What is the qualitative research question (RQ)?
The qualitative RQ can be stated as follows: “How the institution of black gangs evolved from being a community aimed to protect members to being in a state of self-genocide.”
Why was a qualitative approach appropriate to answer the RQ?
A qualitative approach was appropriate to answer the RQ because the RQ asked about a phenomenon that cannot be measured in numbers and required an exploration of the roots of the problem.
What were the types of data and data sources that Cle Sloan used to answer the RQ?
Cle Sloan used primarily qualitative type of data, including sources such as in-depth interviews, observation, document review, visual tools (photos, videos). The filmmaker also used a quantitative type of data when showing the structured map of gangs.
The micro-level variables that contributed to the creation of/maintenance of the Bloods and Crips gangs
The micro-level variables that contributed to the creation of gangs included youth’s social needs for protection, respect, care. Groups were viewed as a family; there was a need for a personal connection with community members who would understand the problems of black people.
The messo-level variables that contributed to the creation of/maintenance of the Bloods and Crips gangs
The messo-level variables included the evolvement of racist white gangs that attacked black people. The division of cities along racial lines and repressions coming from residential police officers led to the situation when blacks became inferior on a group level.
The macro-level variables that contributed to the creation of/maintenance of the Bloods and Crips gangs
The macro-level variables included the initial evolvement of the black liberation movement that resulted in blacks’ creation unions. It was coupled with economic changes that led to the closing of factories and the disappearance of semi-skilled jobs that eventually were followed by increased poverty and violence.
An H1 that answers the qualitative RQ
An H1 that answers the RQ can be the following: “The violence that black gangs were initially tried to protect its members from caused violence inside gangs because members could not differentiate the rules.”
Solutions to end gang violence proposed in the film
The proposed solutions included stopping naming children in honor of gang members to cut the street history and to stop passing conflicts. Besides, Sloan offers to denounce killing for the neighborhood, getting back to the initial meaning of gangs as communities with peaceful purposes. I think that condemning violence and murder for the sake of cruelty would be the most effective solution because this was one of the roots that led to self-genocide within gangs. It would be essential to switch focus; otherwise, legal authorities would also take action that could cause more deaths.
A quantitative RQ (specific, testable, feasible, measureable) that includes two variables from above, which might be interesting for future research
A quantitative RQ can be the following: “How can a poverty rate of an area where a person lives and a family situation relate to the possibility of joining the gang that commits violent actions?”