. The first variable sis the categorical variables, which will focus on grouping people according to their age for data collection. This variable will enable the analysis of reactions from each group of people. The second variable is the discrete variable whose aim is to regulate the number of people in each group, based on the target population and the age break at which the groups should be cut. The last variable that will be used in the manifest variable. This variable will mostly look at the individual reactions towards the questions on the research. The analysis of the data from these variables will determine the effects of law enforcement policing minority communities in the Post-Ferguson era.

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Study Population

The major target population for this research is mostly for people between the age group of eighteen years to forty years. The under the categorical variables, the first group, will be of age brackets eighteen to twenty-five, the second one from the ages twenty-six to thirty-five and the last one from thirty-six to forty. This is because a majority of the people who have suffered under the police are in this age bracket. They are the ones who are complaining mostly. The other group which will be interviewed in the police departments and the media. These will, therefore, form three categories, namely, the police departments, the citizens grouped according to the age groups and the media.

Sampling Procedure

The sampling procedure to be used will involve random sampling with the citizens. The surveyors carrying out the will be recording the ages of the people they randomly pick, then the interviews can be categorized later according to the age groups (Barratt & Shantikumar, 2018). The police, stratified sampling will be used where those of the same departments will be put together. For the media, convenience sampling will be used, depending on their availability and interest to let out their views. The researcher will determine first which media houses are credible and whose reports can be fully trusted to ensure definite and correct data is collected and not propaganda.

Justification of the Case Study

The case of the brutal murder of Michal Brown was live to every one according to the footage presented by the body cameras. Was it not for the video clips presented the case would not have been on the trend? The brutality of the police was clear to everyone as the media should it. It even caught the attention of some of the leaders.

Some of the defense is that such a situation might have been putting the police in danger. There are laws which allow the police to only harm a culprit on the grounds of self-defense if the offender has crude weapons. However, for this case, Brown had nothing that could have made the police so violent, leading to his death. Therefore, this case was based on the excess use of force by the police and not a mere defense.

Furthermore, the majority of these cases happen mostly to the minority. What if the majority group, don't they also do crimes. This only is an indication of the attitude of the policed towards these minority communities. The constitution is clear that everyone is equal and therefore, should be respected irrespective of who they are. The use of body cameras, working together with groups like the Black Lives Matter movement, would be the most essential in curbing such issues and making everyone included in the justice of the land.

Software Packages

The software packages that will be mostly used will include the word processing software and spreadsheet software. These two will come in handy, especially when transferring the data from hard copy to a soft copy. The data can then be analyzed while still under this software and later, the presentation of the final results. The powerpoint software can be used, especially when presenting the information from the processing system. The spreadsheet can record the details of the interviewees, and their responses will be recorded in the word processor, then the final draft of the processed data will be transferred to the power point software.

Modeling Process

The modeling process to be used is the context-oriented process modeling. This type of modeling focuses on a sequence of a context which is producing the same sequence of transformations of the desired result. For our case, the use of excessive force by the police has been recurrent, especially among the minority groups. This modeling process will, therefore, look at the trend in which the occurrence of these murder cases, following the murder of Michael Brown unfolds

Quantitative Research Methods

This research method is to be used because it obtains numerical data and giving a generalization from the set groups to explain the case in question (Babbie, 2010). This also is vital since the research will be utilizing a small number of people to represent the larger population. Finally, the research is descriptive since it describes the use of force by the police and its effects on the people who become subjects.

References

Barratt H., Shantikumar S. 2018. Methods of Sampling from Population. Retrieved from: https://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/research-methods/1a-epidemiology/methods-of-sampling-population

Babbie, Earl R., 2010. The Practice of Social Research. 12th ed: Doing Quantitative Research in Education with SPSS. 2nd edition. London: SAGE Publications, 2010.