Juvenile delinquency

The learning objective of this assignment is to explore multiple ways of measuring the same variable, and assess which measurements may be more valid (i.e., accurate) than others. You are required to analyze different measurements of the same variable.
1.    Part One –
You must find three scholarly empirical (i.e., the researchers collected data) articles, using the UCF library or Google Scholar
Each article must contain a different method of operationalizing/measuring the same variable (i.e., the concept must be the same but it must be measured differently)
You must choose a variable from the following list:
o    Arrest
o    Crime
o    Sentencing outcomes
o    Recidivism
o    Juvenile delinquency
o    Drug usage (of same drug for all articles)
o    Officer discretion
o    Prosecutorial discretion
o    Some other variable approved by me in writing
In the articles, you will find the measurement information in the Methods section.
o    (Hint – If there is no Methods section, it is not an empirical article.)
I recommend that you find your three articles on the same variable before moving to stage two.

2.    Part Two – Due Sunday, November 8, 2015 – Compare the three different types of measurement in a 3-5 page paper.
Analyze the three studies and the different ways they measure the same variable you chose. (If they use other variables too, ignore those.)
o    You must analyze the three measurements of your variable. To be analytical, you must:
?    Report the research question of each study and describe the sample
?    Report the method of data collection
?    Survey, officially-recorded
?    Qualitative or quantitative
?    Cross-sectional or longitudinal
?    Report whether it was primary or secondary data collection
?    Report the definition of the variable according to each source
?    If you quote, be sure to include the article’s page number in the APA in-text citation
?    Report how each source operationalized the variable (how did they measure it?)
?    Be sure to provide examples
?    Compare and contrast the definitions and measurements of each source
?    Give the reader your opinion as to the best method of measurement.
?    You must indicate which method of measurement you find to be the most valid (accurate) for the variable you have chosen, and make sure to include why you believe this to be true.
?    Make sure to consider how applicable each measurement was to the research question and data collection procedure
?    Additional criteria for the assignment include:
?    You must cite the articles in the text using APA format, as well as giving a full APA reference list at the end of the paper.
?    The paper must contain a labeled introduction and conclusion.
?    The paper should be between 3-5 pages (not including the reference section)
?    College level writing is expected, which means correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.