Extra Credit Assignment
Students who wish to earn extra credit in this course may complete the following assignment. Your grade on the Extra Credit Assignment can replace either your lowest grade on a weekly assignment grade.
Search the Internet or published reports and find a criminal justice example of one of the following types of graphic or tabular information for your local area:
- Pie Chart
- Bar Chart
- Frequency Polygon
- Frequency Distribution
- Cross-Tabulation
- Histogram
- Crime Map
Imagine that you are a local law enforcement administrator. Answer the following questions in a 2- to 3-page (double-spaced) essay.
- What do these data tell you?
- If your graph is most relevant to police or correctional officers: How might this data change the direction you give to line-level officers about tactics and deployment? If your graph is most relevant to court or to correctional treatment workers: How might this data suggest changes in policy or practice?
- What other information might you request to buttress this data and ensure you had the information you needed to make responsible management decisions?
- Are there ways in which these data might be misused?
This assignment provides you with the opportunity to put statistical data to work, and to see how it might be utilized in a real-life work environment, such as in the criminal justice field.